Neonicotinoid impacts on birds

The catastrophic impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on bees has long been suspected but now it's becoming clear that they are hitting farmland bird populations too.

Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides in the world. They are toxic to most arthropods and they are widely applied as seed dressings because they act systemically, protecting all parts of the crop. Like so many pesticides used in the past they can persist and accumulate in soils and leach into waterways.

As a result of many studies, both in the laboratory and in the field, there is a widespread view among entomologists that neonicotinoid use has - in combination with the loss of flower-rich meadows, disease and mite infestations - contributed to the decline of bee populations. They are much less toxic to vertebrates and until recently evidence of any impacts on birds has been merely suggestive. However, a recent paper by Caspar Hallmann and his colleagues published in Nature has shown that decreases in bird numbers in the Netherlands shown by the Dutch Common Breeding Bird Monitoring Scheme have been most rapid in areas with highest environmental concentrations of neonics.

Read the paper here

My Seasons Greetings

I started this blog in July 2013. Since then I have received over 11,000 page views. The fact that folk worldwide have found interest in my pages is heartwarming. I am a modest blogger. My original 'theme' centred on birdlife and conservation but has included several hiccups along the way as I have ventured into the dangerous world of politics. Despite this, my readership has continued to bloom. Thank you for that. I continue to be amazed at the geographical spread of those readers who have viewed my posts. Many from the USA, others from my home country and many more from China, Russia, Germany, France, Spain, the Philippines, Ukraine, Ireland, South Africa, the Netherlands and more. The world in which we live, on this great planet Earth, is populated by many diverse peoples and I am thrilled that so many of you have found my blog and taken the time to read my pages. It says to me that multiculturalism is alive and I welcome that.

To every one of you who has visited my blog I would like to wish you an ongoing life of peace and happiness. This season in Europe that we refer to as Christmas has become so over commercialised that I no longer recognise its relevance. I prefer to consider this a time to think about family, to recall the true meaning of Christmas and to enjoy a few days of peace on Earth. If only that could become reality.

To my readers worldwide I send you my heartfelt wishes for a happy Christmas and a New Year that will encompass your dreams...