I love to travel, mainly to Africa where I was born, I enjoy reading and playing bridge. I go for rambles in the countryside. I collect stamps and go to T'ai Chi classes. I love my two cats and my garden birds. I adore the African wildlife and try to help Conservation groups.
Migrating birds suffer huge loss.
By Rebecca Morelle - BBC News science reporter.
The birds that winter in Africa are most affected. Migratory birds have suffered a dramatic decline in numbers, according to a study. Species that migrate thousands of miles from Africa to the UK have been the worst hit over the last 30 years.
The researchers say the cause of the decline remains a "mystery", but could be linked to climate change, habitat destruction or pesticide use. Writing in the journal Biological Conservation, they warn the losses may indicate wider environmental damage.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International study analysed population trends of European breeding birds, including non-migratory birds and those that migrate both short and long distances. These birds have been slipping away from under our noses for 30 years, and we've never has really noticed it before - Dr Paul Donald, RSPB. The data spanned three decades, from 1970 to 2000.
"We found that long distant migrants - the ones that go right across the Sahara, like the swallows, flycatchers and warblers - have shown a fairly consistent pattern of decline," said Dr Paul Donald, an author on the paper from the RSPB. Those that winter in Africa, he said, seem to be the most affected. The study also compared the long-distant migratory birds with closely related non-migratory birds, but again found in almost every case that the migratory birds faired worse.
The roller has suffered dramatic losses. Fifty-four percent of the 121 long-distant migratory birds studied suffered plummeting numbers or had even become extinct since 1970. The roll-call of declining species is long. "Some fairly iconic species have declined enormously in Europe. There is a very beautiful blue and purple bird called the roller - the population of that bird is crashing all over Eastern Europe," Dr Donald told the BBC News website. "In the UK, other species that have declined enormously are spotted flycatchers, pied flycatchers, wheatears, wood warblers and tree pipits."
The exact reason for the birds' decline, according to the authors, is a "mystery". But several theories to explain the losses have been put forward, and will now be investigated. One explanation is tied to the changing conditions in Africa, where the birds winter. "We know that agriculture has spread; we know there has been a long-term drought in the Sahel; and we know huge amounts of pesticides are used to control locust outbreaks," said Dr Donald. The wryneck no longer breeds in the UK .
The swelling size of the Sahara may also be hampering the birds. Migrating birds face longer and longer non-stop flights across the desert. Climate change has been highlighted as a potential culprit. Warmer springs in Europe are causing some insects to hatch earlier in the year, which means by the time the migratory birds arrive to breed and raise their young they may have missed their much-needed food-source. "Migrants make up a high proportion of our species of birds, so this is a big conservation issue," said Dr Donald.
"But if you think that these are birds that cover vast areas of the Earth's land-surface - this consistent pattern of decline is indicative that there are some pretty severe environmental changes going on somewhere which might also have an impact on humans." The authors conclude that urgent action is needed to uncover the cause of the decline. "There is something about being a migrant that counts against them," said Dr Donald.
"These birds have been slipping away from under our noses for 30 years, and we've never has really noticed it before."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Bird of prey back from the brink
Only one pair of marsh harriers existed in the UK in 1971. A bird of prey is thriving throughout the UK, 35 years after it was on the brink of extinction. A crackdown on toxic pesticides and persecution has helped boost numbers of marsh harriers to a 200-year high.
In 1971, just one pair remained at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' Minsmere reserve in Suffolk. By 2005, 360 breeding females were recorded in parts of eastern England, the Cambridgeshire Fens, Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Scotland. The birds are known for their spectacular aerial courtship display.
A survey by the RSPB and English Nature also shows that marsh harriers are leaving nature reserves and nesting in farmland outside protected sites.
Alan Drewitt, from English Nature, said: "What we need to do now is recreate new wetlands to further increase marsh harrier numbers and help other rare and threatened wetland species. "The Great Fen Project in Cambridgeshire is a good example of this and will restore more than 3,000 hectares of farmland to fenland wildlife habitat."
Drainage of the Fens and other wetlands for farming from the 1700s onwards caused marsh harrier numbers to decline. From 1900 to 1920, the bird was extinct in the UK. The RSPB's Dr Mark Eaton said: "It was a tragedy and the marsh harrier was not the only bird to suffer. "The peregrine falcon declined for the same reason, as did buzzards and sparrow hawks, but we are pleased that the illegal killing of birds of prey is now much reduced in the English lowlands."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Rogue elephant escapes in Rwanda
Mutware has been rampaging through farms since the weekend. An infamous elephant, Mutware, has escaped from a game park in Rwanda terrifying villagers, admit wildlife officials. Conservation officer Fidel Ruzigandekwe said trackers were trying to find him after he left Akagera National Park.
