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The mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) is vanishing from UK gardens, wildlife experts warned as they urged people to take part in an annual survey to monitor how birds are faring. Results from the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch survey have shown that mistle thrushes are now being seen in less than half the number of gardens they were spotted in 10 years ago. The RSPB is urging the public to take part in this year's survey, which takes place this weekend, to help gather important information on how mistle thrushes and other garden bird species are doing. The event, described by the conservation charity as the world's biggest wildlife survey, is now in its 34th year. Since starting in 1979 it has helped highlight dramatic declines in some garden birds. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) numbers have fallen from an average of 15 per garden in 1979 to just three in 2012, while house sparrow (Passer domesticus) numbers have fallen by two-thirds in the same period, although the two species are still the most commonly seen.

A bird watcher in Lunenburg County says the once-common house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is disappearing at an alarming rate in Nova Scotia. James Hirtle, who co-ordinates the National Audubon Society's Christmas bird count in his region, said only 30 sparrows have been spotted in the most recent count. "The last time I would have seen a house sparrow in Lunenburg County would have been before Dec. 1," he told CBC News. "There is a steady decline. Every year there seems to be fewer and fewer." Ian McLaren, an author and retired biology professor at Dalhousie University, said there are a variety of reasons for the drop in numbers, including a change in the way their food source — seeds — is treated by farmers. "Grain is handled much more carefully now, it's not spilled all over the place like it used to be," said McLaren. "There's less food for them." Hirtle said the decline in the house sparrow population isn't unique to Nova Scotia — its numbers are dropping around the world. "It tells me that there's something wrong with our environment when you see a species that declines so rapidly and so widespread," he said. "There's a healthy population on one farm in the area in Lunenburg County, which seems to be remaining constant, but in Lunenburg itself and the surrounding areas they're really hard to come by in the winter."

In the past 4 years alone a quarter of a trillion honeybees have died, prematurely. A number of factors have collided including mites, bacteria, fungus, bee husbandry, neonictinoids and climate change. The latter two are particular glaring; government regulatory bodies have the power to halt neonictinoids and take immediate corrective action against climate change. Neonictinoids are a neuro-active insecticide fashioned after nicotine; they poison nerves and specifically prevent acetylcholine from enabling neurons to communicate with each other and with muscle tissue. Neonictinoids were targeted to kill leaf-sucking insects, but they also painfully kill bees. In humans for instance, the neonictinoid-chemicals would trigger symptoms mimicking Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The Systemic Insecticides: A Disaster in the Making by Dr. Henk Tennekes has conclusively shown that neonictinoids persist in European soils and waterways for years. Neonictinoids are known to kill beneficial soil organisms like springtails, beetles and earthworms. Robbing the soil of beneficial fauna reduces its ability to decompose leaf litter and other organic matter - it alters the process of recycling nutrients, essentially impoverishing the soil. This, in turn, reverberates throughout entire ecosystems. For instance, Western European populations of common grassland feeding birds rely on springtails, beetles and earthworms for their sustenance, they have dramatically declined. Populations of their avian predators like Eurasian goshawks and northern goshawks have likewise fallen, significantly. Neonictinoids are killing the web of life. In 2012 British, French and American researchers corroborated Tennekes findings that neonictinoids impair honey- and bumble-bees from locating their hives instead they wind up destitute, shivering to death. A recent 2013 European study again has come to these startling conclusions. The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) latest report found that neonictinoids pose a serious threat to worldwide bee populations -- compromising Earth's biosphere. Clearly, it is time for the EPA to review all neonictinoids with an independent science team similarly to what Australia has embarked upon. It is incongruous to deliberately exterminate wild and domesticated bees when our burgeoning 7 billion population relies lock, stock, and barrel on their very existence.

