What is the answer to Amur massacre?

Like everyone who has read the news about the Amur falcons in Nagaland I found it deeply distressing especially watching the video but how can this sort of thing be stopped.

I have thought about this over the last day or two and also read peoples responses to the actions going on in India. I feel when something very shocking and far from what I might except comes into the public eye we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

I weighed a few things up in my mind before I wrote this because as a westerner I don't have to worry about basic things that other countries/regions might not have. I bet like you reading this I hold birds of prey in a different light to these people so the video really shocks me to the core. This doesn't mean that I'm less appalled by the slaughter of Rhinos for ivory or the deforestation of our rainforests for palm oil but these are normally for the greed of man. In the case of the people hunting the Amur falcon I feel its more a case of surviving.

This is a very emotive thing that is happening and it would be very easy for me to dam and blast the people in the video, anything that involves cruelty to animals is shocking but what about the people who are carrying such a thing out, why are they doing it?

Despite the double dip recession, unemployment, cuts with councils I still feel in my country we are very priviledged. Despite supermarkets pulling the strings we can still eat out in the UK for as little as £10 for two in some pubs! But this wasn't about me standing on my soap box preaching about what we have.

I presume the people of Nagaland still work the land and live off very little, so when the oppourtunity to make some extra money comes along or harvest extra food they will take it with both hands. Isn't that what they are doing taking advantage of nature?

I have read the Amur falcon appears in Nagaland in its vast numbers between October/November before moving on with their migration, the locals of this region  must have noticed this and want to take advantage of this bounty of what they consider food or financial gain. Its man surving by whatever means and happens in so many guises.

This doesn't mean its neccessarily right and I believe the way of resolveing this involves two important things which are education and political lobbying. The support of the local government bodies needs to be behind any action plan and that plan needs to include educating the locals about what they are doing and how they can find alternatives. What is the point of taking away nets and policing the locals without offering support and alternative means of farming or earning a living.

This is just my opinion on what is a really sad situation for a stunning little falcon which makes the most amazing migration of any bird of prey. We as humans should use our intelligence and foresight to help and support each other before we start deciding the fate of the worlds wildlife.

Strong Stomach Needed!

Some news just dropped in which urgently needs sharing with all raptor enthusiasts. It makes for distressing reading and the photos are upsetting, but the message needs to be spread.

I'm sure if you follow this blog you will be aware of the hunting of birds including birds of prey on migration in Malta, sadly this still continues but I have just received this link showing the awful killing of thousands of Amur falcons on their mammoth migration.

I have been fortunate enough to see the amazing spectacle of thousands of these little falcons coming into an evening roost in Southern Africa. If something isn't done about the massacre taking place it might soon be all over.

Take a look at the link below there is also a video but it is especially graphic!

http://www.conservationindia.org/campaigns/amur-massacre

Standing up for Raptors!

In my last post I asked who is going to stand up for birds of prey in Britain. Well if the government are going to drag their feet it is pleasing to read that one group are doing all they can to halt the persecution of birds of prey in their area.

The North West Raptor Group has launched Operation Bowland Raptor Rescue with the aim of monitroring Peregrine nests which have seen a decline in productivity since some licences were removed from NWRG field workers. The operation aims to bring persecution of such birds to the public domain to highlight just what happens. If you have an interest in birds of prey and any relevant experience towards the operation you are asked to get in touch. More information can be found at http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2012/10/18/operation-bowland-raptor-rescue-launching-spring-2013/

I wish the operation the best of luck!

Will it ever stop and who's going to really stand up for raptors?

Its amazing really what can happen in the space of a couple of months when you follow bird of prey persecution in Britain closely.

