The Birds, the Birds!

02/03/2016

The Birds, the Birds!

So officially the 1^st 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 1^st 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!

References

RSPB, 2016, The Law and Cutting Hedges, online at http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/planting/hedges/the_law.aspx, accessed 02/03/2016

MET Office, (2016), When Does Spring Start? Online at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/learn-about-the-weather/how-weather-works/when-does-spring-start, accessed 02/03/2016