As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out-of-place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.Because we live in strange times, there are more and more bird stories that come her way, so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...
Update on BTO cuckoos
Martin - picture BTO
One of the BTO tracked cuckoos – Martin – is crossing the Sahara on his way back to the UK. He is moving over the earth’s surface at average speeds in excess of 62 mph! Interestingly, he appears to be following a different route back. You can keep abreast of the cuckoos’ movements by visiting:http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/what-have-we-learnt
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sahara-cuckoo.html
Britain's most famous osprey, 'Lady', has returned tothe Loch of the Lowes for her 22nd year
'Lady'is back - for her 22nd breeding season. The remarkable female osprey at theLoch of the Lowes has, against all the odds, returned once again. Probably aged26 years old now, few realistically thought that she would manage two more hugemigrations and yet another breeding season, but she has already mated with anunknown osprey. Her regular mate has not showed up - yet anyway.
Visitorfacilities have been upgraded over the winter at the Loch of the Lowes VisitorCentre to enhance the visitor experience including extension of the toiletfacilities and a new sewerage treatment plant to protect the health of the Lochwhich is vital to the Ospreys. These enhancements have been part-funded by theScottish Government and the European Community Rural Tayside LEADER 2007-2013Programme.
ScottishWildlife Trust Perthshire Ranger, Emma Rawling said:
“I’mdelighted to announce that our regular breeding female osprey returned to thenest at Loch of the Lowes at 8:31 this morning.
“Shehas been positively identified thanks to her distinctive iris and plumage. Itis an amazing achievement for her to return to Loch of the Lowes for her 22ndbreeding year, making her at least in her mid twenties. We are certain she isthe oldest breeding osprey in the UK.
“In2010 she was ill on the nest and thousands of people around the world watchedher remarkable recovery online. She returned in 2011 but her eggs failed tohatch; we feared that might have been the last we would see of this bird, butshe is back again. This is due in no small part to the amazing conservationefforts here at Loch of the Lowes. We’ve had 24 hour protection on the ospreynest that will continue as long as this osprey stays.
“Perhapsthat’s also why I think it’s the best place in the UK to see ospreys. From ourhide, you can see them fishing in the Loch and there is a great view to thenest. Thanks to our high definition web camera, viewers in the Visitor Centreand around the world get a unique view inside an osprey’s nest.”
Lady ofthe Loch – a short film by Lisa Trainer
Starlings becoming a rare sight in Bucks gardens
Photo credit: Wikipedia
A new survey shows that over the past quarter of acentury, starling (Sturnus vulgaris) numbers in Buckinghamshire gardens have hugely declined. The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch found thatsightings in this county were at an all-time low since the first survey back in1979. Compared to around 15 sightingsper hour when the first survey took place, this time people in Buckswere likely to see just over two of them per hour.
Mary Mackay, of Amersham Bird Watching Club, said:“The results do not really surprise me. “Starlings have been declining for anumber of years and you do not see them anywhere like as often as you used to.
“They struggle because their habitats have changed.They like farmland, and there is less of it about these days, and also becausefewer people have gardens and concrete them over to put cars on their drives.
“It means that things are very difficult, not justfor starlings but for most garden birds.”
RSPB scientist Mark Eaton said: “It would be atragedy if the numbers of starlings continue to plummet and we will do all wecan to help stop this happening.”
What do you think? Email our letters page atbucksnews@trinitysouth.co.uk.
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