Ground Zero pt 2: The Ross-Shire Butchery

This is the unplanned second part of Avian Ground Zero. This post features on an ongoing massacre that is occurring up in Scotland. Raptor persecution is probably one of the biggest threats a variety of raptor species worldwide. Persecution against these birds is something that should not be happening in this day and age. It is an archaic thought process, one that belongs in history, not in a modern society. Unfortunately in the UK, Scotland is a country which seems to be targeted frequently to devastating effect. The issue that will be discussed here is particularly devastating due to the numbers it has affected. I have keeping my eyes on the Raptor Persecution Scotland blog and have now decided to write my own piece on this massacre. 

Red Kite (Sparrowhawk Photography, 2013)

News began to break from the Black Isle, north of Iverness between the 18th and 24th March. One of the UK's most valuable bird of prey colonies appears to have been targeted after 16 raptors were found dead from poisoning in a small two-square-mile area. This is thought, by ornithologists to be one the largest mass poisoning of birds recorded and it has already exceeded the largest number of red kites killed in a single cluster in the UK in modern times, something that comes after decades of systematic persecution by farmers and gamekeepers throughout Scotland.

One of the dead red kites from Ross-Shire (Raptor Persecution Scotland)

 Timeline

 

18th - 24th March - When the news first broke, 5 red kites and a buzzard had been found dead, under suspicious circumstances. 

27th March -  the news got a lot worse, the death toll had risen to 11 birds dead, with at least 8 thought to be red kite. The negative news continued to arrive as it was becoming increasingly clear that a mass poisoning had taken place. 

28th March - The toll rose to 13 birds, 9 thought to be red kite. It was also revealed on the 28th that the first 6 birds found had indeed been poisoned. 

29th March - The death toll rose to 14 with the discovery of more bodies. This toll now included 10 red kite and 4 buzzards. RSPB Scotland offer a £5000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.

1st April - Death toll rises to 16. This includes 12 red kite and four buzzards. 

3rd April - Reward doubled to £10'000

The Impact

 

This diabolical act has affected both adult and juvenile birds. The attacks on these birds of prey have occurred in a very small area, and have appeared to have been carried out deliberately on a core breeding area for the birds. Black Isle is one of the 2 main reintroduction sites for red kite, the other being the Chilterns west of London, for the last 25 years. This butchery has proven to be a major setback to an otherwise successful campaign by the Scottish Government to combat bird of prey persecution & comes after the numbers of poisonings fell to 3 in 2012 and 6 in 2013. 

The Black isle population has always remained vulnerable as it is repeatedly hit by illegal poisoning. this is clearly reflected in numbers as the partner site in the Chilterns currently sustains a population of red kites 10X larger than Black Isle despite both projects being started in 1989. 25 years after the first release and there is only thought to be 25 breeding pairs in Black Isles, whereas over 1000 breeding pairs are estimated to have repopulated England. Although, further reintroductions have taken place in Scotland raising the total to an estimated 214 breeding pairs across the country. 

It has been determined by experts and groups such as the RSPB that the vulnerability of the Black Isle site is a direct result of deliberate persecution by grouse shooting estates, or as a result of attacks by gamekeepers on birds of prey generally. A recent study revealed that between 1999 and 2006 an estimated 166 red kites from the Black Isle were poisoned. 

All we can hope is that the Scottish police continue their fast-paced and active involvement in the case to bring the culprit to justice. I am prepared for more bodies to be found due to the volatile and fast acting nature of the poison used. There is a long way to go in ending the nonsensical persecution of birds of prey in the UK and cases like this unfortunately reflect badly on areas of the Scottish rural population and could even effect those that have no problem with raptors.

BBC Articles:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-26729937
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-26774679

Update: Days merge into Months

3 days ago Rpator Persecution Scotland posted an update on the case. Chekc the link below for the post, but the general concensus is that very little has/is being done in regards to the case. No one has been charged and police investigations are quieting down. It is very much looking like this case is just going to be assigned to yet another unresolved case with no definitive answers onto what caused such a devestating loss. This is a sad thing to be reporting but is often the outcome when it comes to animal related cases.

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/ross-shire-massacre-two-months-on/ 

Birdman.

