Country file

steve2 · Feb 10, 2019

Just been watching a rerun of Country File and the RSPB were stocking a new wetland in Cambridge with Rudd and Perch in order to attract Bitterns and other wildlife.
Pity they don’t stock all their reserves with fish to keep the Cormorants well fed and off our waters.

mikench · Feb 10, 2019

Write to them Steve, i would be interested in their reply! At least bitterns, herons and the like are birds which naturally feed on coarse fish unlike cormorants! The RSPB would never countenance a cull on any bird despite the damage than can be caused when the natural balance is out of kilter!

Why is there no RSPF?

103841 · Feb 10, 2019

Good question Mike. Birds are everywhere, in your back garden, city landscapes, figure in folklore, song and the written word. Fish on the other hand need water and are rarely seen, they just don’t figure in Joe Publics daily life in the same way.

Perhaps we should start a petition for a RSPF.

tigger · Feb 10, 2019

Cormorants have always eaten coarse fish. If every cormorant was exterminated anglers would moan about another predator, and tyen tye next until anything that eats fish is exterminated. I think for a large part anglers are a bunch of selfish pratts who know sweet FA about nature. They themselves are the biggest threat to the rivers etc. They introduce invasive species at the drop of a hat and think nothing of the rammifications of their actions and don't even care so long as they can go fishing for them. Truth be known they just don't give a shyte about anything other than what they want.
I dislike a awful lot of so called anglers and their selfish ignorant attitudes!

mikench · Feb 10, 2019

Where's the duvet!!

nottskev · Feb 10, 2019

Most people have their minds made up where they stand on the cormorant business. But...... here's a link to an organisation - ornithological, not fishing - that monitors bird populations and provides data to eg government. The facts detailed in this page suggest concerned anglers are not simply selfish and ignorant.

Cormorant | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

tigger · Feb 10, 2019

nottskev said:
Most people have their minds made up where they stand on the cormorant business. But...... here's a link to an organisation - ornithological, not fishing - that monitors bird populations and provides data to eg government. The facts detailed in this page suggest concerned anglers are not simply selfish and ignorant.

Cormorant | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

Ok, if they're not selfish and ignorant, tell me why they release invasive species across the country ?

I'm not even gonn'a look at the link Kev as it's prolly just another load of shyte of which there's no shortage on the net!

mikench · Feb 10, 2019

Cormorant | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

Natural selection and evolution at work! I am only interested in the catching and welfare of indigenous species ! Unfortunately those that are not are here to stay! I have no desire to catch a catfish or a Zander but maybe I will one day inadvertently!

I am happy with 2" corydoras !

nottskev · Feb 10, 2019

tigger said:
I'm not even gonn'a look at the link Kev as it's prolly just another load of shyte of which there's no shortage on the net!

There's no answer to that

tigger · Feb 10, 2019

mikench said:
Cormorant | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

Natural selection and evolution at work! I am only interested in the catching and welfare of indigenous species ! Unfortunately those that are not are here to stay! I have no desire to catch a catfish or a Zander but maybe I will one day inadvertently!

I am happy with 2" corydoras !

I've had quite a lot of zander Mike, nothing big but up to about 6lb, they fight like a dying skimmer!
Regarding fish consumption, just think how many native fish zander alone consume. Those fish they consume would have fed pike and perch etc so because of the zander there will be far less pike and perch as the zander are now something else in the food chain for the indigenous fish to compete against....anglers arn't selfish and ignorant?
Now you've got the ongoing spread of huge fish munching catfish which devour everything from fish to mammals to reptiles etc etc.

mikench · Feb 10, 2019

You know my views on catfish Ian!

