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...
Rare warbler has crowds
flocking
An orphean warbler (Sylvia hortensis) has been
seen in Britain for only the sixth time – and even then the last visit was over
20 years ago. It was spotted at Hartlepool’s Headland at the end of May and should
have been migrating from Africa to somewhere like Spain but clearly was a
spring overshoot.
Group hatches a
plan to help rare great bustards to thrive
Eggs rather than
chicks will be brought over from Russia for the first time in a bid to
reinstate the world’s heaviest flying bird to the plains and levels of the
west. Slowly establishing itself on Salisbury Plain, the great bustard (Otis tarda) is moving further
south and west to Dorset and the Somerset Levels, but to establish a
sustainable population, each year more birds need to be raised at secret
locations in Wiltshire.
The first bustards to
breed in Wiltshire produced their own chicks in 2009 and now a population of 18
is settled on Salisbury Plain.
The bird, which is
the symbol of Wiltshire and appears on the county flag, was hunted to
extinction in the 19th Century.
The Great Bustard Group now want to bring eggs rather than chicks over
from Russia and hatch them here. David Waters, from the group, said it would be
cheaper and easier to transport eggs, and less stressful for the birds.
Three species
of farmland bird win protection at Donkey Sanctuary
The Donkey Sanctuary has announced a new set of initiatives to protect
three species of rare birds that have recently been discovered living amongst
the resident donkeys at Sidmouth.
Populations of the
once common yellowhammer (Emberiza citronella), linnet (Carduelis cannabina) and skylark (Alauda arvensis) have all been designated "red" status by the British Trust for
Ornithology (BTO) due to alarming declines but have been identified as breeding
on Donkey Sanctuary farmland. The animal welfare charity has put measures in
place to protect these vulnerable species during the summer breeding months.
James Chubb, wildlife expert at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: "What
these birds need is minimal disturbance and good scruffy long grass in which to
forage and nest. We will be allocating areas to be left to grow long to ensure
ground nesting birds are not destroyed and we have put signage on public
footpaths to ask people to keep dogs on leads and to stick to the marked
routes."
Annie Brown, General Farms Manager, said: "James has worked with
the farm staff so that they are able to identify these important birds and to
learn more about their preferred habitat.
"We are delighted to see the birds living so happily alongside the
donkeys and are now looking at ways of managing the hedgerows and banks to make them even more bird and
mammal friendly".
By mindfully protecting these three important factors it is hoped that
this 30-year decline can be halted, and even reversed, on The Donkey
Sanctuary's seven farms
Rare corncrakes celebrated
One of Scotland's rarest and
most elusive birds is to be celebrated in a new festival on the Western Isles.
Picture: Wikipedia
Corncrakes
(Crex crex) in the UK are
almost exclusive to north and west Scotland after habitat loss in other areas.
RSPB
Scotland said increases in numbers of the birds in recent times following years
of decline should be celebrated.
The
Uist Corncrake Festival will be held at the RSPB Balranald reserve on 22 and 23
June and will include origami and pin the beak on the corncrake.
Reserve
manager Jamie Boyle said: "Corncrakes were once common across much of the
UK, but changes in farming practices saw the population plummet, and by the
early 90s, it became a globally-threatened species.
"But
crofters and farmers here in the Hebrides, with support from agricultural
schemes, have produced an increase in corncrake numbers in recent years, and
that has to be worth celebrating."
Rare parrot stolen from
Matlock Garden Centre
Staff at a garden centre in Matlock are
concerned about the well being of a rare Jardine’s parrot (Poicephalus
gulielmi) that was stolen from
them. The bird is only 14 weeks old and arrived at the centre the day before it
was stolen.
.
Manager
Nicki Doran said: “He seemed to be settling in well. He was eating.
“We
cleaned the birds out this morning and they come out for a while, then they
went back in the cages at 10am.
Picture: Birds of Eden, Wikipedia
“At
about 11.30am the two lads that work in that section said the parrot was gone.”
Concerned,
Nicki rang the police to report the missing bird.
She
and her staff then rang nearby pet stores to see if anyone had tried to sell
it.
“Even
if they are planning to keep it they will still need to buy a cage for it,”
Nicki said.
“Our
biggest worry is that it is only a baby and the person who has taken it might
not know how to care for it properly.
“Even
if someone had wanted to buy it I wouldn’t have let them have it yet because it
had only just arrived here and it is stressful for them to be moved.”
The
parrot was between eight and ten inches tall with dark green feathers and black
tips on the wings. It is worth about £700.
Anyone
with information about the parrot is urged to either contact the garden centre
on 01629 580500 or Derbyshire Police on 101.
Buckfastleigh
bird poisoning warning
WILDLIFE police in South Devon have appealed for vigilance over bird
poisoning in the Buckfastleigh area.
Around this time last year Whitecleave Quarry became a target for the
attempted poisonings of peregrine falcons, and police are, this year, asking
members of the community around the area to be on the lookout for any
suspicious activity.
Prior to 2011 a homing pigeon was wing-clipped and had poison spread on
its back to make an easy target for peregrines to catch and be poisoned.
In that instance the pigeon failed to reach its target and was found
within a child minder’s garden. A police spokesman said that had a child
touched the pigeon it could have resulted in serious injury or death.
In particular they are advising anyone seeing a pigeon in distress or
unable to fly not to approach the bird and to call police or the RSPB
immediately.
