The last few days, since last Thursday in fact, have been a bit hectic for me and I have been out of the county and visiting my Son and Daughter-in-Law in the county of Yorkshire. I obviously made an effort to see and photograph a few things when we were there. The highlight was my first (UK) sighting of a Tree Sparrow. I have seen them in the Far East, Singapore to be exact where they have been introduced and they are the common sparrow there. In the UK they are very scarce now and populations have plummeted by a ridiculous percentage in the last 20 years….. 90% or there abouts. This is a bird that I possibly took for granted when I was a boy in Derbyshire and overlooked, but of course I will never know that for sure. They are now absent from Devon and Dorset. A small colony, somewhere in North Cornwall is our nearest population.
In Yorkshire there are a couple of sites where they can be seen. Bempton Cliffs was the first that we visited and on top of the RSPB visitors centre I caught sight of my first. I have to say that I was very disappointed with the Bempton Cliffs RSPB Reserve and it is all that I dislike about RSPB reserves all rolled in to one. Frankly it was/is a Zoo. The RSPB have taken ownership of the land there and the birds that breed there, and now charge an admission to view the wild birds on the cliffs….. what right have they to do that? There were facilities and cafes and, of course the inevitable gift shop. It was crowded to say the least with at least 500 people milling around the view points, to be honest I have been to Exeter City home games with fewer spectators. Surly, brusque "volunteers" were at the designated viewing points with their spotting scopes permanently focused on the odd unfortunate Puffin that was clinging to the cliffs and they would call out…….. the blokes, not the Puffins ……. "Puffin in the scope". There would then be a melee and scuffle as people clamoured to peer at the bird. Birdwatching, this aint!!!! I have to say that even though I am now a member of the RSPB something should be done to tone down the take over by the society because Bempton Cliffs has bee totally ruined. I was appalled by it all. I just hope that they do not acquire the land on the Cliffs here in Devon between Budleigh and Sidmouth, imagine the horror of that with a gift shop, fence and toilets and then the inevitable hordes that would throng in like lemmings.
So RSPB, you have ruined Bempton Cliffs!
Now Old Moor RSPB Reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley is a success story and even though there is an admission charge they have done a good job in creating a wildlife haven in the midst a typical Northern Landscape of houses and failing industries close to the MI and very busy trunk roads. A chat with Steve, (don't know if he was the manager but if he wasn't he should be), convinced me that they were actually protecting the birds here as well as providing good educational facilities and inspiration for local children. The focus was on Tree Sparrows and they were everywhere. Didn't agree with the children's adventure play area, it's a wildlife reserve for heavens sake and the family hide was better than my house. Is it really necessary to have such well appointed hides? This shows what a rich organisation the RSPB is. This does little to "Protect" birds which is surely the RSPB's aim (hence the title). But all in all I was pleased to see the efforts to protect and encourage the Tree Sparrows and I guess, without the shop, cafe and carpark then there would be no reserve and the Tree Sparrows would continue their decline. So I paid my money and joined the RSPB so I can moan from within!