The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Although i do not agree with the cull i understand the reasons for it, much play being made of an introduced species being detrimental to a native european species. I have waited with patiently for even handed treatment being metered out to pheasant and red legged partridge where for years native birds of prey have been slaughtered to protect these alien birds. Do you think thats to much to ask and i wonder why this has not been proposed, hmmm !!!!!!!!,

terry whalin

and we have not even begun to mention the lovely grey squirrel!, another fine American import. Perhaps the EU could finance teams of Spanish marksmen to eradicate the grey menace.

Now that would be a worthwhile spending of our Eurotaxes!!

Does anybody know what the officials policies of RSPB, Lincs Wildlife Trust and Natural England are with regard to exterminating Ruddy Ducks on their Reserves?

Edmund why are the simplest questions the most difficult to ask? What an excellent point, and you know it never even crossed my mind!

I would like to add however, that while we can argue amongst ourselves about the morality of the extermination. And I think its healthy that we do. This does not reflect on the people who have the unenviable task of carrying out government policies. They may be bitterly opposed to European policies but the law is the law, and they have to comply with it, whether it is personally distastefull to them or not. After all, if we had a European Union directive to help the spread of Ruddy ducks I would be very angry if it was not carried out! Whilst debate amongst organisations is to be encouraged as fully as possible, holding individuals accountable for European law is not.

ring necked parakeet will be the next where a gradual case is being built where it is being declared a pest in the south,

terry whalin

Yes Terry I am sure you are right on this. I would personally hate to see them removed entirely but I have to admit that as attractive as they are, they do look strange in an English setting and I know in their places of origin, they are a serious agricultural pest. As with most releases (mink, grey squirrel, deer but not ruddy duck) there is no natural control on their numbers. Perhaps we need to import some exotic parrot taking raptor.

I've moved this to the 'Lincs Bird Chat' as it is no longer relevant for the sightings section.

John

_________________
-------------------------------


Contact: recorder_south@lincsbirdclub.co.uk

Defra bulletin 7 is the latest current information on the cull which is also
taking place in France and Belgium, the last known RD in Spain was recently shot in Murcia.
John.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/s ... ducks.aspx

You might also want to read the good thread on Surfbirds about this topic, where people who know a lot more about these things than me contribute.
http://surfbirds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6141

I find it hard to believe that people who genuinely care about the environment and birds can object to this cull. Its not nice to see ducks getting shot, and its "not their fault" as the animal rights brigade will keep on saying (while they are releasing Mink into the countryside perhaps), but it is necessary in order to protect the White-headed Duck. That has been demonstrated convincingly and is the only reason that the cull was approved. I would suggest a thorough reading around the subject of all the available information before saying comments such as "shame on you" for someone doing their job as well as an environmentally and biodiversity commendable thing by reporting this bird. Congratulations to you Mr Badley, and i strongly urge anyone to report Ruddy Ducks to FERA as soon as they see them.

From what I remember the £3m project to cull the Ruddy Duck in Britain finishes this year. I am pretty sure that this won't be the end of the bird in the UK so I wonder what will happen when their numbers increase again, will any more money be forthcoming to re-instate a cull. We must not forget that the bird was introduced to Britain by a conservation body from which only a couple or so escaped (I don't know the exact number, but only seven were imported) so the few that will undoubtedly survive this cull will probably start breeding again.

David

The phrase " to protect the White-headed Duck " encapsulates the pro-cull aim. If, however, we then proceed to ask, " to protect the White-headed Duck from what ? ", we are summarily informed, " from interbreeding with the Ruddy Duck, of course (stupid).".....no hybrids here, thank you. So, the Ruddy Duck doesn't exactly kill and eat White-headed Ducks, it doesn't eat their eggs and destroy their nests, but it commits the heinous crime of interbreeding.

The tidy world and the tidy mind of the avian taxa specialists permit only blacks and whites, no unclassifiable greys, no unthinkable hybrids. Killing/mass slaughter in the name of 'controlled eugenics' in any branch of the animal kingdom is, I suggest, a dangerous path to tread, especially vis-a-vis public opinion. Countless tomes and countless items of literature have been written on the subject of eugenics - including re the Ruddy Duck saga - and whether the RSPB,DEFRA et AL, et PAUL, fully appreciate it or not, to many of us there is something about the Ruddy Duck cull that remains somewhat suspect and odiferous. That is why there is so much anti-cull feeling around, representing an opposing view which should not be repeatedly brushed aside, often in a somewhat supercilious and academically arrogant manner. Relevant factors affecting public opinion clearly include (and pro-cull advocates dismiss them summarily at their peril) - :

- the UK and Spain are some 700+ miles apart geographically. So, we have the Ruddy Duck in the UK and the White-headed Duck in Spain.....and we are told that the UK Ruddy Duck is forever commuting to Spain specifically to mate with the Spanish WH Duck. I can't imagine the slaughtered female Ruddy Ducks having had the urge to fly to Spain in search of cooperative male WH Ducks but " Hey, just one female could prolong the breed, so come on, let's shoot the lot....in the name of eugenic justice, of course."......and why not shoot them only in Spain when they arrive, (if they ever did in numbers) but not to shoot every one of them all over the UK just in case there is a sudden mass exodus to breed with the WH Duck.

- shooting of wildlife per se is anathema to many.

- the Ruddy Duck is one of the few ducks in the UK (OK...we all know it's not 'native' but then neither is half of the UK's human population) with apparent attitude and character.

-few birders, if any, could imagine Spain doing the honours or anything at all if the position were reversed - ie. WH Ducks were flying to the UK to interbreed with our (OK non-native) Ruddy Ducks..... ? the traditional British soft touch.

Public opinion factors...yes....and not academic ones. Nevertheless, pro-cull advocates could do well to mull over those points and take note of strongly based public opinion on these matters before continually brow-beating those who dare to question the literature (stupid) and who dare to contradict their own set-in-stone eugenically based views. We must all remember that public opinion (one of the last bastions of real common sense) can often overcome so-called logical and academic views in the long run.....we shall see.

Freddy
NB>- Chambers Dictionary :
" eugenic - pertaining to race improvement by judicious mating and helping the better stock to prevail."....what a minefield !






_

Absolutely brilliant post Freddy - you say all that needs saying.
I strongly urge all those who find this 'ethnic cleansing' fascist approach to nature conservation abhorrant to think carefully before they renew their memberships to organisations that 'rat' on the presence of Ruddy Ducks and which actively support the cull. Just because a jailed Environment Minister decided to do away with Ruddy Ducks it doesn't mean that conservation bodies have to slavishly obey. What next - a super injunction to cover a cull of Parrakeets!!

Eugenics and ethnic cleansing!?!?

I'm sure the survivors of the holocaust, Sudan and the former Yugoslavia would love to have their history compared to this. What complete drivel. If you had an ounce of sense you would realise that species introduced by humans are one of the primary causes of extinction in the world. Only habitat destruction/human over-population beats it. I don't see anyone getting upset over the RSPB killing all of the introduced rats on Henderson Island, or attempts to get rid of all the alien species of plant and animal on Tristan. Why is that? By your logic they should be left to fend for themselves and eat their way through the endemic seabirds, which are clearly not up to the job of protecting themselves and deserve to die.

Amazing what a pretty blue bill can do for you public image isn't it. Thankfully those in power to make decisions generally do so after considering the scientific basis for and against. Unlike you guys. Sorry to be blunt, but phrases like those contained in your above posts get me angry. As i said, read the Surfbirds thread.