Torquay-based Police Wildlife Officer PC Josh Marshall explained: “Last
year a peregrine falcon was found poisoned within the quarry.
"It was confirmed to have within its body a banned poison called
Carbufuran which is extremely toxic, no doubt having ingested the poison from
bait.
“More seriously the banned substance is extremely harmful to humans and
could easily kill children or pets from contact.”
“The falcons are protected species and in killing them anyone found
responsible would be prosecuted and could face a fine of up to £5,000 or six
months in prison.
PC Marshall said that he hoped the community of Buckfastleigh and
surrounding areas would take some responsibility for helping the protected
species.
“These falcons are still fairly rare and having a site of ornithological
interest within the quarry is something to be embraced. We hope that local
residents will do their bit and keep an eye out for anyone wishing to harm
them.”
New ponds to attract rare
birds at Malltraeth, Anglesey
A total of 27 new ponds have been dug on Anglesey to
benefit rare and threatened bird species.
The Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB) hopes to attract breeding lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), of
which there are only an estimated 500 breeding pairs in Wales.
Funded
through the Million Ponds Project, it is hoped the ponds will also provide a
habitat for pillwort, a rare grass-like fern.
Picture: thewesternisles.co.uk
Ian
Hawkins, RSPB Cymru site manager at Malltraeth, said: "We wanted to create
ponds here for breeding lapwing for a long time, but didn't know where to
start.
"The
Million Ponds Project has been very helpful, helping us to make the best
possible ponds to benefit these birds, and finding the money to pay for
it."
The
Million Ponds Project is led by the charity Ponds Conservation.
It says
it aims to ensure there are once again 1m ponds in the UK, after many were
lost.
Choughs spread
their wings
After being extinct in England for the best part of a century, choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) are increasing their
West Country range and have now been spotted as far up the peninsula as the
Exmoor coast. And the good news is that they've had another great breeding
year, according to the team which is overseeing the rare bird's bid to
re-colonise the region.
Picture: RSPB
The Cornwall Chough Project – a partnership of RSPB, National Trust and
Natural England staff – reports that five nests have successfully produced 16
youngsters this spring.
The birds first reappeared at the Lizard in Cornwall in 2001 after a
50-year absence – and since then RSPB experts have been pondering one question:
would the choughs be able to keep their tenuous claw-hold?
"They have already expanded along the coast – though I won't say
where," said Ms Mucklow, whose team set up annual round-the-clock rotas to
protect the eggs and nesting sites. "We're optimistic – there's a lot of
coast in Cornwall which they can colonise, and North Devon also has plenty of
ideal locations. This year there have been records of a number of birds along
the Exmoor coast, which is really exciting. Choughs tend to return to historic
nest sites," she added. "They seek out really good sites surrounded
by ideal habitat.
"The important thing for us is to work where we know choughs are
already – then we look at where choughs nested historically.
"So, for example, we know they were in the Valley of Rocks on
Exmoor before the choughs disappeared in Devon some time around 1910 – with a
bit of tweaking to the existing habitat management there, they could easily return.
The project team relies on a growing number of volunteers who help keep
track of all the birds, ensure their nests are undisturbed and run the Lizard
observation point.
The Lizard choughs first nested in 2002 and the same pair is still
producing chicks with a brood expected to take to the wing this week. The
public is welcome to watch this special ornithological event from the local
observation point, which will be open from 10am to 5pm every day until this
Sunday, June 17, weather-permitting. The team is also organising a Wildlife
Weekend at the Lizard on June 23-24. Visit www.cornishchoughs.org
RARE BIRD IN MILLOM
A black-winged
stilt (Himantopus himantopus) was
spotted by wardens at the Hodbarrow Nature Reserve – the first recorded
sighting in Cumbria.
She said:
“I managed to catch up with the bird and it was unmistakable; black and white
with bright red legs, a really nice thing to manage to see. Unfortunately, it
wasn't around too long.”
Norman
Holton, senior site manager for RSPB Cumbrian coastal reserves, was also
present when the bird was spotted on May 28.
He said:
“Having decided to have a quick look from the bird hide, a black-winged stilt
was the last thing I was expecting to see.
“It is one
of the most striking and elegant of our wading birds.
“With all
of the habitat management work planned at Hodbarrow, hopefully the RSPB reserve
will attract many more rare and wonderful birds in the future.”
The bird
only stayed on the reserve for an hour, filling up on food before continuing
its journey.
It is
known to migrate to the Sahara for the winter months, before returning to
Southern Europe and Asia in March/April.
The
black-winged Stilt is not normally seen in the UK and this sighting was
believed to be a Cumbrian first.
Rare European
Roller
A rare European roller (Coracias garrulous) was spotted at Spurn Point before being
seen on a country road just outside Aldbrough. Martin Garner, of the Spurn bird
observatory, was running a guided tour when he spotted it near the coastguard
cottages.
Picture: Wikipedia
He said: "It was perched on the wires ready to drop down on an
insect.
"The guy I was showing around from Cambridge was bowled over. He
was so excited.
"It is one of the most popular birds to see at the minute and one
of the rarest.
"The first thing I had to do was radio in about it. The other guys
were jumping out of bed and rushing down to the site.
An RSPB spokesman said that it is the holy grail of the birds to
see. He said: "There were initially
two in the area.
"The one near Aldbrough has been there for nearly a week. It is
very rare for one to stay in the same place.
"It will have spent the winter in Africa and on its way to Eastern
Europe to breed. It probably got blown off course and is confused and
lost."
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