I have chosen one issue more or less randomly – there is so much information to try to take in.
Raptor on raptor – a Goshawk is recorded, for the first time, predating Gyr Falcon chicks in Norway. Wonderful plans / hopes for a nature reserve in Rutland, including the reintroduction of brown bears, lynxes and wolves, although the negativity of many of the comments casts doubt on whether it will ever be allowed to happen. In Japan, a new breeding colony of the rare Japanese Murrelet has been discovered. I had not heard of these unusually shaped, marbled seabirds which are apparently part of the Auk family.
More good news: Shetland has been officially designated an Important Marine Mammal Area.
It’s not all good though. Malta and Cyprus are notorious for the illegal trapping and killing of songbirds. I have written about it before and Chris Packham made a two-part documentary some years ago. The Autumn 2023 Trapping Report, published by BirdLife Cyprus and supported by the RSPB and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter makes horrific, depressing reading. Within the survey area alone, estimated numbers are up on 2022 by a huge margin. The total given is 435,000. Four hundred and thirty-five thousand. They are sold on the black market for human consumption. There had been good progress since the 1990s but this reversal of that trend is dismaying to say the least. There is more encouraging data regarding Skylarks, Tree Sparrows and Norfolk Hawker dragonflies in the UK, although the expansion of the dragonflies’ territory may be due to climate change.
The weekly review of sightings is fascinating as ever and there are as always some fabulous entries in the photo section.
The ever reliable and eloquent Mark Avery writes passionately about the massive problems caused by Pheasant shooting in the UK, a subject especially close to my heart. It’s a succinct summary in which one particularly neat point is made: there is of course no regulation whatsoever in terms of numbers released each year (as many as 50 million), 13 million of which are shot, and as Mark Avery says, “You need more paperwork to release a dozen White-tailed Eagles or Red Kites than several tens of million pheasants.” Figures vary but if we assume an average weight per Pheasant of two pounds, which is probably on the low side, the total weight comes to around 45,000 tons. I have not seen that calculation made elsewhere although no doubt it has been. I find it impossible to visualise and equally impossible to imagine how those responsible can sleep at night.
BirdGuides is a fantastic resource and there is even a free pdf to download focusing on the birds of South Africa, Central Asia and Jamaica.
From the previous issue I was pleased to read an article in praise of gulls, who get so much bad, ridiculous and hysterical press coverage, less so to learn that the Farne Islands are to be open to visitors again, following their closure for two years due to avian flu. As I wrote of my experience of a ‘sunset tour’ last year when the boats went far too close to the bird colonies, there is enough intrusion as it is and I simply don’t see the need for people to be permitted to land. One justification for the disturbance of the birds from the boats was that not everyone can afford a decent camera and have only their mobile phones with which to take photographs. Phone cameras these days are so good and perfectly good actual cameras are available for less than the cost of a phone, so I don’t think that holds any water. Or, heaven forbid, don’t take pictures at all and just enjoy the experience, from a respectful distance.
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