 News Bird Nesting - News 2009
News 2009 - Bird Nesting Certain species and their habitats are protected in the UK by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and some are also protected by EU legislation. It is an offence to deliberately capture, kill or disturb most protected species, but it can also be an offence to destroy their resting places or breeding sites. Bird nests may be within the branches of trees (conifer hedges can be particularly suitable for nests) or they may be within holes and cavities in the tree (especially Owl nests) or within intentionally placed nesting boxes. Due diligence for nesting birds, must be undertaken as part of the contracts process. Not all trees and hedges will have nests and not all nests will be occupied, however our staff will appraise the situation prior to works commencing. The bird nesting season in the United Kingdom runs from roughly from March 1st to September 30th however most nests are vacated during mid to late summer. The principle to be applied is that of "Due Diligence". Under due diligence we are required to take all reasonable steps to: 1. Identify / assess trees and hedges for bird nests at the time of our first tree survey or visit. 2. Identify in our tree work contract and terms of engagement for contractors that nesting birds is an issue if they are present 3. Use staff and contractors familiar with the duty under due diligence to check for nesting birds – Connick Tree Care briefs employees in nesting bird issues. 4. Not to fell trees with nesting birds / disturb nesting birds – We sometimes need to wait until the nests have become vacated. If a person thinks there is a nesting bird then our staff will investigate - and will not continue to fell if birds are present. It is illegal to: • Intentionally or recklessly injure, kill or take any species from the wild.
• Damage a nest while it is in use or being built.
• Take eggs from a nest.
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