The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Can anyone put me right on the value, if any, of of buckthorn to bird life?

I know it's invasive, but I tend to like both the foliage and the berries. I think they add variety to the Lincolnshire beachscape.

Furthermore, I have always thought the shrub provided a feeding and roosting habitat for winter thrushes and warblers.

But North East Lincolnshire Council has been eradicating large areas of it from Cleethorpes coastal nature reserve.

Now East Lindsey have announced that , at the behest of Natural England, they are to do likewise between Skegness and Gibraltar Point.
http://thewryneck.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/buckthorn-clearance-to-start-in-new-year.html

Is this good, bad or neutral for birds?

Jim,

In my opinion the present actions of Natural England amounts to state-sponsored vandalism and I would question it's legality under the European Birds Directive. I thought that the Lincolnshire buckthorn areas used to be protected as the largeset concentration of sea buckthorn in Europe.

A few years ago all the Sea Bucthorn and assocaieted Hawthorn was cleared from 10 hectares of Seacroft Gold Course under the direction of Natural England. Up until then this area held countless pairs of breeding Dunnock, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler and had just got breeding Nightingales. It also held a regular winter Long-eared Owl roost and in autumn was alive with migrating thrushes, goldcrest and robins. Now it is rank grass and nettles and devoid of any bird life all year round.

Clearly there is an aim in Natural England in promoting dune-type plants (although it remains doubtful and yet unproven if these areas will regenerate easily in areas that have now had 50+ years of organic matter added to the former sand substrate) at the expense of both breeding birds (safe from predators in a spiky bush) or providing a much welcome berry or insect meal for tired migrants.

To me it's a bit like removing all oasis areas from the Sahara to promote the area of sand.

Problem is with Natural England, they are unapproachable (never answered my concerns) and just do whatever they want.

Alan

Alan

Thanks for those observations.

Given the scale of the proposed clearance , it would be interesting to know if the initiative has been preceded by either a formal environmental impact assessment or even a basic species survey.

Is there a counter-argument that the extent of the buckthorn is detrimental to birds/ other forms of wildlife? After all, it is certainly no friend to other plant species.

I wonder if birders who cover the patch have a view on the subject? Or is the area seen as a bit of a birding wilderness and therefore seldom visited?

Does the RSPB anything to say? Or the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust?

There are two notable omissions from the East Lindsey District Council press release - a) it fails to include a quote from any Natural England official and b) it does not state which organisation has issued the substantial grant for the project.

Finally, will the works be carried out by ELDC 's own workforce or it will the contract be put out to tender to the private sector?

Jim

Draft management plan incorporating scheme proposals can be downloaded here

http://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/sssi

Was the plan compiled by a botanist?

It emphasises the importance of various plant species (which is good) but is a bit light on the potential impact on birds (which is less good).

Disappointed that spray will be used as a control method.

The management of Lincolnshire's coastal habitat can't only be for birds.... NE (and other organisations) need to maintain a sustainable environment whilst incorporating other management objectives, such as flora, invertebrates, reptile and amphibians... they all need homes! However, sometimes the positive reasons behind the management objectives aren't always pushed as well as they could be.....

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/

Natural England has issued an assurance that the forthcoming clearance project "will not impact on birds" given the large area of buckthorn that will still be retained.

I have blogged the statement at:
http://thewryneck.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/natural-england-were-striking-right.html

What a ridiculous statement from Natural England to say that removing buckthorn will have no effect on birds as they can go elsewhere! It's a bit like saying that chopping down all woods and bushes in Lincolnshire will not effect the birds as they can go to Norfolk. The sheer arrogance of a supposed conservation body just defies any logic.

I've no problem with NE stating that they would prefer to conserve certain plant species at the expense of other wildlife, but one can't say it will have no effect on bird populations.