Plenty to read!

I went for a walk the other day and saw three species of bird of prey in one field, a Peregrine appeared over me only to be chased off by one of the resident Kestrels which was closely followed by some sky dancing Buzzards. Well worth the walk out! I have also seen plenty of Sparrowhawks recently in built up areas, each week I travel to the outskirts of Manchester and each week I manage to catch a glimpse of a Spar soaring above one of the many large gardens. They are obviously adapting to population expansion better than other species.

I have come across some new tracking sites for birds of prey, I say new they are to me and sadly one of them is now no longer running but I thought someone may find it interesting for reference and research they include four species and I will be putting them on the website links page.

 http://stellerseaeagle.blogspot.com/
http://goldeneagletracking.blogspot.com/
http://pallidharriertracking.blogspot.com/
http://sootyfalconoman.blogspot.com/

I will also be adding some websites to the links page that I have recently come across one of which I thought was already there as I regularly follow its news page.

http://www.eagleconservationalliance.org/
 http://www.mefrg.org/

There is a new piece on the European Raptor website about the scientific study for the Hen Harrier Framework here in the UK.

http://europeanraptors.org/

If you manage to read the Hen Harrier framework and the 90 pages aren't enough for you why not take a look at this scientific paper based on the whereabouts of non-breeding populations of Short Toed Eagles.

http://www.africanraptors.org/spanish-research-shows-that-ghost-short-toed-snake-eagles-spend-the-summer-in-northern-africa/#more-505

Also in the UK the BBC Autumnwatch series is well underway and if you caught the first episode you will have seen Roy Dennis an Osprey expert following the progress of three Welsh Osprey chicks. The chicks were fitted with GPS tracking devices and the show is now following there progress each week, catch the other episodes below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=autumnwatch

Also in the UK the RSPB have recently advertised 3 job vacancies relating to the safeguarding of certain species of birds of prey on managed land. The species in question is the Hen Harrier which as you might know is now one of the rarest breeding birds in the UK.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/293059-assistant-warden
http://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/293062-species-protection-assistant
http://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/293071-species-protection-coordinator

Or if you love Ospreys try

http://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/291057-osprey-information-assistant
http://www.rspb.org.uk/vacancies/details/292620-osprey-information-officer

On a sadder note you may remember the story on this blog about Hagpa the young Philippine Eagle who was caught by a farmer but rescued by the Philippine Eagle Foundation. The bird was eventually released and thought to be observed interacting with the parent birds which was fantastic news. Sadly this story hasn't ended this well and a Philippine Eagle was found dead thought to be shot and also thought to be Hagpa.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/eagle-philippines.html#cr

Also in the news relating to raptor persecution, the raptor persecution Scotland blog brings more stories ranging from further raptor deaths in the South West of England, shooting estate activities and policing matters, you can also find out more on the Raptor Politics site.

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/

On a lighter note to end the latest blog why not take a look at this website created by artists trying to put there artwork to good use by raising awareness about conservation issues. One current project is based on the Philippine Eagle and the art work is truly stunning!

http://jeepneyprojects.org/about-us/

Many thanks for your time and don't forget to have a good look through all the pages, I plan on tidying and updating the book page next.