Well its nearly the end of June and I haven't had chance to sit down and write on the blog although I have been keeping my finger on the raptor pulse, mainly out in the field. June is when all the young birds of prey are growing up and getting active so I've been very busy helping friends with monitoring and ringing young.
But whats going on around the world with birds of prey, well I have been reading some fantastic interviews from the African raptor web page including a fascinating in depth interview with Simon Thomsett about his extenxsive studies covering the Crowned Eagle its so meaty its in 3 sections but well worth a read. I read part one and many of Simons views and opinions rang several bell's for the future of raptor conservation and human impacts. Check out part one below
http://www.africanraptors.org/simon-thomsett-on-the-african-crowned-eagle-part-1/
Sadly I have also read that the oldest breeding Osprey found in Scotland has failed to hatch any young this year, questions have been linked to the birds age as to why the eggs were infertile but we must not forget that we have had some extremely harsh weather during the breeding season and Roy Dennis a well known Osprey expert has also commented on the hard weather Ospreys have had in Scotland with nest's even being blown out of tree's.
I have a couple of new web pages that I have come across, they might not be new to some readers but I will add them to the Web site links page. The first one is a South African based vulture conservation group working towards raising awareness about the struggle African vultures are currently facing, it has several fantastic downloads including information posters and childrens activitties take a look at http://www.vultureconservation.co.za/
The second website is another page that interest me as it relates to the the illegal trade in wildlife and animals, I have always been interested to find out more about the illegal trapping and trading of birds of prey around the world and whether anything is done about it. I have several pictures that have been sent to me showing birds being sold on the side of streets and in markets they make grim viewing but what is being done about it? The website is http://www.traffic.org/.
I have just started looking into the IUCN Red List in conjunction with Birdlife International on the state of birds of prey in the world. I'm interested to find out how upto date these status's are and what is being done to find out about the status of our more unheard of species, I have already learnt some species I had never really come across and one thing has become clear that if your an endemic species you are usually in trouble. I will publish a table in due course and anything else I manage to find out through this blog page.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Lots of bad news with a little bit of good to finish!
Sadly there has been some bad news when it comes to birds of prey in the UK and abroad that I have read about in the last week most of it covering raptor persecution. Check out each individual story below and see what you make of it all, I know what I feel and think about these mindless actions!
Raptor Politics have plenty of stories this last week covering a variety of persecution cases that have taken place this last month with the UK's wild birds of prey. Take a look at the link below which is just one story of our rarest species of raptor the Hen Harrier and suspected persecution on their nest site.
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/07/derbyshires-only-hen-harriers-destroyed-along-with-their-clutch-of-7-eggs/
Have a good look at the other sad events taking place in the UK when it comes to native birds of prey trying to survive. Another story of survival includes California Condors and how six have recently been found with lead poisoning, three of which have died from the poisoning. When will the world realise how poisonous this stuff is!
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/12/lead-ammunition-threatening-the-recovery-of-the-californian-condor/
Now on a much brighter note some of you might like to hear how some of the UK's nesting European Eagle Owls have had a successful breeding season. The pair from Dunsop valley have had there best season ever, click on the link below to read more about the pair
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/07/bowland-eagle-owls-fantastic-success-2011/
With all this persecution happening you might wonder if anything actually gets done about it by the police and authorities, well the law has decided to take action with one Derbyshire gamekeeper who was caught using illegal trap methods among other charges but has he been let off to easily, you decide by reading more on the link below
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/13/derbyshire-gamekeeper-guilty-on-all-seven-charges/
Plenty of reading for you all!
Raptor Politics have plenty of stories this last week covering a variety of persecution cases that have taken place this last month with the UK's wild birds of prey. Take a look at the link below which is just one story of our rarest species of raptor the Hen Harrier and suspected persecution on their nest site.
