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Wednesday 8 June 2011

Sterne Mills Wildlife Destruction allowed

The applicationto develop the Copley /Sowerby Bridge Valley was passed yesterday.
If any nesting birds can be found, that SHOULD hold up starting until the young have flown.
Despite heavy showers this evening, it was evident that Willow Warbler, (2 males singing) a pair of Common Whitethroat, Grey Wagtail and Song Thrush were on the site and therefore probably breeding. A mallard duck had a newly hatched flotilla of ducklings on the river.
The rare Fern Grass is flowering away on the gravel areas, and the Red Campion is in full bloom.
In April I found native Primrose blooming on the canal bank beside the bridge they are going to widen to the size of a major trunk road.

3 comments:

  1. Do you think that the delayed condemning of the allotments is an easy way of obtaining an access road to the site?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve says:

    Not really. The gardeners demanded an analysis of their soil when they heard about the toxic soil on the development site.
    The council actually offered them extra allotment space at one point.

    Saw a pair of Common Whitethroat down there this week.

    Regards
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the decision tells us all we need to know; there is no monetary value in wildlife. It does make you wonder where it will all end. Maybe we should ponder the tale of the Easter Island statues.

    By the way, the rare Fern Grass is also on the cobbled slope at the entrance to Tod railway station. It survives despite attempts to spray it off each year because it is a 'weed'. The cobbles are to be 'beautified' as part of the new Tod Green Route. Maybe the Fern Grass has had its last flowering.

    ReplyDelete