Its a wonderful space up here in Northumberland in an anotherwise often very humdrum non-descript environment but some clot or bunch of clots called The Council Authority in the name of improvement are lowering the value of the place. I mean those who are in charge that think they are clever but by a wide margin ‘miss the point’. They apparently occupy a paid role but often bring little or no talent. And now they tell us they are ‘spending millions’ to upgrade !!

Heres how NOT to manage for wildlife and insects :-

• Places where grass can grow undisturbed a full twelve months are targetted with needless strimming. Butterflies and moths need to be undisturbed, likewise their eggs.
• Old timber is ruthlesly eradicated in this ‘new plan’ … the best food source for birds now being eradicated.
• Old timber offers overwintering for butterflies and moths.
• Endless pulverised wood is now carpetting the ground where for all the years previously  blackbirds would pick over the leaf litter, in fact a colony of blackbirds.
• Trees thinned out, so we lose that particular ‘tree place’ feel and instead can gawk at the little rows of houses all around, can see right through and across the Park. This has devalued the place. Even the unusual red flowering hawthorn at the Tech entrance cut out and gone.

In each instance the amount of habitat seems not of great importance, but it is this over-clean so-called modern practice/requirement that is chipping away at all niche locations so in the end it will all be gone. Considering that even elementary eradication of self sown sapling ash is utterly beyond them, as horticulturists its quite stupid to throw such money and disturbance and denigration of resource to this one place this Park where in fact the general ‘streetscape’ most certainly could do with some help.

Why do I seem always to be the lone voice, as if no-one else has any brain cells or any eyes in their head. Witness their hopeless cack-handed treatment of the sapling ash, cut way too far above earth so that masses of new buds can break forth, duuuhhh ….

Can you tell me what skill level this could be categorised when to all appearances it is ‘zero skill’.

Elsewhere on Council managed land we have over-zealous hedge cutting that renders hedgerows far too narrow for any bird to risk nesting there. A lost opportunity. Most  years I could find ten nests, these last five none. I’ve written to them about both locations, their answer if any a pointless one. Their fixed viewpoint being immovable.  Those in charge may have a little bit of education and training but their minds just ‘do not get it’.

Why I am concerned on these matters  … https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers

My heart bleeds for all the birds that need insects as a food source, we can only assume populations are crashing.  Theres not a lot of material online at least as supplied by google, as if few people are actually engaged and publishing on these matters. I find the same problem re Pacific plankton dieback (from diatoms upwards in the food chain) and the crash of West Coast USA fisheries and ocean bird populations. With the latter we find it was two years ago when masses of birds were being washed ashore in Alaska and since then zilch, neither of birds found or published material. I made a charity donation to an Alaskan bird sanctuary but alas no response to my questions.

 

Postscript … is there a word to describe a manner of having an answer or so-called ‘solution’ thrown at me when the answer is in fact wrong or inappropriate? They mean well, imagine themselves to have solved the problem and like hearing themselves sound as if the problem is solved/ finished with. As if the soundbite is sufficient. I’ve witnessed this several times lately and I am increasingly wary;  I will not let go of something I consider or know to be incorrect, laxity is not something acceptable in my world. My own work or trade needs that I be 100% correct, theres no room for mis-interpretation or other than bang-on correct answers; pain and admonition, loss of face and a reprimand would soon occur, likewise my own personal standards will have been dragged down. Even Doctors don’t have this rigour, surgeons yes but GPs no. Looks like ‘thinking’ and common sense are becoming hard to find.