Well its gorgeous weather outside, I have spent the morning at a horse event in the gorgeous grounds of Cholmondeley castle and like all good supportive boyfriends I got bored noticed a large mere with plenty of dragon flies so went looking for hunting Hobbies, you never know!
I've got plenty of stuff for you all to read from the world of birds of prey so I hope you find at least some of it interesting. Let me know if theres anything else you want me to dig up for you!
Firstly a good friend of mine has just had published a new field guide which he helped co-author titled A Field Guide To Monitoring Nests which is a comprehensive and detailed guide into the nests of 145 species of British breeding birds. I have been fortunate to spend time in the field with Richard Castell and learnt a fair bit about the obsessive art of nest finding and let me be honest theres not many people better at nest finding than Richard Castell. Take a look below
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs/field-guide
Here in the UK I have a couple of pieces to relay to you, some great news from Wales firstly in that the Cors Dyfi pair of Ospreys have successfully bred and the first youngster since 1604 has fledged. You can read more on the link here http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ospreycors-dyfi.html#cr
More news from the Wildlife Extra page is for Golden Eagles in Scotland and the news that the Scottish government has denied consent for a 14 turbine wind farm. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/eagle-wind-farms.html#cr
Wind farms are currently the new topic when it comes to conserving energy in the UK but that is not to say they are a new idea, around the globe they are used inland and have proved fatal for large birds of prey like the Golden Eagle. They are also known to kill other bird species and bats, but what does the future hold for a species like the Golden Eagle which has managed to survive extensive persecution thanks to its inhospitable habitats in Northern Scotland, a piece has been written on the Raptor Politics site and can be read here http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/07/29/the-golden-eagle-in-scotland-%e2%80%93-what-future-awaits-these-iconic-raptors-in-the-21st-century/
Some of you might remember I had mentioned Simon Thomsett and his three piece interview on the Crowned Eagle on the African Raptors site, well Simon also has a blog that he updates and the most recent post has just dropped into my inbox, have a read and why not start following Simon yourself http://simonthomsett.wildlifedirect.org/2011/07/28/rehabilitating-a-tawny-eagle/
Another newsletter that has just recently dropped into my inbox is from the Belize Raptor Research Institute, I love reading about foreign conservation projects especially successes and they have had a couple of good pieces of news to report, take a look at the newsletter here http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/13983865/1772642322/name/Solitarius-%20BRRI%20Newsletter%20Summer%202011.pdf
Any of you who might be interested in getting away to another country and helping raptors then take a look at the Batumi Raptor Count in Georgia. Sadly in Europe and further afield birds of prey are still shot and persecuted by hunters and they need our help, I dare say this trip wouldn't be for the faint hearted after looking at some of the hunting pictures in the gallery but they need our support and what a fantastic chance to improve your Raptor ID skills. http://www.batumiraptorcount.org/countin2011.htm
I haven't had chance to digest the next article but the evolution of birds is something that fascinates me, I have been sent a new article regarding a new fossilised bird found in China that is thought to be older than the Archaeopteryx. The article is here http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/27/7179711-oldest-bird-knocked-off-its-perch
Finally I was contacted recently asking if I could alert the readers of this blog about the work being carried out in Bulgaria for the Egyptian Vulture, sadly they are down to just 30 pairs! have a look at the website here and I will add it to the website page for future reference http://www.neophron.bspb.org/index-en.html
Bulgaria also has another website titled save the raptors highlighting conservation efforts in the country for the Imperial Eagle and Saker Falon the website is http://www.saveraptors.org/en/
You can also read a new interview about the Eastern Imperial Eagle in the Ukraine on this link below
http://europeanraptors.org/interviews/interview_eastern_imperial_eagle_ukraine_vitaly_vetrov.html
WOW there is a lot there for you to get through and I will be following this post with another one regarding the two new pages I have added to the right hand toolbar on the main screen. Hope you enjoy!
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