The bull elephant acquired a fearsome reputation last year when a US security warning was issued about his temper. "We can no longer move; we are in fear of Mutware, who has destroyed our gardens," a resident told a newspaper.
A former keeper told the BBC the elephant has been known to storm off before, usually when he is hungry. "He has destroyed crops but so far no-one has reported any damage to infrastructure," Mr Ruzigandekwe, who works for Rwanda's Tourism and National Parks Office, told AFP news agency.
We're looking at ways of putting a barrier around the park - Conservation officer Fidel Ruzigandekwe.
Mutware has become popular with local tourists, who flock to see him wallowing in Lake Ihema. Last year, the 37-year-old elephant destroyed at least three vehicles in the park, prompting the US embassy warning, the agency reports. The park does not have a fence, but Mutware is usually accompanied by park rangers.
Park rangers say Mutware usually has a good character and violent incidents in the past came about because foolhardy visitors ventured into the park without guides. After the latest incident, a barrier was being considered, Mr Ruzigandekwe said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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10 THINGS
 10 daisies by Louise R Holliday, Rhode Island
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Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Dolphins communicate like humans by calling - more accurately, whistling - each other by "name".
2. Fidel Castro is worth $900m according to Forbes although he insists his net worth is zero.
3. The short xylophone ditty that Apple Mac computers play is called Sosumi - a contraction of So Sue Me - Apple's cheeky riposte to the Beatles' Apple Corps.
4. George Bush's personal highlight of his presidency so far is catching a 7.5lb (3.4kg) perch.
5. The architect of Centrepoint - London's most obvious modernist landmark - built more buildings in the capital than Sir Christopher Wren. His name was Richard Seifert.
6. Britain is still paying off debts that predate the Napoleonic wars because it's cheaper to do so than buy back the bonds on which they are based.
7. In Japan, boys in secondary school wear an outfit modelled on 19th Century Prussian army uniforms.
8. Despite the abundance of aerial shots of tall gleaming City of London buildings, Sir Alan Sugar's company Amstrad is based in a low-rise block in Brentwood, Essex.
9. Employees of the British Nuclear Group are entitled to an annual underwear allowance of £70.
10. Five billion apples eaten a year in the UK.
(Sources, where no links are included: 2 - Forbes Magazine; 3 - Radio 4 Today, 8 May; 4 - Living with Modernism, BBC Four, 9 May; 8 - Guardian, 10 May; 9 - Daily Telegraph, 8 May.)
BBC MAGAZINE
Hybrid bear shot dead in Canada.
There have long been stories about mysterious crossbreeds.A white bear with brown patches shot dead in northern Canada is the first grizzly-polar hybrid found in the wild, DNA tests have confirmed. Canadian wildlife officials say it is the offspring of a male grizzly bear and a female polar bear. There have long been stories of oddly coloured bears living in regions where the two territories overlap.
But until now, grizzly-polar hybrids, dubbed "grolar bears" or "pizzlies", have been found only in zoos. The hybrid bear was shot last month by an American big game hunter on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. His guide, Roger Kuptana, noticed the creature had the long claws and slightly humped back of a grizzly bear and thought it might be a hybrid. The body was seized by officials, who sent a DNA sample for tests which confirmed its unusual origins.
There are behavioural differences between the species, including timing of mating seasons, that make hybrids highly unusual = David Field, Zoological Society of London
"It's something we've all known was theoretically possible because their habitats overlap a little bit and their breeding seasons overlap a little bit," said Ian Stirling, a biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton. "It's the first time it's known to have happened in the wild."
Nanulak bePolar and grizzly bears have been bred together in zoos, but in the wild they rarely cross paths. However, some grizzly bears have been seen venturing across the ice towards polar bear territory to search for food after emerging from hibernation. This might explain how the rare union occurred. "In the limited area where the two species' ranges overlap, it is not entirely surprising that we might find a polar-grizzly hybrid," said David Field, Zoological Director of the Zoological Society of London.
"However, there are behavioural differences between the species, including timing of mating seasons, that make such hybrids highly unusual and it is unlikely that any resultant offspring would be viable." Canadian wildlife officials are now thinking up a name for the creature. Some of the suggestions they have come up with so far are "pizzly", "grolar bear" or "nanulak", after the Inuit names for polar bear (nanuk) and grizzly bear (aklak).
BBC NEWS REPORT
Hawaii whales at risk from boats.
Whale watching season lasts from December to May. Humpback whales swimming in the waters off Hawaii are increasingly in danger of being hit by boats. So far, seven confirmed collisions have been recorded in the current breeding season, compared with 33 over the last 30 years. Environmentalists say they are alarmed by the growing trend, but researchers believe the increase is due to a jump in population numbers. Around 1,000 calves are born in Hawaiian waters every year.
