THIS column is called Nature Watch and this is true. But have I missed something? What about Nature Listen?
It is the listening area of studying wildlife where young naturalists have the advantage over old folk like me. Years ago I could pick out birds by their sounds.
Birds can produce sounds of a much higher pitch than human beings. The structure of their ears are much more sophisticated than ours and some of their sounds are so high that they are beyond our range.
Birds do not have external ears like mammals and you might think that their feathers would work like ear plugs. The feathers around the bird's ear-drum are a special sort and are used like a funnel to channel the sound to the correct place for the best reception. Species such as the goldcrest produce such high notes that most people over 40 years old do not hear them as they move about usually in conifer trees.
A good bird watcher (or should it be listener) not only studies the songs but also sounds made when an individual is hungry, in pain or wanting to keep contact with others of the species. This is how they find food or keep in flocks during migration. Experts have now discovered that birds of a species have particular sounds but also individual birds have different voice patterns just like we do. We now know that birds which are resident have their own regional accent.
"Nah listen ere lad, dost tha' know that East Lancashire robins can be distinguished from Cockney robins?"
Listening to bird sounds adds yet another fascinating chapter to our study of the natural history of our county!
Quality tests on the air that we breathe
I WRITE these notes as the East Lancashire holiday period is nearing its conclusion.
Many readers will remember the days of the 1950s and 1960s when the mill chimneys were belching smoke into the atmosphere. When the boilers shut down for the 'Wakes' the atmosphere cleared very quickly.
In those days all of us breathed in foul air for much of our working lives. A living indicator of air quality are lichens. A lichen is a combination of two plants living together for the mutual benefit of both. This is an example of what is known as symbiosis.
There are two equal partners making up a lichen. One is a fungus which sticks to rocks and trees and is physically the largest of the partners. Living inside the fungus is a plant called an algae. This makes food from sunlight and it shares some food with the fungus. The fungus gives the algae protection.
Lichens are soon destroyed by poor quality air.
Since 1950 much work has been going on in the East Lancashire mill towns. This shows that the number of species of lichen and their populations have been increasing. Lichen counts show that we are now breathing in much clearer air than was the case in the recent past. Water quality has also been increasing. There has been a lot of interest in the last month with regard to a programme to persuade salmon back into the River Calder. Some years ago the Calder was one of Europe's most polluted rivers.
Work by United Utilities, the Mersey Basin Campaign and the Environment Agency suggests that the Calder has recovered rapidly. Other East Lancashire rivers including the Irwell and the Darwen are also showing great improvements.
Do we have indicator species to prove that real progress is being made?
Obviously the return of the salmon is the real test but there are many other species whose presence denotes improvements in water quality. These are dragonflies and kingfishers.
Over the next few weeks I would welcome records (via the 'Spy' section of this column) of dragonfly and kingfisher sightings.
I believe that every human being has the right to clean air and clean water. This applies to East Lancashire, East Asia, North Africa, South Africa and everywhere else on our planet. There is a motto: Think Global, Act Local.
'I Spy'
THERE are signs that the foot and mouth epidemic is now easing.
Some would say, however, that we have heard this before! There are so many footpaths re-opening that I am intending to start the 'normal' sightings section under the headings which applied before the epidemic. In the meantime, there are a few interesting sightings and observations including one sent on by my colleague here at the Telegraph - Eric Leaver.
Eric had looked at a letter asking where all the ducks had gone from Downham. The answer is nowhere, in the sense that following the breeding season all birds undergo a moult. In July and August they tend to be shy because when their flight feathers are moulted they either can't fly at all or their efficiency is so weakened that they need to hide away.
Once the moult is complete, all birds resume normal service and that is when the mallards will return to Downham.
The last full week of July was a scorcher and with our fields crammed with flowers full of nectar, our local butterflies have been a joy to watch.
The most prominent species seems to have been the meadow brown and the peacock. The latter species has "eye-like" spots on its wings. When this butterfly flaps its wings the eye spots seem to flash. Birds think that this is a predator and so the bird flies away and the peacock butterfly lives to fly another day.
Other prominent East Lancashire sightings included the successful breeding of merlin, peregrine, kestrel and sparrowhawk. Not many years ago such birds of prey were struggling to survive and their future looked grim.
Birds which have seen some decline, however, are the lapwing and the sky lark. The reason for the reduction in the population of such birds seems to be a loss of habitats.
I think there is one vital rule which all conservationists should stick to - protect important habitats. If we do this, the birds will look after themselves.
Good news, finally - the short eared owl, long eared owl and the barn owl have all bred successfully within the circulation area of this newspaper.
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