I never hear warnings not to cut trees/hedgerows in nesting season - I'm going to email RSPB ...

I think it would be a good idea for the RSPB (the royal society for the protection of birds), to do leaflet drops and social media campaigns (on nextdoor, x, facebook etc) to let people know not to cut their trees during nesting season.

I think there are some people who are not aware of this prohibition, especially people who are dealing with a garden for the first time, maybe having newly moved from a city or from a flat to a place with a garden.

Local leaflets and media campaigns are also good because they will increase neighbourly peer pressure, heh heh. Leaflets would be ideal as many people are not on social media.

I'm going to email RSPB at [email protected], which seems to be the contact for stuff like this, and suggest they should do so.

If you feel the same please email them too!

 

I regularly raise my concerns when the contractors for my workplace come in to cut the hedges. I tend to get replies like "oh they're only doing the little hedges, and they check for nests before they start". But there is no need at all for any of the hedges to be cut during the summer, it's just corporate tidy-mania.

 

Hm yes indeed, no need at all. Good for you (and the birds) for raising concerns, Escarpment. Bigger contractors could potentially be reported to RSPB.
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It's a very important message but I wish they would advise the council's on hedge management as well because the local hedges get whacked to death every autumn, destroying most of the cover and next year's potential food. I know some need to be trimmed for access or to make it easier to see past them but they seem to get hacked just because the team have nothing else to do.

 

Illegal to disturb nests. Potential fines. In reality cats do far more damage. Only yesterday neighbours ginger cat happily munching away on a wood pigeon in the garden.
Might be good idea for the BBC spring watch programme to remind viewers about the law and to put bells on their cats too. ?

 

Yes Thevictorian, I would like to know what they are doing in this regard. The government should do it too. Small things such as advising the councils does not cost much at all, and would have a massive benefit.

 

Agreed that cat owners should be told as well. Bells surely help. Reminding everyone through BBC spring watch is a great idea.

 

I found a dead wood pigeon by my front door last summer. I'd only gone out for about an hour shopping and it was there when I got back. I reckon something caught it and was disturbed before it could eat it. I suspect a fox - I can't believe any of my neighbours' cats are capable of dispatching a big healthy bird like that.
The worst part about it was that the black bins had only just been collected, so I had a dead pigeon in my bin for 3 weeks in hot weather!

 

Female sparrow hawks can kill a wood pigeon. I regularly see dead pigeons that have been decapitated (they try to lighten the load before carrying them off) seemingly left abandoned but it's because the bird has been disturbed. They normally come back from them and then you may find a corpse with a bare chest.

 

I saw a study on cats with and without bells. It concluded that they learn to stalk without causing the bell to ring, and become even better hunters as a result. I find this easy to believe as they are so patient and determined. The suggestion was that cats need to have digital bleepers, that they can’t prevent from working, attached to their collars. Just a quiet blip, nothing to startle the cat. They were planning to set them up so that they could be “armed” as the cat leaves the house, and de-armed on return, thus preventing irritation to owners and allowing the cat to relax and sleep in peace. I never heard of them becoming available though. Failing that, I suspect the only solution would be less cats. I say this as the keeper of an old semi-wild cat who was dumped on us as an unwanted kitten. I love her to bits, but I won’t be getting another one after her time.

 

Great idea, I'll email them.
I don't think most people care any more, money rules... I remember the very controversial hedge netting contractors getting in the news some years ago too. The genius of some people is unbelievable..

 

Thank you Mrs. B. I think it's such a good way for RSPB to spend some of their donations that will have an immediate effect on saving birds. The more of us that can email the better.

 

There's always a reminder about getting hedges trimmed before March in the newsletter/journal from the Mairie. Our farmer neigbour obeys but our retired gendarme neighbour clearly can't read.

We have two cats who very rarely catch a bird as we're careful with the siting of our feeders. One is an excellent mouser tho. I see more birds going to sparrowhawks and goshawks. Wood pigeons, their main prey here, seem to be terminally stupid.

 

It is not illegal for home owners to manage their own hedges during nesting season.

I can't remember all the specifics, but the main point is that urban residential properties are not treat the same as rural properties or fields and farmland.

Of course if there are signs of birds nesting in your hedge, then you ought to leave it be until the nest is finished with.

Point is, if the RSPB were to do a leaflet drop, they'd have to be very careful how they word it. If they imply a legal obligation where there isn't one, they'll quickly get called out, and lose a lot of credibility.