5.
great deal of commotion joining the young
Blackbirds etc. in inviting a premature end
to their lives by the neighbourhood cats. A
Blackbird's nest in a medium sized conifer
was destroyed when the young were still quite
small. I thought a cat was probably respon-
sible but a friend suggested Magpies. A
Magpie on the lawn was eating a bird about the
size of a Sparrow. Hornchurch Starlings left
the garden in Spring, very few staying to nest,
and all fat scraps etc. put out for them
remained uneaten. Upminster Starlings
although fewer in number than during the
Winter are still quite numerous and have
continued to consume everything immediately.
---oOo---
OTTERS - HEADING FOR EXTINCTION?
Otters are perhaps our most endangered
mammal. At a meeting of the Mammal Society
last year it was suggested that they may be
extinct in England and Wales within the next
30 years.
In Norfolk, with over 500 miles of water-
ways, only 32 otter locations are known and at
only half of these have otters been known to
breed.
Otters have declined all over Europe.
They are still common in the lakes of northern
Sweden but mercury pollution in other Scan-
dinavian countries has led to their near
extinction. There are thought to be only
20-30 otters left in the whole of Italy.
Holland lost nearly all of its otters until
refuges were set up to encourage them and now
they are recovering.