Maybe not surprising to some is the fact that birds of prey are still being persecuted, and proving this recently was the eventual news release about the suspicious death and movement of a Golden Eagle in Scotland. Movement you might ask, how does something move when it is dead? Well after no movement from the birds satellite transmitter for over 12 hours it then randomly moved in the middle of the night and found itself under a tree near a lay-by some 15km away. Diurnal birds of prey don't tend to move in darkness if your unsure. If that doesn't smell odd, I forget to mention both it legs were broken in a way very similar to that of a spring trap. Check out the full story here http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/325140-conservationists-appalled-by-eagle-death

More recently was the news of a Golden Eagle being found shot on a Grouse more in Dumfriesshire, the bird is still alive luckily and I'll keep you posted on its outcome. You can read more here http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/326377-condemnation-as-golden-eagle-found-shot

So with birds like the Golden Eagle being persecuted and many more including the now rare breeding Hen Harrier with possibly only one pair breeding in England this year, you might expect the government to take action. Sadly not yet in fact a backward step was taken when our environement minister Richard Benyon declined a complete ban on owning Carbofuran a known favourite for poisoning wildlife and birds of prey in particular. What makes this decision even more distasteful is the fact that Carbofuran has no legal use in our country, so why allow it to be legally owned ?????

The RSPB Birdcrime 2011 report has recently been released and it asks the government to finally stand up against wildlife crime and bird of prey persecution in particular. You can read it yourself here http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/Birdcrime_2011_edit_tcm9-324819.pdf

You can also read the recent report released by the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into the extent of willdife crime in the UK. Its a pretty damning report, maybe this will make the government take action?
http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/overview-of-parliamentary-wildlife-crime-report/

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvaud/140/140.pdf

So watch this space, hopefully not to long though for the sake of the birds of prey still out there trying to survive.

Bird of the month page updated!

 I had to pick the Eurasian Hobby after this years sighting of them! Make sure you check out the videos if nothing else!

You can find it on the right hand side of the blog!

I wish it was sunnier!

I have just been reading through and catching up on whats on the Raptor Politics site and also Raptor Persecution Scotland blog.

I read a piece on the Raptor Persecution Scotland blog relating to a game keepers diary which had made me thinking back to conversations I have had both recently and in the past relating to my passion, Birds of Prey. I wanted to share them with you in this post because although I'm a glass half full kind of guy when I read and hear things like this it brings me crashing back down to earth.

The RPS article which can be read here http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/dear-diary/ relates to a gamekeepers diary. It really doesn't make pleasant reading and as I read it further and the blatant illegal activities grew I thought this can't be true, can you be so stupid to write this stuff down? Yet maybe it is because I have read equally upsetting diaries from Victorian times and the game keepers gibbet is a not to distant memory. This made me think of some conversations I have had with people from all walks of life relating to raptors in the wild.

I have friends who shoot, the majority farmers as I'm from a farming background and I get told the odd story ludicrous story from a rough shoot one in particular that a Barn Owl got flushed over the guns and shot accidentally! Is that really a case of misidentification and if so they shouldn't be shooting or is it something more deep rooted that when man has a gun anything with tooth and claw should be shot dead to help the shoot? Needless to say I never got any further trying to find out if this story was just a pub tale.

I spoke to a farmer who is a good friend of my fathers and someone I respect. He also has links with an urban nesting pair of Peregrines which I had recently found out about. I mentioned I would like to see the pair one day and does anyone monitor their activities each year. His response surprised me when he said "I was hoping you could come and remove them as they make a right mess each year!" I quickly pointed out that they are Schedule 1 birds afforded the highest protection and he should be pleased to have them. He happily let me visit the site which was outside of the breeding season so no sign of the birds but it was an interesting site and also interesting to speak to the maintenance chap who said they were actually no problem at all. It was the pigeons who made the mess and the falcons regurlarly hunted them so they were more than welcome!

I have also had my fair share of run ins with gamekeepers and one local keeper in particular who I'm sure would eradicate me if he could. I have been in the same pub with him a couple of times and have mutual friends and on one of these meetings I plucked up the courage to ask if I could monitor the birds of prey within his woodland. The response I got was sharp, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was never to set foot in his woods and if I were ever to ring a bird of prey he would shoot it! Needless to say I never tresspass and wouldn't want to monitor birds within his woods for fear of letting him know where they are!

My final story was the most recent as it is on my patch that I montior and ring birds of prey on. I bumped into one of the chaps who runs a small rough shoot on the land who I get on well with, he mentioned he had seen a winged tagged buzzard and I explained my mentor had tagged the young from this year to montior dispersal. The next part of the conversation baffled me though! He asked if buzzards had bred in a small copse where they have a release pen, they hadn't so I told him this and he then told me he had been in their feeding the poults when a Buzzard flew up from the ground and into a tree. On closer inspection he found a dead poult but imagine how amazed I was when he said "I had my gun with me but I decided I couldn't shoot it"!!!! So not 5 minutes before we were talking about me closely monitoring the buzzard then he mentions contemplating shooting one! I pointed out that really wouldn't  be clever and it is a criminal offence that I would report immediately to both land owner and police if I heard or found this going on.

