WILDLIFE REVIEW OF THE YEAR
Wildlife & conservation review of 2001
CHRIS GIBSON
1 Dove House Cottage, Oakley Road, Dovercourt, Essex CO12 5DR
Introduction
Media reporting during the latter half of 2000 was dominated by tales of rain and floods,
largely in relation to their effects upon our built-up areas. Wildlife is of course not immune to the
effects of extreme weather: indeed, it is one of the main determinants of survival, breeding success
and other population parameters, sometimes well after the weather event itself has taken place. To
take just one example of the weather/wildlife relationship during 2001, data from the British Trust
for Ornithology show the breeding season for birds began early, a result of the previous mild
conditions, and hopes were high for a successful breeding season. But in common with several
recent years, a cool and damp spring, preceding bursts of intense summer heat oscillating wildly
with unsettled conditions, impaired the breeding success of resident and migrant birds alike - from
insectivores to seedeaters, gamebirds, waders and raptors, more-or-less spanning the avian spectrum.
And this is despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that 2001 proved to be the second warmest
year on record globally; the weather extremes which accompany the underlying warming trend
all have their day-to-day impacts.
For once though, the big talking-point of the year was not the weather. The abiding memory of
2001 will be as the year of Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD). This, the worst recorded outbreak in
Britain and indeed, according to some authorities, the world, impacted upon each and every aspect
of the rural scene - agriculture and farmers; tourism and recreation; and wildlife and conservation.
A flavour of the implications of the outbreak, particularly in relation to Essex, will be found in the
following pages, but it is difficult to encapsulate the breadth of the implications for a countryside
from which we were all effectively excluded for several months. At the end of the paper is a review
of the outbreak, its implications and lessons learned (or not, as the case may be).
As always, I am indebted to the many observers whose records form the bulk of this report, and to
the regular publications from which items have been taken. I would like to stress again that any bird
records given here are not a definitive record: for 'the word' on birds, see the Essex Bird Report
published annually by the Essex Birdwatching Society.
Winter
At the start of the year, much of Essex was still under a light covering of snow - the remnants from
a post-Christmas drop in temperature - albeit melting rapidly. January brought some respite from
the drenching of the previous few months, although the snowmelt contributed to ongoing flood
alerts. As compared with the long-term average, it was a sunny month, with clear skies leading
inevitably to a number of cold, frosty nights. Especially in mid-month, there was a series of
particularly severe frosts, with associated freezing fog and more localised snow deposits.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 19 (2002)
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