The population of humpback whales has been growing by around 7% annually since the mid 1990s in the North Pacific area. "As long as the population continues to get bigger, it's going to keep happening," Joseph Mobley, a professor at the University of Hawaii-West Oahu told the Associated Press news agency. More whales are also swimming to Hawaii from icy feeding grounds off areas such as Alaska and Canada.
The calves pose a greater risk as they need to surface more often. "It's kind of like driving in a school zone," marine biologist David Schofield of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
Boat drivers are required to follow certain procedures, such as always travelling below 13 knots, never leaving the helm, posting a lookout and staying a minimum distance away from whales. Boat owners have to follow strict guidelines to avoid harm. Local experts say an injured whale can often disappear and their welfare unknown.
"It's unclear what happens to injured whales, which despite their size can quickly disappear, sometimes with fatal gashes and internal wounds," said Ed Lyman, from NOAA's response team. Some 50 ships are involved in whale watching in Hawaii, carrying 300,000 passengers a year. Humpbacks were placed under international protection in 1966, and are also shielded under US federal law.
BBC NEWS REPORT
New African monkey discovered.
By Helen Briggs BBC News science reporter.
There may only be a thousand individuals left. A previously unknown monkey species has been found in the mountains of southern Tanzania. The animal is believed to be a critically endangered species, with no more than perhaps a thousand individuals remaining. The highland mangabey, as it is called, lives in the trees and is thought to be closely related to the baboon family.
Full details of the discovery were revealed on Thursday in the journal Science. Tom Butynski was one of the first scientists to track down the secretive monkey. He said it was a great thrill to be only the second or third primatologist to see the animal. "Your mouth drops open and a big smile appears on your face," he told the BBC News Website. "You say 'wow'!"
Dr Butynski was part of a US research team visiting the Ndundulu Forest Reserve to investigate sightings of the Sanje mangabey, a rare "cousin" of the new species.
Researchers have good photographic evidence. Unbeknown to them, a different team of researchers working a few hundred kilometres away in the southern highlands of Tanzania was also on the animal's trail. "These monkeys have probably been there for hundreds of thousands of years," said Dr Butynski. "What are the chances of two independent projects finding the animal within a 10-month period?"
The other research group, led by Tim Davenport of the New-York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, had been searching the area for many months after hunters spoke of seeing a strange animal known locally as the Kipunji. They finally spotted the monkey last year. "This discovery proves that there is still so much to learn about the more remote and less well-known areas of Tanzania, and Africa as a whole," said Dr Davenport.
The existence of such a large mammal living out of sight for so long has astounded biologists. It is more than two decades since the last discovery of a new African monkey.
The monkey is brown with a black face. Russell Mittermeier, of IUCN - The World Conservation Union, said it demonstrated how little we knew about our closest living relatives, the non-human primates. "A large, striking monkey in a country of considerable wildlife research over the last century has been hidden right under our noses," he said. The highland mangabey (Lophocebus kipinji) is brown with a distinctive soft "honk-bark" call. It lives as high as 8,000ft (2,450m) above sea level and has long fur to withstand the cold.
Scientists believe there are two or more populations living in forests near the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. But with so few individuals left, they fear its future is in jeopardy. Some of the monkey's habitat has been destroyed by illegal logging, prompting calls for the area to be better protected by expanding the boundaries of the national park.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Dolphins communicate like humans by calling - more accurately, whistling - each other by "name".
2. Fidel Castro is worth $900m according to Forbes although he insists his net worth is zero.
3. The short xylophone ditty that Apple Mac computers play is called Sosumi - a contraction of So Sue Me - Apple's cheeky riposte to the Beatles' Apple Corps.
4. George Bush's personal highlight of his presidency so far is catching a 7.5lb (3.4kg) perch.
5. The architect of Centrepoint - London's most obvious modernist landmark - built more buildings in the capital than Sir Christopher Wren. His name was Richard Seifert.
6. Britain is still paying off debts that predate the Napoleonic wars because it's cheaper to do so than buy back the bonds on which they are based.
7. In Japan, boys in secondary school wear an outfit modelled on 19th Century Prussian army uniforms.
8. Despite the abundance of aerial shots of tall gleaming City of London buildings, Sir Alan Sugar's company Amstrad is based in a low-rise block in Brentwood, Essex.
9. Employees of the British Nuclear Group are entitled to an annual underwear allowance of £70.
10. Five billion apples eaten a year in the UK.
(Sources, where no links are included: 2 - Forbes Magazine; 3 - Radio 4 Today, 8 May; 4 - Living with Modernism, BBC Four, 9 May; 8 - Guardian, 10 May; 9 - Daily Telegraph, 8 May.)
BBC MAGAZINE
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