A person described as having an “obsession with collecting wild birds’ eggs” has admitted illegally hoarding almost 3,000 of them.
Daniel Lingham, of Newton St Faith, was captured on a wildlife lure digicam stealing two eggs from a nightjar nest in Holt Lowes, Norfolk Police mentioned.
The pressure mentioned the 71-year-old was recognized by his distinctive walking stick which is seen within the footage, shot on June 9 final yr, and a subsequent search of his home revealed the extent of the hoard.
A complete of two,995 eggs have been discovered inside the home, together with 2,429 eggs from native birds – protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act – in his bed room.
Of these, 548 have been from native birds on the amber record of birds of conservation concern, and an extra 546 have been of essentially the most severe concern on the purple record together with linnet, inexperienced finch, yellowhammer and home sparrow.
An additional assortment of eggs, which appeared newer, was discovered behind a shower panel together with a field containing a pair of nightjar eggs with a label “Nightjar 2, Holt Lowes June 9”, police mentioned.
Officers additionally discovered figuring out books, binoculars and an egg-blowing equipment.
Lingham admitted on Tuesday at Norwich Magistrates’ Court to 5 offences referring to the unlawful assortment of eggs, Norfolk Police mentioned.
These included taking eggs from a nightjar on June 9 2023 at Holt, and possessing 2,429 eggs of a non-schedule 1 wild fowl on July 25 2023, the day police searched his home.
He additionally admitted possessing 22 Schedule 1 fowl eggs in July 2023, possessing articles able to getting used to establish and take eggs and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order on June 9 2023.
Lingham has two earlier convictions for related crimes.
In 2005, he was jailed for 10 weeks after police discovered a set of almost 4,000 eggs in his home.
While in 2018, he was discovered to be in possession of greater than 5,000 eggs for which he was jailed for 18 weeks and handed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order geared toward stopping him from committing related crimes sooner or later, Norfolk Police mentioned.
Under the order, Lingham is banned from coming into Holt Lowes between February 1 and October 1 in addition to many different websites throughout Norfolk and nationally – lots of which appeared on place-name labels among the many packing containers, Norfolk Police mentioned.
Lingham mentioned he had been in search of adders and tiger beetles when he was “tempted” by the nightjar eggs resulting from his egg-collecting habit, which was a psychological well being situation, the pressure mentioned.
He claimed a set on show in a cupboard within the bed room had come from an Essex home clearance and whereas they have been his, he had not taken them himself from the wild.
Tom Grose, RSPB investigations officer, mentioned: “The scale of egg theft which Lingham has committed over the last 20 years is shocking.
“Sadly, his obsession with collecting wild birds’ eggs has ultimately resulted in thousands of breeding birds, which have invested huge amounts of energy into rearing young, to fail.
“We’re relieved that this type of crime is now relatively rare in the UK, but this latest case has revealed that the breeding success of the nightjar, a species of conservation concern, has again been targeted in Norfolk by Lingham’s illegal actions.”
PC Chris Shelley, from the Op Randall Rural Crime Team, mentioned: “Egg collecting should be a hobby that is confined to the history books, having been made illegal in 1954.
“Thankfully, there are very few individuals now committing this crime but these few, including Lingham, cause a huge amount of harm to thousands of birds, including some of our most at-risk species – in this case nightjar, linnet, yellow hammer and house sparrows to name just a few.
“We would always encourage anyone who sees suspicious activity around bird nests in the coming months to report as much detail as possible using our online form or 999 if in progress.”
Lingham is because of be sentenced on May 3.
