SOS for hysterical ducks 

THE 2005 Big Sea Watch Event will be held over the 12 and 13 February.  Common scoters are being put under the spotlight as part of the RSPB's Safeguard Our Sea Life campaign. The common scoter is just one of a number of species that depend on local seas and estuaries for their survival. And, like so much of our marine life, its future is uncertain. Around 50,000 of these sea ducks spend the winter in the shallow waters
off the Lancashire coast.

Tim Melling, RSPB conservation officer, said:- "A proposal to create a large wind farm on Shell Flat in Liverpool Bay spells trouble for this duck.

The problem is, it's a bird that is easily scared, that's why we call it the hysterical duck. An approaching boat will panic a scoter to fly a kilometre to escape. The likelihood is, the construction and operation of the wind turbines and increase in boat traffic in the scoters' feeding grounds, will drive these birds away from their winter stronghold," he added.

The seas off the UK and Ireland are home to internationally important numbers of seabirds such as gannets (68% of the world's population), Manx shearwaters (90%), puffins and great skuas. The common scoter's plight illustrates the need for a much greater degree of protection for the marine environment. More than half of the UK's wildlife depends on the health of the seas around our coasts. These birds, their food, their habitats and other marine wildlife, face many threats to their survival.

"Human activity, such as this wind farm proposal, has a far-reaching impact on our seas. Transport, fishing, extraction industries, power generation and recreation all put increasing pressure on fragile ecosystems and our marine species and habitats enjoy little legal protection.

There is an urgent need for comprehensive legislation to achieve better protection for marine wildlife and for effective management of our seas."  aid Tim.

The RSPB, working with other environmental organisations (Wildlife and Countryside Link), is calling on the Government and other administrations throughout the UK, to introduce comprehensive legislation to achieve better protection for the marine environment and its wildlife.

Among the priorities are:-

? A legal duty to care for the marine environment
? Better protection for marine species and habitats
? Sustainable management of coastal fisheries
? Effective planning of activities in the marine environment

As part of the campaign, the RSPB is calling on people to sign a postcard for the Prime Minister or add their name to a petition calling for improved marine legislation. The petitions and postcards are available from RSPB reserves and centres at Leighton Moss near arnforth, on the Dee Estuary, Marshside, near Southport, the Ribble Discovery Centre at Lytham St Annes, and from the Aren't birds brilliant! scheme on Southport Pier.

An online petition is also available by logging onto:-www.rspb.org.uk/policy/marine/safeguard/index.asp

Big Sea Watch

In support of the campaign, a number of Big Sea Watch events have been organised to show members of the public the wealth of bird life that lives off the north west's coasts and stuaries.

Saturday, 12 February
Noon, high tide wader roost at Teal Bay, Morecambe 
11 am, noon, High tide watch at Granny's Bay, Lytham St Anne's 
1 pm, 4 pm, wader watch from Southport Pier
Noon, High tide birdwatch at Parkgate, Gayton Sands

Sunday, 13 February
1pm, High tide wader roost at Teal Bay, Morecambe
11.30 am, 1 pm, High tide watch at Granny's Bay, Lytham St Anne's

Common scoter fact file

? Drake common scoters appear all black, females and juveniles are browner with grey cheeks and a dark crown
? In winter, large flocks or "rafts" of common scoter ride the waves around our coasts
? They dive in shallow water to retrieve mussels and other shellfish
? One of their vital feeding grounds in Liverpool Bay is now threatened by a large off-shore wind farm development 
? The British breeding population, confined largely to the far north of Scotland, has declined to less than 100 pairs in recent years