The Birdman Chronicles creates no claim or credit for images featured on this blog unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners and every effort is made to link back to original content or photographer whenever possible. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear here, please contact me and they will be promptly remove.

Ground Zero: The Migration Massacre

 The Migration Massacre

Its time to bring a problem that has been happening for so long back into the spot light after a level of complacence buried it. This is about a massacre of unacceptable proportions with unquestionable consequences. The inspiration for this post is down to Chris Packham and his renewed efforts to expose the truth behind this issue. 

Malta has the highest density of hunters anywhere in Europe. it is thought that there are around 80 licensed hunters per square kilometre of huntable land. Hunting of this intensity comes at a predictable price to the birds hunted & has an averse effect on over 90% of the Maltese population who do not hunt. As stated before, this is not the first time this issue has come to light, in 2009 the European Court of Justice found Malta guilty of allowing hunting to take place in an utter disregard and breach of the Birds Directive. However, this fell on deaf ears as the government has continued to allow the travesty to continue from 2010, with the hunt being extended and restrictions relaxed on a yearly basis in a continued and clear defiance of the Birds Directive. It is a process that cannot continue because very soon, quite possibly in our lifetime, there will not be any birds left to hunt. Many of the species are in enough trouble without a hunt that a large proportion of Malta's population doesn't actually support. Responsibility lies with Maltese government and the illegal hunters & it is time to reapply the pressure before Europe loses a number of important bird species.

The 'Avian Decimation' section of text below is copied off of the 'Stop Spring Hunting on Malta' campaign page which is linked at the bottom. I read it and couldn't have put it in better terms myself. Please take the time to read it, it gives a bit of background to the situation, so please follow the source link and sign the petition. Also checkout Birdlife Malta for more information.

Avian Decimation

"Malta lies 100 kilometres south of Sicily and is a popular destination for sun-seeking British holiday-makers and is steeped in interesting cultural and natural history. It also lies on the Central Mediterranean Flyway one of three migration superhighways between Europe and Africa. Millions of birds migrate along this route every year and the Maltese Islands are an important resting place for birds making the long flight across the Mediterranean - the final barrier before they reach mainland Europe. 

On 12th April, in Malta, over 10,500 hunters armed with shotguns and occupying large areas of public countryside will begin one of Europe’s most shameful legalised slaughters of threatened birds at the very time of year when they are making their way north from Africa on their return migration to their breeding grounds throughout Europe. This is the start of a three-week hunting season during which countless thousands of migrating birds, many of them rare and protected species, will be indiscriminately killed for sport thanks to Malta continuing to undermine EU wildlife directives by being the only country in the EU to open a recreational hunting season in spring.

Weeks before the arrival of Barn Swallows signals the start of summer they can be seen in the Maltese Islands along with nearly 100 other species. Unfortunately this spring about 10,500 hunters, that’s about 80 per square kilometre making it the highest density of hunters anywhere in the world, are waiting for them. In 2013 at least 24 species of protected birds were illegally shot including Cuckoos, Marsh and Pallid Harriers, Kestrels, Ospreys, Purple and Grey Herons, Bee-eaters, Golden Orioles and . . . Barn Swallows - those very birds that should herald the arrival of our summer.

Unfortunately, Malta’s notorious reputation as one of Europe’s worst black spots for illegal and unsustainable bird killing is not undeserved. Since the 1960s, Malta has lost at least three previously breeding bird species as a direct result of persecution by hunters - including the Peregrine Falcon (famously known as the Maltese Falcon). 

Today, the spring hunting season in Malta is one of the most controversial bird conservation issues in Europe. Ostensibly, only two species - Turtle Dove and Quail - may be shot during this spring hunting season, but in reality many more are targeted under the cover of the legal season. Rare species are killed and stuffed for illegal Victorian-style private collections, undermining European conservation efforts, while many more common migrants are just used for target practice with their killers not even bothering to confirm their kills or collect the bird they have just shot. Turtle Doves and Quail are themselves vulnerable and declining in Europe, with the Turtle Dove - one of Europe’s most iconic birds, its appearance and sound synonymous with the summer- on the verge of extinction as a breeding bird in several European countries, including the UK.