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/07/derbyshires-only-hen-harriers-destroyed-along-with-their-clutch-of-7-eggs/
Have a good look at the other sad events taking place in the UK when it comes to native birds of prey trying to survive. Another story of survival includes California Condors and how six have recently been found with lead poisoning, three of which have died from the poisoning. When will the world realise how poisonous this stuff is!
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/12/lead-ammunition-threatening-the-recovery-of-the-californian-condor/
Now on a much brighter note some of you might like to hear how some of the UK's nesting European Eagle Owls have had a successful breeding season. The pair from Dunsop valley have had there best season ever, click on the link below to read more about the pair
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/07/bowland-eagle-owls-fantastic-success-2011/
With all this persecution happening you might wonder if anything actually gets done about it by the police and authorities, well the law has decided to take action with one Derbyshire gamekeeper who was caught using illegal trap methods among other charges but has he been let off to easily, you decide by reading more on the link below
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2011/06/13/derbyshire-gamekeeper-guilty-on-all-seven-charges/
Plenty of reading for you all!
Friday, 10 June 2011
Two pieces from Twitter!
Some of you may be familiar with Twitter, the global website that lets people announce where and what there upto anywhere in the world or maybe what they are thinking, its called tweeting! I'm on twitter if anyone is interested under raptormantv I just use it to follow some interests of mine and one of those is the BBCnature tweets! Below are a couple of recent ones.
This link is from the BBC nature site with some different videos on Tawny Owls, some quite interesting footage especially the one of the Tawny Owls fishing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Tawny_Owl
The next one is a short news piece on Barn Owl nest boxes or should I say manor houses? The Barn Owl Centre have created a whopping big Barn Owl Manor which is suppose to be the ultimate in Barn Owl accomodation. Personally I think it looks a bit over the top but if a pair of Barn Owls take up residence in the next Spring who cares it will have done its job. Take a look below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-13616685
I'm currently really busy with my new business venture setting up an outdoor education centre for school children and various other groups at a large dairy farm in Cheshire, the facillities are brilliant the land is fantastic we just need to find out what the teachers think! If you know of any teachers in the North West who may be interested ask them to please get in touch I'd love to hear from them!
Have a great weekend!
This link is from the BBC nature site with some different videos on Tawny Owls, some quite interesting footage especially the one of the Tawny Owls fishing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Tawny_Owl
The next one is a short news piece on Barn Owl nest boxes or should I say manor houses? The Barn Owl Centre have created a whopping big Barn Owl Manor which is suppose to be the ultimate in Barn Owl accomodation. Personally I think it looks a bit over the top but if a pair of Barn Owls take up residence in the next Spring who cares it will have done its job. Take a look below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-13616685
I'm currently really busy with my new business venture setting up an outdoor education centre for school children and various other groups at a large dairy farm in Cheshire, the facillities are brilliant the land is fantastic we just need to find out what the teachers think! If you know of any teachers in the North West who may be interested ask them to please get in touch I'd love to hear from them!
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
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!
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!
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Breeding Season In Full Swing!
There is plenty of activity around with breeding birds and not just with birds of prey, I have been out and about checking out new areas for birds of prey around my home patch and located Little Owls, Kestrels and possible Barn Owl future sites in lovely old barns. I also took some owl pellets into college for some students to dissect and it was absolutely fascinating, they were big pellets full of mice and voles and the kids had great fun trying to identify the bones and then trying to piece together a skeletal mouse or vole. Most pellets contained no less than 4 skulls and lower mandibles.
