Swift update

We are due to have roof repairs and I wrote to the council about the protocols for swifts and roof repairs. As many readers of this blog know, swifts are my favourite birds. They nest in roofs in this area, though there is no evidence of them living in our roof so far. Edited highlights of the council's reply follow:

'The decline in Swift populations is alarming and they have recently been added to the Amber list of "Birds of Conservation Concern" (see: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-219495 )
The main issue for Swifts seems to be the loss of urban breeding sites, particularly where tenement blocks are being refurbished, and my understanding is that refurbishment works must ensure that a building's roof is watertight and airtight before a Building Warrant can be issued. This results in a very strong incentive for builders to block up any existing crevices and gaps, resulting in nest sites being lost.

All roofing and building contractors should be aware that it is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 to intentionally or recklessly take, damage or destroy the eggs, young or nest of a swift whilst it is being built or in use. So if there are birds nesting in your building then the builders are required to wait until the breeding season has passed.

One of the ways we are trying to help Swifts in Edinburgh is to encourage developers of appropriate new builds to incorporate artificial nest sites (Swift bricks) into their designs.

The Scottish Ornithologist's Club carry out a survey for Swifts in Edinburgh every few years (the last report is available at: www.the-soc.org.uk/docs/edinburgh-swift-survey.pdf ).'

You can read more about Swifts at: www.swift-conservation.org/

We are very pleased to have a roofing contractor who is happy to fit swift nest boxes when he works on the roof.

Poetry pocket

This is an experiment in double sided collage. I collected all the natural materials (bark, feathers and elm fruits) from the Water of Leith over the last couple of weeks. The plastic is reused from packaging that came in a gift - pretty tough to sew the two pieces together.... The paper is all reused office waste. The words are descriptive of the woodland along the Water of Leith. They suggest rather than form a poem. The whole thing shifts about a bit, so it changes as you handle it.....

Rainforest thoughts

In the film The Emerald Forest (1985) - the forest dwellers were concerned that the edge of their forest kept coming closer to their homes.....

In the film, Birdwatchers (2009) - the former forest dwellers reclaim their ancestral homes on what is now endless farmland.....

Sometimes it can feel quite difficult to stay optimistic....... However, we can take action to help the rainforests across the world, one of the most effective methods is to get involved with campaigning with Ecological Internet, who have a very good record of success in preserving rainforests. You can find out more and join in their campaigns on their Rainforest Portal, here.

Misty Corstorphine Hill

quiet birdsong

on the misty hillside

a fox appears

Baraboo

Baraboo is the directorial debut of Mary Sweeney, the longtime editor for David Lynch. It's on again at the Edinburgh Film Festival tomorrow, 5.45pm at Filmhouse and I think there are tickets left. It's a beautifully shot film, full of trees and birdsong, that quietly follows the lives of the people who live and work in and around a motel and gas station in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It's full of subtle observation, humour and hidden pain and is a truly beautiful cinematic experience.

Birdwatchers - the Film

Another fine film in the Edinburgh International Film Festival is Birdwatchers, Marco Bechis' drama about the Gurani people of Brazil. The story centres on a family who live in a reservation and make money by posing for tourists but are rocked by a series of suicides and decide to reclaim their ancestral home. This home was once rich rainforest but is now farmland with a very unsympathetic owner, who wants the Indians off 'his' land. The film is beautiful, disturbing and depressing, though there are moments of humour, but overall it is not an optimistic film..... Birdwatchers was released in France and Brazil last year and is being released in a number of European countries over the next few months. Not sure about the USA.....

In some senses the film reminded me of The Emerald Forest, the 1985 film which was one of my early influences in developing my environmental awareness.

Survival International is campaigning for the rights of the Guarani people, you can find out more here.

For those of you who asked, Crimson Wing, which I reviewed a few days ago should be getting worldwide release, including a Swahili version to be released in Tanzania.

The Crimson Wing

The Crimson Wing is the first feature length film produced by the newly launched Disneynature. It's a stunning look at the life of one of the most fascinating, bizarre and characterful birds, the lesser flamingo. The sheer number of flamingos stuns the viewer as does their hardiness at living in one of the most naturally inhospotable environments in the world, Lake Natron, a hot salt lake in Tanzania. The narration is intriguing, full of information about the birds and their lifestyle, though it does tend a little to the oversentimental, as does the soundtrack. I just saw this film today at teh Edinburgh International Film Festival. It's on again tomorrow at 6.15pm and then will be released into selected UK cinemas on 25 September.

The flamingos on Lake Natron, as much other wildlife in Africa, are threatened by development in the area. A proposal for a soda ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron was recently overturned by local people, but the Birdlife International Think Pink campaign still goes on (though the information on this website may be a little out of date).