News archive
October 2008
Monday, 6 October 2008
AUTUMN MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
I started my last message with reference to the bad weather. It has again featured strongly in some of our trips through the "summer" and once again the Troup Head/Portsoy Boat Festival was a complete washout. There were trips with much better weather, the Glen Lethnot trip sticking in my mind as particularly pleasant.
We were joined on the Rattray Head/Strathbeg trip by the BBC who stayed with us throughout the day, they being ever prepared to whip a microphone in front of us at the drop of a hat to catch the pearls of wisdom dropping from our lips! I believe it was broadcast at 7 am the following Saturday, a little before my time shall we say?
The spring trip this year was to Spain and the Coto Doňana, a vast wetland to the west of Seville. Accommodation was unusual in that we stayed in mobile homes this year, but they were air conditioned and quite adequate.
The birding was superb in the boiling hot weather. Food was excellent, Imperial Eagles showing well from the restaurant. We stayed in El Rocío where the streets are sand and a great many people ride about on horses and goods are delivered by mule cart. It is well worth a look.
It is proposed that the Spring trip in 2009 will be to the Greek island of Lesbos. See newsletter for further information.
We have a new RSPB Aberdeen Local Group website which can be found at www.rspb.org.uk/groups/aberdeen.
Thanks to Graham Cooper for getting this set up and running.
Another batch of thirty-five Red Kites has been released to the west of Aberdeen and a release of more White-tailed Sea Eagles has been made from "somewhere in Fife". Still hard to get a sighting of some of these but it can only get better.
Still time to make a donation to the Chairman's Appeal for Meikle Loch. The negotiations are dragging on a bit, but I am sure there is going to be a happy ending. Cheques made out to The RSPB, Aberdeen Local Group to Graham Cooper please. At the last count we had £6950 given to the appeal.
Christmas is coming and the geese are getting worried! Please remember Duncan Pennett who handles the Group sales for us. We benefit greatly from the purchase, through Duncan, of items from the RSPB catalogues or website. So please contact him if you are thinking of an order.
[Telephone: 07821 859877]
A new round of Bird Atlas is coming up. Make sure you have your new squares registered.
Any problems, Graham Cooper, Aberdeenshire South (grm.cooper@btinternet.com) and Paul Doyle, Aberdeenshire North (paul@albaecology.co.uk), your BTO representatives will help.
Rodney Payne
Saturday, 4 October 2008
What You Missed January - June 2008
January - June 2008
The first six months of 2008 was every bit as good as the last half of 2007. We had some fine birds to ogle including a first for mainland Scotland and a lifer for me. The landscaping at Strathbeg paid off after only nine months with breeding Garganey and a good show of water birds.
JANUARY
The over-wintering Little Egret at Strathbeg did
not disappoint and stayed around until June.Strathbeg's annual Bittern was seen three times between the 5th and April the 4th.
Little Egret
Last autumn's Bonaparte's Gull - a North American vagrant - was still hanging around Ugie mouth until the 3rd of February and, if it was the same bird, turned up at Strathbeg on the 16th of March.
A King Eider was off Girdleness from the 6th until the 27th of March. Iceland and Glaucous Gulls were at their usual haunts until the 13th of April and one splendid, white Glaucous Gull was still in Fraserburgh harbour at the end of June. Waxwings stayed until the 7th April in about the same number as last year with a count of fifty on the 31st. A Green-winged Teal, another North American species, was seen at Strathbeg on the 25th and again on the 16th of March. It is probable that this species is at Strathbeg all winter but is difficult to spot amongst the hundreds of Common Teal.
FEBRUARY
Firecrests were at Strathbeg on the 6th and another was spotted at Collieston on the 24th of March. An intermediate-phase Snow Goose was around the Slains/Fetterangus area from the 7th until the 12th of March. It was difficult to find as it was usually in a flock of about 2,000 pinkies. However it was seen with a Bean Goose at Slains in the 13th. Also at Slains were five Common Cranes on the 23rd.
MARCH
The month kicked of with another vagrant from North America - a difficult-to-identify Kumlein's Gull at Fraserburgh harbour from the 2nd to the 23rd. Then a short-stay Ring-necked Duck appeared at Meikle Loch on the 9th. A White-fronted Goose was at Rattray on the 19th and again on the 13th of April. A Ross's Goose found at Cove on the 28th was probably the same as that found near Rattray on the 29th. It stayed until the 30th. A very obliging Bewick's Swan was at and around Cotehill Loch from the 21st until the 14th of April and showed well for one of our group outings.