I have also read on a falconry forum the call from some members to cull Buzzard because of the effect they are having on their hunting trips and attacking their birds. I've also lost count of the amount of back garden bird feeders who have played hell with me about Sparrowhawks killing their little birds, my own Granma was the last one!

Maybe the extracts from the RPS gamekeeper diary are true then based on my experiences! But it just brings home that birds of prey are still under immense pressure from all walks of life! I believe anyone who comes across such stories needs to keep a calm head and explain things in a polite manner! Whether the authorities will back the persecution up is still to be seen!

Maybe it will be sunnier for some species of birds of prey soon  but education is the main key in my opinion!

Hobby Hunting with Ben & Holly!

I have just recently spent a fab few days at the ICBP helping out at their annual Falconry Weekend and as always Jemima made me feel very welcome as did the rest of the team and it all went very well!

I got to meet so great new people and also some old friends, I ran a little activity area for children as it was also International Vulture Awareness Day on the Saturday so we did lots of fun vulture related activities right outside Delectable the Griffon Vultures aviary! Make sure you visit www.icbp.org the Owl evenning are due to begin!

Now I have heard several people at the ICBP talk about Hobby's flying over the centre and even that they breed nearby and it has always intrigued me. The Hobby (Falco subbuteo) is a small but long sharp winged falcon that is classed as a British bird of prey but not one that winters here, at this moment in time I imagine many British Hobbies will have started their migration back to Africa. The migration is based primarily on food supply and weather, the Hobby loving to hunt birds like Swallows and House Martins and Dragons flies and other bugs. Our warm weather wakes up the dragon flies and brings the Swallows and House Martins back to their breeding grounds along with the Hobby.

Hobbies have spread fairly well over the last 10 years or so from parts of Eastern UK across and up into the Midlands and North of England. My area of Cheshire has a few hotspots for seeing them especially when feeding and it is not unheard of to find a number of Hobbies hunting over the same area.

Whilst packing away some fencing with Ben after the ICBP event I heard a falcon(s) calling excitidly. It call didn't quite fit the call I am more use to of the Kestrel but sounded like a group of falcons which I put down to young birds with their parent(s). I thought could it be a family of Hobbies still around?

The next day I was in the horse paddock moving another fence and it was another fine sunny day when I heard the calling again, fast repetitive kew kew kew kew as if an adult was being greeted by hungry young beaks! I mentioned it to Ben a bit later on,  he had heard it the day before and sad as I am I played both the Kestrel and Hobby calls which I have on a phone app. He agreed that it sounded more like aHobby so we decided to go and see if we could get a visual.

I know Hobbies often use old crows nest which are usually on open ground in a tree like Oak. We heard the calling of what I thought was young birds but in the next field on and as we walked along a band of trees we got our first visual, four Hobbies playing and chasing each other above trees in the distance. We stopped under a tree and watched as the birds came in and out of view, sometimes the birds landed and one went up and into a large Oak and out again. An adult bird came in and the young started calling, rushing to meet the bird one youngster looked to receive a food item in mid air. Then the noise subsided and they vanished off over the woods. Ben seemed to get a couple of long distance shots with the camera and we made our way back to the centre.

That evening Holly wanted to see the Hobbies so we made our way across the the fields to the site where me and Ben had stopped. Sadly no sign of the birds this time but I walked a little closer to get a better look with my binoculars at the Oak presumed to be the nest site, sure enough a large stick nest could just be made out in the tree.

I read afterwards in Anthony Chapmans book The Hobby that the birds start to disperse from their breeding sites around 4 weeks later. It is important to point out that the species is protected by law and nest sites should not be appoached during the breeding season to avoid disturbance.

A real highlight for my summer sightings this year!

To find out more about such a stunning little falcon check out what Arkive have to say http://www.arkive.org/eurasian-hobby/falco-subbuteo/