Sainsbury's will launch a new range of chickens that are kept in better conditions meaning that a third of its stock will no longer come from battery farms. It will also start phasing out chickens from battery farms completely so that all of its stock will meet RSPCA standards. Sainsbury's have said that sales of poultry reared in better surroundings were up 60 per cent since January so I wonder whether this move is simply in response to consumer demand for better quality chicken.

I have heard of firefighters rescuing cats from trees but this story was a little more unusual. Firefighters in Northampton were called out to rescue a bird from a tree. The crow had managed to get itself tangled in the branches and was stuck. The firefighters soon pulled him free and the crow is now recovering at the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.

This resourceful robin laid her eggs in a hard hat in an electrical firm's warehouse. Staff found the eggs when they were clearing out some old equipment and decided to leave it to see if any chicks would hatch. Four eggs hatched out of original six that were laid and the mother is now busy flying back and forth with offerings of worms for the babies. Unusually the robin also chose the only red hard hat out of a row of 14, the rest being white.

The recent wet weather in the UK has managed to fool a zoo’s population of tawny frogmouths that it is monsoon season. As a result both of the zoos female birds laid eggs. The birds are from Australia and lay their eggs directly after the rainy season to ensure there is enough food for their chicks. Both eggs have now hatched to produce some cute fluffy chicks named Thunder and Storm.

Most UK residents know that swans are protected. It appears that new arrivals to country, however, are unaware there is a law protecting them and are catching them for food. Polish and Lithuanian immigrants have been seen dragging the birds away. The remains of swans have also been found along the towpath in Leighton Buzzard.  Luton Angling Club has now come up with a sign which they hope will make it clear that swans are not for eating. Killing a swan is currently subject to a £5,000 fine and six months in jail.

Two cygnets have been shot dead in Telford, by what is believed to have been an airgun. The cygnets were shot in the head and were thought to have been used as target practice. The RSPCA have said that these types of incident are more common during the school summer holiday.

A lady in Devon tried to keep the swallows out of here barn by putting up a bird scaring owl. After two days the swallows had made their nest in the bird scarer. She is now resigned to the fact that the swallows are there to stay.

Two moorhen chicks have been shot at a nature reserve in County Durham. The chicks were shot dead with an air gun at the Wingate Quarry Reserve. It’s thought that the incident might be related to youths drinking in the area.

We went for a walk along the Thames at the weekend to see how high the river was. Whilst we were there we came across this family of swans. They seem to be doing particularly well this year; usually they only have two or three cygnets, but as you can see this year there are four. As you can see from the photo the river has not yet burst its banks but is quite high for this time of year. The picture was taken at Staines.

A pair of peregrine falcon chicks in Inverurie have died after being poisoned. It is not known who killed the birds but police are appealing for information. There are currently only around 1,285 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the UK. The species have long been persecuted by game keepers and pigeon fanciers because the falcons eat mainly small birds. The Scottish raptor group estimates that around a quarter of nests in Scotland are subject to interference and killing despite the fact that these birds are still greatly at risk.

A giant bustard has laid an egg in Britain for the first time since 1832. The birds are part of a program to reintroduce the great bustard to Britain using chicks from Russia. Although the eggs have not hatched it is still an encouraging sign that the species should be able to breed successfully in Britain.

A seagull in Aberdeen has developed a taste for cheese Doritos. The seagull has been nicknamed Sam. He walks into the newsagents when the door is open and steals the crisps but only seems to like the cheese flavoured Doritos. Once he is outside he rips the bag open and is joined by other birds that help him eat them.

A pair of Montagu’s harriers nesting in Lincolnshire has successfully hatched three chicks. There are currently only around 10 to 14 pairs of these rare birds nesting in the UK so this could be good news for the species.

A pet macaw that flew away a week ago turned up a surprising 80 miles away from home. The macaw was spotted by a passing motorist and police later captured the bird and reunited it with its owner.

Three osprey chicks in Aberfoyle have been weighed and tagged and at five weeks old appear to be doing well. The tags will allow the birds to be tracked if they return to Scotland to breed. This is the first year that three chicks have hatched in a year, so is encouraging news for Scotlands Osprey population.

It’s such a shame that while conservationists try so hard to protect our wildlife there are still ignorant people that are intent on wiping it out. The Peak District has recently seen two species of birds completely wiped out as a result of attacks on birds of prey. The Goshawk and the Peregrine Falcons that were breeding in the area have now been decimated. There were 17 recorded attacks on peregrine falcons in the last year in which female birds were shot dead and unfortunately this amounts to the whole breeding population of this fragile species. Birds dying of natural causes is one thing, but I can't understand why someone would want to wipe out a whole species in an area on purpose.

I watched a documentary about harriers the other day and the work going into breeding programmes. There are fewer than ten pairs of Montagu's harriers left in the UK and there are hopes that this particular pair in Lincolnshire will be successful.

This chicken is raising three ducklings as her own after the eggs were abandoned by their natural mother. The duck who laid the eggs gave up incubating them after 21 days and the hen took over. She is now busy teaching them how to be chickens including how to scratch around for food.

I have been reading about this pair of Ospreys for a few weeks now to follow their progress. A few weeks ago the male Osprey found that his mate had mated with someone else and so destroyed all the eggs. She then laid another batch which were his and the first chick hatched on Thursday. Sadly, it appears that the male Osprey has now trampled on the chick and killed it whilst trying to free himself from some fishing line. Let's hope the other eggs hatch and there are no further incidents. They really are magnificent birds and with only about 130 pairs left in Scotland, they need all the help they can get.

The RSPB has removed the word "cock" from its website as it has been deemed offensive. Apparently in todays society we are now unable to refer to male birds by their correct name. A cock robin must now be referred to as a male robin.

A footpath in Lancashire has been closed after a pair of nesting eagle owls started attacking walkers. The owls are thought to be protecting their nest from intruders. Signs have also been put up to warn people they may come under owl attack whilst in the area.

We hear about people being mugged every day. This mugging story has an unusual twist. A student walking home was set upon by three vicious geese. In his haste to get away he dropped his mobile phone, which one of the geese promptly seized in its beak before making its escape. It is not yet clear whether this gaggle of geese have struck before or indeed how they intend to use the mobile phone with no hands. One thing is for sure no phones are safe when there is a goose on the loose.

A goose.

These cute orphaned owls have a new mother in the form of a cuddly toy. They don’t seem to mind though cuddling up to the stuffed owl for warmth.

I found this interesting website. It requires you to log in but once you do, you can view the birds in the forest and move the camera around to view different areas.

In other duck related news. A duck called Mr Peepers managed to survive getting run over by a car after a pet shop worker saved him leaving herself with broken bones in her foot and ankle.

A hotel in Devon ended up with a family of ducks living in their swimming pool after they took a liking to the heated water.

Further to my post about Stumpy the four-legged duck poor Stumpy has now lost one of his legs after getting it caught in his pen. He still has one more leg than most other ducks though.

Pippa the cockatoo has been trying to hatch a bowl of Cadbury's cream eggs. After two weeks there is still no sign of any chicks.

Why put penguins on a treadmill? To monitor their heart rate of course. As part of an experiment to see how much energy penguins use to find food a group of scientists first monitored ten penguins progress on a treadmill, so that their heart rates could be calculated. The penguins were then released complete with monitors so they could be studied in the wild. I feel sorry for the penguins, they don't look very happy.

Meet Stumpy the four-legged duck. Stumpy has a rare mutation which means he has an extra pair of legs.