APRIL
Garganey turned up early this year with a bird being in the Ugie area from the 9th, arriving at Strathbeg on the 13th and breeding for the first time. At least two broods were seen. A Water Pipit was at Meikle Loch on the 14th and a White Wagtail was seen at Blackdog on the 20th. Strathbeg hosted a Great White Egret on the 21st and this was joined by a second on the 22nd. They remained until the 24th. A Spoonbill was seen flying over Forvie on its way to Strathbeg on the 29th. It stayed until the 30th. Also at Strathbeg was a Little Ringed Plover on the 22nd. Ring Ouzels were seen at Rattray on the 24th and at Forvie on the 30th and a Stone Curlew at Don Mouth on the 29th.
MAY
This month started with a cracker, the first mainland sighting in Scotland for a rather peculiar American species, the Upland Sandpiper. It was found at St Combs on the 5th, just on the reserve at Strathbeg. It stayed only until the 6th but was seen by lots of birders. Those who could drag their gaze way from the Sandpiper would have had another pleasant surprise, the four Dotterels in the same field.
Also at Strathbeg was a White Stork on the 7th, a fly-over by a white-phase Snow Goose on the 15th and two Temminck's Stints on the 26th. Red Kites were seen over Ellon and Aberdeen on the 8th and 9th whilst Surf Scoters were off Murcar golf course from the 10th until the 27th of June.
White Stork
Three Yellow-legged Gulls showed up at Donmouth on the 14th and a Bluethroat was at Girdleness on the 16th and 17th. Red-backed Shrikes were noted from Aberdeen to Longhaven between the 21st and 30th and a Common Rosefinch was at Rattray on the 23rd. Two Avocets were on the Ythan on the 24th but decamped to Strathbeg by the 25th. A Red- breasted Flycatcher was at Troup head on the 27th and another was seen at Rattray on the 1st and 2nd of June. We had quite a fall of Marsh Warblers along the coast this month and into early June but I didn't catch up with any. The month ended with a Hobby at Maryculter.
JUNE
A Whiskered Tern was at Strathbeg from the 5th until the 8th and a Corncrake was at the same location on the 15th. These were was followed by a Quail and a Little Ringed Plover on the 29th. An elusive Rosy Starling frequented gardens in Newburgh from the 19th until the 28th. Sea-watching produced two Cory's Shearwaters this month, both off Fraserburgh,
on the 15th and on the 21st.
Yes: all told a very interesting first half of 2008.
Dave Gill
Friday, 3 October 2008
RSPB EAST SCOTLAND REGION-NEWS
In July 2008, another thirty-five red kites were released on the outskirts of Aberdeen. This year the birds have wing tags that are purple [left wing] and black [right wing] and are numbered 35 onwards.
Two of the releases were covered by the media. In the first, the Lord and Lady Provost, Peter and Sandra Stephen named a bird in honour of the city. It was bird number 37 and was named Nicholas, after the city's patron saint St Nicholas. The Lady Provost, was very enthusiastic about the project and loves wild birds, and her delight was evident in the press pictures, which made the front page of the P&J in the Aberdeenshire edition. Fame at last!
The second release covered by the Press was the last one when ten-year old Gregor Petchey, named bird 44, Diamond, after Aberdeen Footballer Zander Diamond. It's an honour for us that both the city and the football club are supporting the Aberdeen Red Kites project and it's a great way to reach out to as many people as possible to enthuse them about these beautiful birds.
The Aberdeen Red Kites project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Aberdeen Greenspace through the Landfill Community Fund and Scottish Natural Heritage with additional contributions from local businesses Stewart Milne Group and Raeburn Christie, Clark and Wallace.
EAST SCOTLAND SEA EAGLES
Michael Russell MSP, Minister for the Environment was our VIP guest for the arrival of the Sea Eagles in Edinburgh on 20th June. It was a privilege and a pleasure that he was able to support the project by being there to greet the birds as they arrived on Scottish soil. With the Minister was Professor Colin Galbraith [Director of Policy and Advice, Scottish Natural Heritage] and Moira Baptie [Environment Manager, Forestry Commission Scotland] and, of course, Claire Smith [RSPB Scotland], the East Scotland Sea Eagles Project Officer.
