Where has the time gone!

I can't believe I haven't posted in over a week and its June already, I have been very busy with other projects and out watching the activities of birds of prey on my patch, the usual species are incubating or rearing young now and to be honest there is nowhere I would rather be than out there following them.

SO whats going on in the bird of prey world, well the oldest Osprey thought to be breeding is now incubating her 60th egg so fingers crossed they hatch! I have also just read on the raptor politics website that the Dunsop Valley Eagle Owls have bred this year and had 4 young which is brilliant news, you can see the news on this link http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/07/bowland-eagle-owls-fantastic-success-2011/

If you want to read something interesting about our most common British bird of prey then check out this interview on the European Raptors site on this link http://europeanraptors.org/interviews/new-interview-with-sean-walls-about-the-common-buzzard-in-uk/

With BBC Springwatch back on our screens and a bit of bird of prey activity it is great to see that they have a camera on a Buzzards nest. It has already shown how Buzzards are much more then glorified worm catchers bringing in the usual rabbit and rodents but also duckling, frog and Grass snake.

They also have a camera link to a Red Kite nest and it is one of these birds I had the pleasure of watching yesterday afternoon in Cheshire. Now although Red Kites are thriving in the areas where they have been introduced they are still an unusual site in Cheshire but as I drove home I noticed a bird wheeling in the sky that didn't fit the usual Buzzard form. I pulled over and immediately noted the fork shaped tail continuosly twitching in flight and then the real treat happened when the kite began to dive and sweep across the field in an attempt to grab something. I just sat in the sun and enjoyed!

I did a talk the other week for the Wirral Barn Owl Trust which I think went pretty well, at least no one fell asleep and I got some interesting questions at the end. It was a bit of an unusual talk where I tried to cover how birds of prey work things like eyesight, hearing hunting etc. I enjoyed writing it anyway.

I had an e-mail today from Scott Mason who set up Parahawking in Nepal where you can actually fly with trained birds of prey! Now I have paraglided and it was amazing so I would love to know what its like to fly with birds of prey. Scott actually does a hell of a lot of conservation work for birds of prey in and round Nepal including setting up a rescue charity and being involved in the Vulture rescue programmes! Check out his site on this link http://www.parahawking.com/

I'll be back online soon!