In the news there have been a few stories covering urban Peregrines and a Sparrowhawk nest being predated by crows, which is similar to what happened to a local pair of Peregrines near my home. You can see these and similar stories at the BBC link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=birds%20of%20prey
On Wildlife Extra this month they have an update of the Ospreys around the UK and also a sad story of the strange disappearance of a male Osprey from Rutland presumed possibly killed illegally. Now people may think why do we always automatically point the finger at illegal persecution, there is a chance the bird could have died from natural causes or has the bird even died. The reason the bird is assumed dead though is because he has left a female on the nest with three eggs, the male is the main provider of fish for her during incubation and would take this job very seriously. All animals have one thing in common, they want to survive so they can pass on there genes so they put a lot of hard work and effort into this important part of survival. Take a look at the Osprey articles below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/2011-osprey-may.html#cr
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/osprey-rutland-011.html#cr
Indian vultures have seen a glimmer of hope with the banning of Diclofenac in 2006, the drug which has nearly wiped out some species. Now scientists are monitoring levels of the drug found in carcasses that are fed on by vultures and have noted a drop in the level of Diclofenac found. The drug is still used illegally but if some species are to be saved it will need to be taken out of the food chain completely.
Check the article below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/vulture-deaths.html#cr
I must draw your attention to the Raptor Politics website as there is another issue that needs the attention of anyone interested in raptor conservation. Having just digested the comments from certain organisations about the need to cull certain species another topic jumps off the shelf to chew over. That topic is wind farms, and not just whether they are financially viable or eye sores of the countryside but the terrible effects these objects have on birds of prey! Sadly they both require the same sort of environment and if we look at what effects wind farms have had abroad you will see they have claimed the lives of large amounts of birds of prey each year. Read a bit more about wind farms and there effects below.
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/
Have a great weekend!
In the news there have been a few stories covering urban Peregrines and a Sparrowhawk nest being predated by crows, which is similar to what happened to a local pair of Peregrines near my home. You can see these and similar stories at the BBC link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=birds%20of%20prey
On Wildlife Extra this month they have an update of the Ospreys around the UK and also a sad story of the strange disappearance of a male Osprey from Rutland presumed possibly killed illegally. Now people may think why do we always automatically point the finger at illegal persecution, there is a chance the bird could have died from natural causes or has the bird even died. The reason the bird is assumed dead though is because he has left a female on the nest with three eggs, the male is the main provider of fish for her during incubation and would take this job very seriously. All animals have one thing in common, they want to survive so they can pass on there genes so they put a lot of hard work and effort into this important part of survival. Take a look at the Osprey articles below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/2011-osprey-may.html#cr
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/osprey-rutland-011.html#cr
Indian vultures have seen a glimmer of hope with the banning of Diclofenac in 2006, the drug which has nearly wiped out some species. Now scientists are monitoring levels of the drug found in carcasses that are fed on by vultures and have noted a drop in the level of Diclofenac found. The drug is still used illegally but if some species are to be saved it will need to be taken out of the food chain completely.
Check the article below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/vulture-deaths.html#cr
I must draw your attention to the Raptor Politics website as there is another issue that needs the attention of anyone interested in raptor conservation. Having just digested the comments from certain organisations about the need to cull certain species another topic jumps off the shelf to chew over. That topic is wind farms, and not just whether they are financially viable or eye sores of the countryside but the terrible effects these objects have on birds of prey! Sadly they both require the same sort of environment and if we look at what effects wind farms have had abroad you will see they have claimed the lives of large amounts of birds of prey each year. Read a bit more about wind farms and there effects below.
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/
Have a great weekend!
Friday, 13 May 2011
Raptor Stories!
Well theres a few pieces of raptor news on the Wildlife Extra news page this week but you can check them all out here.