Widely used pesticides can kill frogs within an hour, new research has revealed, suggesting the chemicals are playing a significant and previously unknown role in the catastrophic global decline of amphibians. The scientists behind the study said it was both "astonishing" and "alarming" that common pesticides could be so toxic at the doses approved by regulatory authorities, adding to growing criticism of how pesticides are tested. "You would not think products registered on the market would have such a toxic effect," said Carsten Brühl, at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany. "It is the simplest effect you can think of: you spray the amphibian with the pesticide and it is dead. That should translate into a dramatic effect on populations." Trenton Garner, an ecologist at the Zoological Society of London, said: "This is a valuable addition to the substantial body of literature detailing how existing standards for the use of agricultural pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers are inadequate for the protection of biodiversity."

On the 24th January 2013, the Dutch Parliament called for a complete suspension on the use of Neonicotinoids. This follows a recent report by the European Food Safety Authority highlighting the insecticides as ‘high risk’ to honeybees and unknown risk to wild pollinators. Matt Shardlow, Buglife CEO, said “Buglife welcomes this decision and urges the UK government to suspend Neonicotinoids and apply pressure on the European Union to follow suit. Action needs to be taken now to suspend Neonicotinoids in order to protect our wild bees, hoverflies, moths and other pollinators. The Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has already committed to make a decision on the UK future of Neonicotinoids in January and Buglife is eagerly awaiting that decision.” Wildlife charity, Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust has been campaigning to ban the use of Neonicotinoids since 2009. Numerous scientific studies have shown the harmful effects these insecticides have on pollinating insects such as bumblebees, flies and butterflies yet Defra has not taken preventative action.

The public health and environmental non-profit, Toxics Action Center (TAC) released a report in December that surveys pesticide use on public school grounds across the state of Maine and urges policy change to stop spraying. The report, “A Call for Safer School Grounds: A Survey of Pesticide Use on K-12 Public School Grounds in Maine,” is based on a survey of 209 Maine public schools and shows that 51% of schools surveyed spray pesticides, many of which have been linked to human health impacts, including kidney disease and links to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The report finds that the state’s Integrated Pest Management Policy (IPM) is inadequate in regulating pesticide application and informing the public on pesticide practices. Although IPM policies and records of pesticide applications are required to be kept by schools under Maine law, 32% of schools report that they do not keep records. TAC received IPM records from 9% of schools surveyed. “Maine children are at risk from pesticide spraying in schools,” said Tracie Konopinski, Community Organizer with TAC, “[In November,] the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a report calling for reduced pesticide exposure for children. There are numerous studies cited within the AAP’s report that link chronic pesticide exposure to pediatric cancers and neurobehavioral and cognitive deficits like autism, attention disorders, and hyperactivity. Our report shows that despite policies aimed at reducing pesticide spraying, more than half of K-12 public schools polled in our report still have their finger on the pesticide trigger.”

British Liberal MEP Chris Davies this week will press the European Commission to consider restrictions on certain neonicotinoid pesticides, in light of recent findings that the insecticides may pose risks to bees, EU Food Law reports. In a notice document and meeting agenda posted online, Davies says he will raise the issue with commission officials during the Jan. 23-24 meeting of the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee.

The 2013 Late lessons from early warnings report (attached) is the second of its type produced by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in collaboration with a broad range of external authors and peer reviewers. The case studies across both volumes of Late lessons from early warnings cover a diverse range of chemical and technological innovations, and highlight a number of systemic problems. The 'Late Lessons Project' illustrates how damaging and costly the misuse or neglect of the precautionary principle can be, using case studies and a synthesis of the lessons to be learned and applied to maximising innovations whilst minimising harms.

The effect of neonicotinoids on pollinators is under investigation by the UK parliament and the Guardian has learned that Bayer's spokesman, Dr Julian Little, is being recalled to explain "discrepancies" in his evidence. "Our inquiry has identified apparent flaws in the assessment of imidacloprid," said Joan Walley MP, chair of the environmental audit committee. "Despite data from field trials showing the pesticide could linger in the environment at dangerous levels, imidacloprid was approved for use in the EU. We have asked chemical giant Bayer to return to parliament to explain discrepancies in its evidence on the amount of time that imidacloprid remains in the environment."