02/03/2016
The Birds, the Birds!
So officially the 1st
March is the beginning of meteorological spring in the UK (MET Office, 2016),
if you are sitting in an office or have been out and about, you would be
forgiven for thinking it was still winter!
So
why is March the beginning of spring?
There are a couple of
things that denotes March as the official start of spring, firstly it is the
way the months are split up, so for instance March, April and May are officially
spring months. June, July and August are officially summer and so on, see the
trend? A three month block per quarter makes up the season.
Secondly this makes it
easier for weather forecasters to compare the weather over years and hundreds
of years (MET Office, 2016).
But what has this got to do with Ecology or me for that
matter?
Well, simply put it kicks
off the breeding bird season. This season officially runs from the 1st
March until the end of August (RSPB, 2016). During this period all UK breeding
birds are protected from the point when the nest begins to be built until the young
birds have fledged.
You may be thinking so
what, but for developers and those wishing to cut back hedges, trees or other
vegetation it causes an issue. In effect a single ‘in-use’ bird’s nest could
stop a developer from demolishing a building or a cutting an access road into a
site, allowing construction traffic to access it.
Whilst this may cause
some inconvenience in the short term all is not lost. The first step for the
developer is to employee an ecologist to check the building, hedge or vegetation
for ‘in-use’ bird nests. If none are found the works can proceed.
But what if there is an
in-use nest?
If an ‘in-use’ nest is
found there are ways this can be dealt with. Consider moving the access gap to
an area where there are no nests or timing works outside of the nesting season.
Not always an option but worth considering early in the project process.
As a last resort the
ecologist can install a buffer zone around the nest to prevent disturbance and
damage, this is normally between 3m to 5m in radius. The nest is monitored
whilst buffered and once the young have fledged the works can proceed.
If you are planning on
doing works and have hedges, trees or buildings to remove before works can
begin give Cherryfield Ecology
a ring to check your site over before starting.
Look forward to hearing
from you!
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