This week while sifting through positive news stories for the blog I found myself distracted by a ruffled bird (her name is Telyn) twisting and bobbing about on live webcam watched by hundreds of people… before I give the wrong impression let me clarify that Telyn is an osprey, hunching over her nest as the distant 8.52 train rumbles across her territory.
Telyn on the nest with train headlights in the background (screenshot of live camera from Dyfi Osprey Project)
The ospreys of the Dyfi Osprey Project offer outlandish drama (new partners/nesting/mating) all live on camera, but if this proves too much then other popular options for wild streaming include the ever-energetic sea otters of Monterey Bay Aquarium, diving into the deep with the Cape Fear shark cam in North Carolina waters or the peaceful feeding of forest gorillas in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The list of wild cameras across the world appears endless and if your favourite species is missing from the above it’s well worth a search online!
Of course it’s not all cuddly cute critters, let’s not forget nature powers through red in tooth and claw, but these cameras offer a little snippet of escapism, a small window into a wider world. During these difficult times as we are less able to go out into nature, thankfully technology still enables us to immerse ourselves in the outdoors. I will continue to watch the trials of Telyn as she hunkers down against the Welsh weather with her new love interest, yes there’s always drama and unexpected plot twists, but I still have hopes this story has a happy ending.
Black rhinos in Kenya (Wikimedia creative commons)
Also in the positive news this week, we have a spectacular array of species conservation boosts! Firstly African black rhinos have increased in numbers from 4,845 in 2012 to ~5,630 in 2018. The number of rhinos being poached has declined since 2015 following strong conservation measures including new law enforcement, management of viable breeding populations and movement of individuals to increase their range. More on this story here:
Next up and a bit closer to home, the first wild stork chicks in centuries are expected to emerge next month in the UK! This is a wonderful success story emerging from the hard work of a number of conservation groups including the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Knepp estate. Read more about that here:
Further afield in Tasmania there has been an increase in the numbers of orange bellied parrot which is a critically endangered species, for the first time in a decade there will be over 100 birds heading north for the winter from their breeding grounds in Melaleuca. A major feat from when there was just three mature females in the wild in 2017. Read more about that here:
Offshore wind farm (Wikimedia Creative Commons)
Finally, there has also been good news for renewable energy with ~75% of new electricity capacity in 2019 coming from renewable energy devices, and more fossil fuel plants were decommissioned in 2019 than built! Alongside this global record, Britain has also just beaten its’ record for the longest time period not powered by coal since the Industrial Revolution, as of the morning of the 28th of April this had been 20 days and 8 hours! Hopefully new records such as these will help us move towards a cleaner, greener future.
We hope you enjoyed the bumper edition of good news stories this week and looking forward to spreading some more positivity in the next edition of the Big Fishue!