Firstly some great news for Osprey lovers, the Glaslyn pair have hatched their first egg and have a healthy chick and to cap things off its the earliest Osprey hatching recorded in the UK. The pair were actually the earliest Ospreys to arrive back to their nest site this year arriving back a month earlier than usual. Could this have anything to do with the dreaded global warming or am I just stirring? Also in this article is a pair of birds only a stones throw away from my village and thats a pair of Peregrines nesting in an urban area who have laid an unusually large clutch of 5 eggs, the town pigeons could be in for some hammer this summer in order to feed 5 hungry beaks. Check out the link below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/glaslyn-chick011.html#cr
On a more political note and after a recent BBC Scotland documentary it showed that some organisations in Scotland are calling for a cull on birds of prey. More can be read about this on raptor politics site and I will also be doing a seperate post on the subject.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/srbpa-rspb.html#cr
Calling all Londoners! The London Wildlife Trust are asking the public to keep an eye out for Kestrels above the skies of London. Sadly Kestrels are not fairing quite that well in the UK though and are on the Amber list of Birds of Conservation Concern due to a moderate decline in recent years, but people tend to think Kestrels are still a thriving raptor due to so many birds seen hovering over our motorways and road verges. The problem is they hunt along these road verges as they are now some of the prime habitats for rodents due to the shifts in agricultural practice. I'm not saying Kestrels are in a desperate survival struggle like our native Hen Harrier but I should point out that the reason behind the decline has not been pin pointed so we shouldn't rest easy. So maybe its time we all kept an eye out for our hovering falcon, take a look at the article below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kestrel-count.html#cr
Some great news from across the pond now in the shape of a baby California Condor chick in Arizona. Those of you who have followed the plight of the condors once one of the rarest birds of prey in the world will know of the amazing work of the Peregrine Fund in the USA to bring the California Condor back from the brink of extinction. The Peregrine Fund have released several condors back into te wild around Arizona and biologist have been monitoring this pairs courtships. You can read more about the latest arrival on the link below
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/condor-chick.html#cr
A species I am keeping my eyes for this breeding season is the Little Owl, I have had a few conversations this year with fellow raptor enthusiasts who have noticed a distinct lack of Little Owls in there usual areas. I may produce a seperate post on this subject shortly.
Have a great weekend.
Firstly some great news for Osprey lovers, the Glaslyn pair have hatched their first egg and have a healthy chick and to cap things off its the earliest Osprey hatching recorded in the UK. The pair were actually the earliest Ospreys to arrive back to their nest site this year arriving back a month earlier than usual. Could this have anything to do with the dreaded global warming or am I just stirring? Also in this article is a pair of birds only a stones throw away from my village and thats a pair of Peregrines nesting in an urban area who have laid an unusually large clutch of 5 eggs, the town pigeons could be in for some hammer this summer in order to feed 5 hungry beaks. Check out the link below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/glaslyn-chick011.html#cr
On a more political note and after a recent BBC Scotland documentary it showed that some organisations in Scotland are calling for a cull on birds of prey. More can be read about this on raptor politics site and I will also be doing a seperate post on the subject.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/srbpa-rspb.html#cr
Calling all Londoners! The London Wildlife Trust are asking the public to keep an eye out for Kestrels above the skies of London. Sadly Kestrels are not fairing quite that well in the UK though and are on the Amber list of Birds of Conservation Concern due to a moderate decline in recent years, but people tend to think Kestrels are still a thriving raptor due to so many birds seen hovering over our motorways and road verges. The problem is they hunt along these road verges as they are now some of the prime habitats for rodents due to the shifts in agricultural practice. I'm not saying Kestrels are in a desperate survival struggle like our native Hen Harrier but I should point out that the reason behind the decline has not been pin pointed so we shouldn't rest easy. So maybe its time we all kept an eye out for our hovering falcon, take a look at the article below.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kestrel-count.html#cr
Some great news from across the pond now in the shape of a baby California Condor chick in Arizona. Those of you who have followed the plight of the condors once one of the rarest birds of prey in the world will know of the amazing work of the Peregrine Fund in the USA to bring the California Condor back from the brink of extinction. The Peregrine Fund have released several condors back into te wild around Arizona and biologist have been monitoring this pairs courtships. You can read more about the latest arrival on the link below
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/condor-chick.html#cr
A species I am keeping my eyes for this breeding season is the Little Owl, I have had a few conversations this year with fellow raptor enthusiasts who have noticed a distinct lack of Little Owls in there usual areas. I may produce a seperate post on this subject shortly.
Have a great weekend.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Great Weekend!