Every spring BirdLife Malta volunteers take injured birds illegally shot during the spring hunting season to a vet in the hope that their injuries are not too severe and they can be treated and released, but only a relatively small number survive.

While the large majority of Maltese people oppose spring hunting and want to see migrating birds properly protected, successive Maltese governments have failed to bring illegal bird killing under control and refused to stop unsustainable hunting in spring. And since a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2009 found Malta guilty of violating the EU Birds Directive by allowing spring hunting in 2004-2007, the European Commission appears to have lost the will to take further action to stop Malta’s abuse of the Birds Directive.

Stopping spring hunting would be a huge step towards making Malta safe for Europe’s migrating birds and would even help the chances of birds which try to breed on the islands. There is new hope amongst Maltese and European conservationists that this might be the last year Malta opens a spring hunting season. A petition presented to Malta’s Electoral Commission last week and signed by more than 44,000 Maltese voters, calls for a public referendum to stop spring hunting in Malta and could finally put an end to decades of abuse by removing the taking the decision away from politicians putting in directly in the hands of the Maltese people. You can help make this the last spring hunting season in Malta by supporting BirdLife Malta’s campaign to stop spring hunting." 

(Source: www.indiegogo.com/projects/stop-spring-hunting-on-malta)

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Chris Packham is spearheading a new awareness campaign 'Malta massacre on migration' to help end the complacent attitudes of many, including the Maltese Government. He and a team of people will be posting daily videos to YouTube during the hunting season in an effort to bring forward the truth to people. Check out his website at the link below, for specific details. We, alongside the Maltese public can help put an end to this!

http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/ 

The Birdman Chronicles creates no claim or credit for images featured on this blog unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners and every effort is made to link back to original content or photographer whenever possible. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear here, please contact me and they will be promptly remove.

Birdman.

The Endgame Amalgamation

The Dissertation is done. 

The last 9 months of my life & one of the primary reasons I started this blog is over. Everything I have thought and written on the subject has been concisely written in less than 10'000 words spanning 80 pages. I am so proud of what I have done. To me, it is the best piece of work I have ever produced. Even though the results of the study determined on the whole that a hell of a lot of research needs to be conducted on birds in general, as everything out there currently is so inconclusive and anecdotal, I believe that studies like mine are important in paving the way to future research. I hope the research I have conducted can help shape or even inform on the captive accommodation of striated caracara. I just hope that those zoos and wildlife parks, who allowed me to carry out my research, are happy with it. After all for allowing me to do my observations, I think its fair that they deserve an acceptable piece of work in return.

I have reached a rather split personality about finishing the dissertation, on one hand I am glad its done, the relinquishment of stress felt good & I am proud that I actually finished it, as there was a little period at the beginning of this year where I was seriously doubting everything including the project, but I bucked up and got it done. However, this is where the split mind comes into play. Since handing it in I have not been as ecstatic as I should have been, in an odd way I'm missing the stress, I'm missing the having to actually wake up and be out and active because I have this piece of work to do. Its an odd sensation. I think its because I'm not used to not having the pressure since being at uni, its become a state of mind. Hopefully it'll all change once I head back to help out at the falconry centre during the holidays, along with actually nailing a job back home. I do have a bit of revision to do over the holidays as well, I have to finish off my behavioural ecology TCA, then one exam in May and a Viva, also in May.

This week has also bought a rather joyous element. I have a new member of my flock, a 1 year old female Cockatiel to hopefully pair up with the male I already own, Monty. The female is called Alina & she is very pretty, check her out below.

I suppose now, whilst I have a bit of free time I'll get back onto my drawing, I have a new series that I want to do: 'Project Radiate'.

This group of drawings all stems from the fact that over the years my imagination has come up with a vast array of antagonists and protagonists for a variety of things & I want to catalogue and draw them all, really allow people to access and get to know/understand these characters I have spent so many years creating and molding. We shall see how much I get done on that. I will also get back to writing Absolute Zero & possibly Renegades as I have not been able to do any work on either for months! Another thing on my list is learning to paint on Photoshop, its something I experimented with a few years ago but never really followed up on, I want to change this. I feel my drawings need more of a punch, they need to be something more than pencil drawings, its time to also breath life into the characters. Apart from that everything is going to be relatively quiet up until the end of June when i head off to Africa. So yeah, that is everything up to date. 

