UKC

Spring is in full flow. The soil is warming up, the cherry blossoms are blooming and the thoughts of climbers are turning to warm rock and long days out on the outcrops, sea cliffs and mountain crags of the British Isles.

For some time now you may have been heralded with bird song as you awake. That means our feathered brethren are busy nest building and mating, and some of them maybe nesting on your favourite crag. When these birds are rare or endangered this means that you may have to avoid certain crags or parts of crags.

Read more to learn where to avoid climbing in the British Isles this year.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=52892

In reply to UKC News:

"and the Peaks District."

You realise Al Evans is going to rip your balls off for this?

In reply to UKC News: Remember even if it isn't rare, it's still a criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb nesting birds - Check for bird activity before you start a route, regardless of whether there's a ban.

In reply to UKC News:

The link to the Scottish info needs fixing.

In reply to Adam L:

Done. Thanks Adam.

Here's the RSPB's handy hints for law relating to birds:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/birdsandlaw/index.asp

And these are the birds you're not allowed to photograph at the nest:
http://www.birdimages.co.uk/files/documents/BIRDPHOT_tcm5-43180.pdf

In reply to UKC News:

The birders were out en masse - 100s of them - in Haweswater at the weekend twitching at the golden eagles.

In reply to UKC News: I'm not one for ripping balls off but what have you got against the word 'fewer'?

Good article. Although there is only one crag up here on the sandstone to be aware of at present, I was not aware of it until about 5 mins ago, cheers for getting me thinking and checking RAD

Mark

Bottom line is that there are 'less' problems in Scotland as birds have more space and there are 'less' people

In reply to UKC News: The article lists 'the slate quarries' - what? All of them? Lancs and Wales?

In reply to grumpybearpantsclimbinggoat:

We can't list all the crags in the news item, just the areas.

For the specifics check the BMC Bird Poster, the RAD and the MCofS news item all are linked.

In reply to NickD:


Now that I didn't know.

Cheers!

In reply to toad:
Slightly more complex than that, as most things in life are. Dont work in England or Wales, but my understanding was that the "reckless" bit, at least in Scotland comes from the Nature Conservation(Scotland) Act 2004 ie. only applies in Scotland. I am not aware of any equivalent legislation in E&W, but happy to be corrected.
In Scotland its also abit more complicated than that statement. There are Schedule 1 and 1A species that have different level of protection than other species, and in terms of climbing, only eagles and peregrines are really the Scheduled species that climbers may come across. For them, definitely disturbing the birds "at, on, or near" the nest is an offence. For them and non-Schedule species it is an offence to interefere with the nest, kill, take birds or eggs, obstructing or preventing any wild bird from using its nest. Strictly speaking although not desirable, it is not an offence in law to disturb a non-Schedule species eevn if on a nest although if that gets to the point where it is preventing it from using its nest, then you are on dodgy ground. This latter point has never been defined through case law. Have a look at the Scottish link in the news article and there is a full explanation of the laws in Scotland. Im guessing the BMC probably have an extensive explanation on their website too for E&W.

In reply to UKC News:

I like the way Lucy Creamer appears to be Leopard crawling towards that racing pigeon. Is that part of her training regime? I might try it tomorrow.

In reply to MCofS: You're right, but CROW tightened up W+C act. The context I've seen it applied in was builders recklessly disturbing nesting birds - ie they were informed there were nesting birds and continued to work. Nothing particularly rare.

I think the point is to be aware of nesting birds generally, not just specific banned crags. It isn't likely that anything would happen, but it is good practice.

In reply to MCofS:

'Torr Nead an Eoin, North Arran

There is a nest on that crag most years and specific information should be available locally – try your accommodation provider.'

All the people I know that climb on Arran take a tent, I thought the point of the link was to inform.

In reply to UKC News:

Does anyone else ever have the feeling that on occasions we give undue deference to birds and bird lovers?

I recall that Sron Ulladale was out of bounds one Summer because a Golden Eagle pair were nesting in the vicinity. Would anyone seriously consider shutting The Royal and Ancient at St Andrews if an unusual bird were found nesting in one of the bunkers?

In reply to Removed User:

If golf bunkers happened to be habitats for Golden Eagles, then the law ensures that they can't ignore it and just crack on regardless.

In reply to UKC Eric9points, just waiting for it "birdies" "Eagles" etc!

In reply to UKC News:
According to the BMC poster, there are no restrictions in Northumberland or the North York Moors. Is this right, or a proof-reading error?

In reply to Toreador:
It's wrong, for some reason they never bother with Northumbrian crags - the BMC, not the birds, that is

These are the normal 'bans', I'm not sure if there's stuff at all these crags this year:
Henhole (ravens + peregrines last year)
Crag Lough, peregrines east of the lake
Thrunton Front buttress
Aid Crag
Linshiels crags