Well I have had a bumper weekend of raptors and wildlife! I have seen no shorter than 6 species on my patch and even saw some other great wildlife including Hare, Fox & cubs and a nice male Wheatear.
On the bird front it is extremely sad news that another Golden Eagle has been proved poisoned in Scotland, proving that despite our wildlife laws they are still routinely ignored at the expense of the countrys amazing wildlife. You can read more on http://www.raptorpolitics.org.uk/
I have also seen that a Black Kite has appeared in Glouscesteshire, Black Kite's are a smaller relative of our native Red Kite and probably one of the most widespread birds of prey found in the world. The UK has seen Black Kites on its shores and its not an unusual sight amongst a group of our Red Kite's but they don't tend to stay for long, there is even examples of Black and Red Kites breeding here in the UK although I think that might have been a one off. Black Kite's are big scavengers more commonly seen in huge numbers flying above waste sites in large cities like Delhi, I can only imagine its the same image when Red Kites used to line the streets of London feeding off scraps. Read more at http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/symonds-yat-raptors.html#cr
I wanted to draw your attention to another web site found on our links page http://www.europeanraptors.org/ because they have some fantastic new interviews online. I have just finished reading two really interesting interviews by field biologists one on White Tailed Sea Eagle in Norway and the other on Eurasian Kestrels in the UK, have a look as they make interesting reading.
On a local level and a sad one in a previous post I mentioned that I would find out how many egg's a local pair of Peregrines had this season. Well that post hadn't been on line for 24hrs before I got a sad e-mail saying squabbles had broke out between the Peregrines and the pair of Ravens also found on the rock face and the Ravens were recorded smashing the Peregrines egg's. Very sad news for the hard workers of the local Peregrine watch, as I have no doubt if the eggs were hatched the Parents would have put up a stronger fight but nature works in cruel ways in our minds.
Finally I hope you have all had the chance to sign the petition on the 38 degrees website regarding cuts with UK's wildlife laws, if not it only takes 2 minutes to really stand up for what matters other wise we'll have more stories like the poisoned Golden Eagle I started the post with.
On the bird front it is extremely sad news that another Golden Eagle has been proved poisoned in Scotland, proving that despite our wildlife laws they are still routinely ignored at the expense of the countrys amazing wildlife. You can read more on http://www.raptorpolitics.org.uk/
I have also seen that a Black Kite has appeared in Glouscesteshire, Black Kite's are a smaller relative of our native Red Kite and probably one of the most widespread birds of prey found in the world. The UK has seen Black Kites on its shores and its not an unusual sight amongst a group of our Red Kite's but they don't tend to stay for long, there is even examples of Black and Red Kites breeding here in the UK although I think that might have been a one off. Black Kite's are big scavengers more commonly seen in huge numbers flying above waste sites in large cities like Delhi, I can only imagine its the same image when Red Kites used to line the streets of London feeding off scraps. Read more at http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/symonds-yat-raptors.html#cr
I wanted to draw your attention to another web site found on our links page http://www.europeanraptors.org/ because they have some fantastic new interviews online. I have just finished reading two really interesting interviews by field biologists one on White Tailed Sea Eagle in Norway and the other on Eurasian Kestrels in the UK, have a look as they make interesting reading.
On a local level and a sad one in a previous post I mentioned that I would find out how many egg's a local pair of Peregrines had this season. Well that post hadn't been on line for 24hrs before I got a sad e-mail saying squabbles had broke out between the Peregrines and the pair of Ravens also found on the rock face and the Ravens were recorded smashing the Peregrines egg's. Very sad news for the hard workers of the local Peregrine watch, as I have no doubt if the eggs were hatched the Parents would have put up a stronger fight but nature works in cruel ways in our minds.
Finally I hope you have all had the chance to sign the petition on the 38 degrees website regarding cuts with UK's wildlife laws, if not it only takes 2 minutes to really stand up for what matters other wise we'll have more stories like the poisoned Golden Eagle I started the post with.
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