As an added note, one of my friends, who also happens to be my brothers girlfriend, has started a blog of her very own. Its good to see someone I know making a transition. As much as I use Tumblr and I do find it rather amusing, I much prefer this more formal representation. So yeah, shes set her blog up and you should all keep your eyes peeled and follow her if you like the idea of a nice lifestyle blog.

http://alexandra-annx.blogspot.co.uk/

AoTW: The False Widow Integration

The not quite 'killer' spider

 

This weeks animal of the week feature is a slightly different layout to the usual. I am focusing on a species that I was inspired to write about when someone I know posted a suspected sighting of one in their house. This creature and it's eight legged relatives are responsible for causing some degree of fear in 50% of women and 10% of me in the UK.  I am of course referring to arachnophobia. I used to be arachnophobic myself, although in the past year I have become a lot more tolerant of spiders and they don't freak me out as much. Although I feared them I have always respected them, they are marvelous animals if given a chance, so many variations and so many great case studies.

However, one of the most interesting in my eyes is the false widow spider in the UK. Their name derives from the fact that they are often misidentified as black widow spiders. Although the 2 are part of the same family, they are a different genus and very different spiders. Last year (2013) the media erupted with reports of an apparent 'invasion' of these spiders, when in fact out of the seven species recorded in the UK, 4 are native and only 2 have been accidentally introduced. The media did a good job of building myth around this spider through the use of scare tactics in news reports.

Chris Leather, 2013

The particular individual that has caused the stir is Steatoda nobilis, they have been recorded in England since 1879, along the southern coast. It is only in the last few years that their distribution has become more widespread, with populations moving away from coastal areas into inland regions.

Distribution Map for the false widow in the UK

The UK's most venomous spider

 

The false widow spider is the UK's most venomous spider. Nobody has died from being bitten in the UK though. It is typically the larger females that bite, rather than males which are considerably smaller. Whilst capable of inflicting a painful bite the chances of actually being bitten are exceedingly rare; you are more likely to be stung by a bee or wasp.  Getting bitten is associated to handling without due care, thus it is recommended that you DO NOT attempt to handle this spider, as doing so will increase the risk of being bitten considerably. Besides this, handling the spider could actually damage it, behind the bite is a delicate arachnid.  Mark Champion from the Wildlife Trust explained the bite of the false widow to the BBC as part of a 'debunking myth' article:

"The bite it gives is mainly defensive, so it's not coming to get you, it's not a horror movie... It is no stronger than a wasp sting... The swelling can become the size of a tennis ball. It can be something quite a big but it's not something we all need to panic about."

The bottom line consensus is that these spiders are not an aggressive species. As the climate changes, these spiders are thought that populations will continue to grow as conditions become more favourable for them. Besides, if Australia can survive when every living organism that lives there is out to kill you I'm sure with a little bit of understanding we can continue to live in peace alongside this 7mm spider. 

It is important though not to become complacent of this spider, do not ignore it or brush it aside. Be wary of it, learn to identify it and avoid handling them to save yourself a lot of discomfort from being bitten. If you do get bitten though seek out your local GP for advice! Online, there are also a number of arachnid trusts and organisations which can give you the relevant information if you are worried about this species. The false widow spider is here to stay, you don't have to like it being here but awareness of the species can go a long way.

Identification

 

The false widow spider is a relativity small species, and ranges from 7-14mm. They have a large abdomen and are dark brown in colour. They have a glossy appearance, with a white pattern covering the topside of their abdomen. This pattern can either be well pronounced as in the picture below or can be less pronounced. They can be generally found in dry and undisturbed environments, like sheds and outbuildings, although they will venture into houses and other structures should conditions favour them. They are typically active during the night and remain static or hidden during the day. They do not make nests or webs and if one is found it is likely that another is in close proximity.

British Arachnological Trust, 2014

The Birdman Chronicles creates no claim or credit for images featured on this blog unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners and every effort is made to link back to original content or photographer/ name whenever possible. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear here, please contact me and they will be promptly removed.