Bertram's Weaver buried in note books?

Hi all

Another new year so I'll be looking afresh at our most threatened birds and those habitats they need for their continued survival.

I recently circulated the current Birdlife / IUCN red data list and I'll be sending out the AEWA waterbirds to watch list soon but I also want us to think about those species not listed, the ones that might fall through what ever conservation net exists to try and catch them.

Beesley's Lark is top of this list but....there will be others so please shout if any come to mind.

Bertram's Weaver is quite high on this particular list. It must be in far more trouble in Malawi than the books suggest, especially after their green revolution. By subsidizing the price of fertilizer Malawi has gone from a poor importer of food to a still poor net exporter and this will have been achieved at the expense of the environment and this will include destroying marginal habitat previously occupied by this species.

Too early to say just how tough it is in Tanzania for this species but, what what we continue to see, it does not look good. OK, hardly anywhere actually "looks good" so all we can really do is alert those that might listen in every particular case.

If there are any records of Bertram's Weaver buried in note books I would much appreciate them. This bird occupies a tiny proportion of its range, rather like Chestnut-banded Plover around the edge of our Rift Valley lakes the weaver exists only around the edge of our montane forests and the remnant streamside vegetation in the immediate vicinity of these forests.

as ever, comments most welcome.

Neil