Scarecrow at Charlton's Pond

[Lockhart]

I suspect this has been erected by fishermen; rather disturbing to see in a nature reserve.  Does anyone who to contact regarding concerns about Charlton's Pond?

[A McLee]

Stockton's Care for Your Area, informed and removal requested.

[Keith Ryan]

I've also drawn it to the attention of the council.

[Fred Wright]

The fishing is leased by Billingham Angling Club I believe, and if their lease is similar to ours then they have the right to protect their property ( fish ) by any legal means. Evidently it's not doing it's job as the Cormorants are still there. Would you prefer they obtain a permit to shoot the Cormorants (which is also totally legal).

[A McLee]

Without sight of the terms of the lease I cannot comment, but I would be surprised if the council would consider sanctioning shooting in a LNR which has public present.
Further to shoot under licence fish eating birds, the case for economic loss would have to be made by the applicant.
There are ways of reducing predation but that is not the club's job to suggest these.

[Fred Wright]

Fortunately, permits to shoot are a last resort and extremely difficult to obtain, and unless the permits have been amended over the years only 2 birds could be shot in any one calendar year. The very fact that Cormorants are there shows that the scarecrow aint working and the Goosanders will be back once the rains arrive and turn the rivers into raging soup. If people are desperate to see Goosanders, the middle reaches of the Tees are currently lifting with them (along with Otters) and I'm not sure but I believe they are classed as "wildfowl" in England and can be legitimately shot ( tho not on a nature reserve). Indeed in some parts of Scotland both sawbills are classed as vermin and shot on site as they can devastate the Salmon parr numbers and we don't want to upset the Lairds Salmon beat now do we? We have to remember that fish are wildlife as well. Further, throughout the country many council owned ponds are leased to fishing clubs who carry out the maintenance and annual upkeep where the council would not have the funds or resources to do so. The fishing clubs do the work and everyone benefits, birders, dogwalkers alike, so we should applaud them for their efforts.

[Lockhart]

Thanks to all for the comments, particularly those who have already contacted the council.  Even if the scarecrow is "legit" (regarding birds, the cormorants were on the other pool and numbers seemed a lot lower than on my visits last winter), it seems reasonable to ask the question.

[A McLee]

The plot thickens. The scarecrow is but a temporary measure before some contraption involving wires and tags is erected.
The local care for your area office, has sanctioned this, but who else and at what level in the borough has been involved is presently uncertain. I have asked by fellow committee members to comment before the club makes a formal response.
My early thoughts of having wires over water which attracts all sorts of night flying waterfowl is a recipe for amputees! A bittern was lost a couple of years ago there and that was just in discarded fishing line. This is, I understand, a LWS not a private fishing pond.
Objective observations and pictures on this site is welcome.

[Fred Wright]

I totally agree with you Lockhart and its great that we have this facility to ragchew. But before condemning that which we do not know, would it not be the right and proper thing to discuss this with the people concerned ( Billingham Angling Club) and find out what the problems are and what they plan rather than just surmising and flying off at a tangent. You might well be pleasantly surprised.(youmight also be told to keep your nose out, but I doubt it). Birders aren't the only people who care about the environment and if it wasn't for anglers many of our rivers and lakes would be polluted to hell and nothing but open sewers and the Goosanders would have nowhere to breed..

[Lockhart]

Fred, the angling club may have a fishing licence but Stockton Council are responsible for managing the site, so they're the people with whom this needs to be discussed.  I've been told by a reliable source that Charlton's Pond has statutory designation specifically as a bird sanctuary under the Protection of Birds Act of 1954 (apparently this is rather unusual).  I'm not a lawyer, but harming birds to protect artificially-stocked fish would appear to run counter to that designation.

[Fred Wright]

Try telling that to the local Pheasant shoot when they are given a permit to shoot Buzzards. Even if the local authority are responsible ?? it would surely be a common curtesy to approach the fishing club rather than condemn offhand. Charltons ponds became a bird sanctuary in 1968 and prior to that it was a fishery leased by a Mr Charlton from 1927 on (which is where the name came from). The pond may well contain some fish that are in decline and protected such as Crucian Carp, Rudd and Silver Bream. Not all fish are artificially introduced and many are spread naturally by wildfowl etc. I still believe it only fair and proper to open dialogue with the angling club rather than go screaming behind their back, as at the moment their future plans are not known and the local authority ( if true to form ) will be as much good as a concrete parachute. My dog will probably be better informed (unless of course there are votes to be had).

[Lockhart]

I don't see what pheasants and buzzards have to do with this situation. 

I also don't see anyone screaming (I'm certainly not).  This is about politely asking the question of the people responsible for managing the site.  If it turns out that the scarecrow (or the possible replacement meant by Ali) are legal and above board, we accept it and move on.  If negotiations with the angling club are required as part of the discussion, I'm sure those will happen too.

[Fred Wright]

I am surprised that a simple comparison and figure of speech has slipped out of your grasp, likewise the wisdom of a common courtesy call. There is no need to "negotiate" with the angling club, you aren't buying their lease. A simple notification of your concerns would have sufficed and would have been the proper and decent thing to do, and the response would have been positive. The small pond is predominantly used for junior matches and for teaching youngsters how to fish. This gets them out into the countryside and away from Dope, Vandalism and computer games and they also obtain some knowledge of nature. The pond was recently restocked with "silver fish" by the Environment agency ( Roach, Rudd, Bream etc), all native species of fish and the scarecrow is a temporary measure to protect these fish stocks. ( the larger pond is not involved). If the scaring away of a few Cormorants can save Kids from becoming druggies, hooligans and obese ect then it is a small price to pay. No birds are harmed and they simply go somewhere else. A complete explanation would have been provided FREE OF CHARGE and even with a smile if you had bothered to contact the angling club as I have recommended from the start. As chairman of a local angling club whose fishery is also a nature reserve and Council owned I do have an amount of knowledge regarding these types of matters. I aint no dummy.

[Lockhart]

Since you keep bringing them up, I *did* have a conversation with a member of the angling club on the day I posted this, although the scarecrow didn't come up in it (mostly because I struggled to get a word in edgewise after answering his question).  He saw my binoculars and wanted to know how many cormorants were on the larger pool.  He also made it clear that the couple I mentioned were a couple too many, as far as he was concerned (as opposed to the ten or so which I recall from last winter).  Hardly the enlightened attitude you're so keen to project, particularly when he knew he was talking to a birder.

[Fred Wright]

I am a keen birder but I am a passionate angler, so I am on the side of the angling club here. Cormorants have access to every inch of the British coastline. Every estuary, river, canal, loch, lake, reservoir, pond pool puddle and wet patch. If chasing a few away from one small pond in Billingham can save ONE mothers bairn from becoming a junkie, thief or member of the moronic unwashed by getting them involved in fishing then Billingham AC have my total and absolute support and I applaud their efforts. ( And so should all parents). If Cormorants are your passion then they are always about at Saltholme and if you visit Bolton on Swale LNR they are normally there in numbers. 38 the last time I went and they are even way up the dales. Semerwater, Cow green , Burnhope etc have all been visited by the black plague, so there are plenty of places for you to see them. Personally I would see no problem in clearing them from both pools at Charltons Ponds. Its not as if they have nowhere else to go nor are they being harmed or damaged.