David Rogers 3 · Feb 11, 2019

mikench said:
The RSPB would never countenance a cull on any bird

There may have an exception to the general rule! Ruddy duck numbers in the UK cut to 120 by cull - BBC News

steve2 · Feb 11, 2019

tigger said:
Cormorants have always eaten coarse fish. If every cormorant was exterminated anglers would moan about another predator, and tyen tye next until anything that eats fish is exterminated. I think for a large part anglers are a bunch of selfish pratts who know sweet FA about nature. They themselves are the biggest threat to the rivers etc. They introduce invasive species at the drop of a hat and think nothing of the rammifications of their actions and don't even care so long as they can go fishing for them. Truth be known they just don't give a shyte about anything other than what they want.
I dislike a awful lot of so called anglers and their selfish ignorant attitudes!

A bit OTT.
Agree with the invasive species bit, let us get rid of Barbel and Carp from rivers where they don't belong or in the case of barbel don't breed or no longer breed. Catfish from all waters and all other alien species with them.
Also agree that there are many anglers today that never see what is going on around them.

nottskev · Feb 11, 2019

While we're on the subject of the natural world, this makes for startling reading

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' | Environment | The Guardian

103841 · Feb 11, 2019

I’m not always that observant and “switched on “ to things that are no longer there.

So to notice a dramatic decline in flying insects last Summer is saying something.

My car rarely got bug splattered whilst out on a summers day drive.

Every year we get pestered by flies on the beach, not last year.

The amazing spectacle of the once a year rising of the flying ants didn’t happen in our area.

Very few wasps to worry about.

peterjg · Feb 11, 2019

nottskev said:
While we're on the subject of the natural world, this makes for startling reading

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' | Environment | The Guardian

I've been going on about this for several years. there is no doubt - insect numbers are in serious decline and this effects fish, birds, us, everything!!!

Years ago I would drive overnight to Cornwall and the front of the car would be smothered in dead flies. I'd sit fishing and see huge clouds of flies above the tree line. Crane flies (daddy long legs) used to be a real nuisance of a warm autumn evening but now you hardly see any.

Surely the farmers are (for further profit) adversely effecting the insect life and all life that depends on insects by using insecticides. Surely the insecticides are eventually draining into our rivers, waterways and lakes!

silvers · Feb 11, 2019

peterjg said:
I've been going on about this for several years. there is no doubt - insect numbers are in serious decline and this effects fish, birds, us, everything!!!

Years ago I would drive overnight to Cornwall and the front of the car would be smothered in dead flies. I'd sit fishing and see huge clouds of flies above the tree line. Crane flies (daddy long legs) used to be a reel nuisance of a warm autumn evening but now you hardly see any.

Surely the farmers are (for further profit) adversely effecting the insect life and all life that depends on insects by using insecticides. Surely the insecticides are eventually draining into our rivers, waterways and lakes!

What profit would that be? Vast majority of traditional farm business is not directly profitable.
Optimisation of insecticide inputs has been a goal for many years. furthermore more targeted active ingredients now than previously.

Accumulation effects in the environment might be to blame, but more likely to be other ecological pressures (such as climate change) or combination effects - rather than just the easy scapegoats.

In reality the problem is that there are too many of us and we've created an ecological imbalance.

silvers · Feb 11, 2019

on the Bittern piece on Countryfile - I wonder if the decline of the Bittern could be linked to a decline in Rudd in their preferred habitats? And if so, is that just a natural cycle or is there an underlying reason for that?.

By the way - BTO is generally more science led than the RSPB, which tends to be more emotive (and therefore more successful in political battles)

peterjg · Feb 11, 2019

silvers said:
What profit would that be? Vast majority of traditional farm business is not directly profitable.
Optimisation of insecticide inputs has been a goal for many years. furthermore more targeted active ingredients now than previously.

Accumulation effects in the environment might be to blame, but more likely to be other ecological pressures (such as climate change) or combination effects - rather than just the easy scapegoats.

In reality the problem is that there are too many of us and we've created an ecological imbalance.

Are you saying that farmers don't use insecticides and don't farm for profit?

silvers · Feb 11, 2019

No ... i’m Saying that insecticide use in the U.K. is far less damaging from farming than 40+ years ago.
Input costs are high, so equally farmers could reduce insecticide to increase profit.

It’s a complex situation that deserves better than oversimplified finger-pointing.

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