Due to licensing issues this year's birds are fitted with colour rings on the left leg, all rings being silver over red [same for west coast birds and rest of Europe - it is the year colour] and there is a two- digit number on them that needs to be read to identify the birds. BBC breakfast news carried the release of the Sea Eagles live on 14th August and the birds behaved brilliantly, it almost looked as if they were coming out on cue. True stars!
As with last year, Jenny Lennon [Aberdeen Red Kites project officer] and Claire Smith would be most grateful if you could send reports of all sightings to them at the usual addresses, aberdeenredkites@rspb.org.uk and eastscotlandseaeagles@rspb.org.uk
LOCH OF STRATHBEG
After several years of less than satisfactory access to the Loch hides, there is now unimpeded access to the Fen and Bay hides from dawn to dusk. In order to accommodate this, the Bank hide has now been closed permanently. Over the next few years, replacing it in a new location will be considered. The route starts to the left of the metal barrier that has been used as access to the airfield for the last few years. Go through the open gate and follow the way-makers. Please observe the speed limit at all times - 20 mph, except on the new raised section where there is a
5 mph restriction. These limits are not only for our visitors safety but also for the safety of the livestock on the airfield - in the last 12 months there have complaints from the farmer regarding the speed of some of our visitors.
...........and finally thank you for all your support this year. We really appreciate all you do and are very grateful for your fundraising, pin badge sales, volunteer time, enthusiasm and commitment. THANK YOU.
[September 2008]
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Indoor Meetings January - April 2008
WILDLIFE CRIME
There are eight police forces in Scotland but only four full-time wildlife crime officers. Dave Mackinnon, based in Stonehaven, has been involved with wildlife crime in Grampian Region for the past ten years, eight of them part-time and full-time for only the past two years. He is the sole police officer in the region involved full-time in this work. A further ten officers in Grampian are involved part-time in wildlife crime, which equates to one officer full-time. As so few resources are deployed to cover this large region the police depend on the public to report incidents. One of his duties is to raise the awareness of wildlife crime not only with the public but within Grampian police who, in addition to him, try to work with gamekeepers and estates.
We were introduced to various aspects of a wide range of wildlife crime. Poisoning occurs all over the United Kingdom. Carbofuran is a poison in the form of blue granules, designed as an insecticide to be used when crops are planted. Because it was misused widely it was withdrawn, but illegal stocks are still held and used. A rabbit carcass is split open and liberally laced with poison. It is then laid out prominently, perhaps on top of a rock, to attract carrion feeders, particularly raptors: this practice is associated with sporting estates and shoots.
Carbofuran is not only totally illegal but, though Buzzards or Crows may be the targets, it is indiscriminate so Golden Eagles and Red Kites also fall victim. Some hill farmers use the same technique against foxes which take lambs and poultry but badgers and Ravens also suffer. The amount of poison used in a single carcass could kill hundreds of birds.
In 2006 a hillwalker reported a dead Golden Eagle, a mature breeding bird, just within the boundary of a local estate. It had ingested carbofuran but the bait was never found. There are only eighteen pairs of Golden Eagle in Grampian. Recently a Golden Eagle was poisoned in the Borders. There is massive public interest in this type of crime.
Last year the Raptor Study Group found two Peregrine chicks poisoned by carbofuran in a
nest near Pitcaple. As the adults survived they must not have eaten the bait. Suspicion fell on the pigeon fancier world. Last spring a Red Kite, also poisoned by carbofuran, was found in the Tomintoul area. It was discovered in dense woodland only because it had a radio transmitter on its tail.
Peregrine
If such a bait is found it should not be touched, but a photograph taken if possible, and the police informed. The police will bag it and send it for toxicological testing. The chances of detection of illegal poisoned baits on remote hill farms or extensive shooting estates are very low so there is no way to reckon the real annual toll of birds and mammals killed in that manner. There is a mortality of Red Kites in Scotland from poisoned baits but, fortunately, so far there have been no losses among the thirty Red Kites released recently near Aberdeen. There are still a lot of them hanging about the Echt, Dunecht area.
Animals poisoned by carbofuran die quite quickly, near the bait. There is less evidence of poisoned birds but this may be because the baits and poisoned birds are picked up and hidden. It must also be remembered that in addition to being illegal, the use of poisoned baits does pose a risk to humans.
Of four recent Sea-eagle deaths, two were due to electrocution, one died in of unknown causes in Grampian and one from poisoning in the Angus glens.
There are banned poisons other than carbofuran
which, if found in a search, constitute an offence.
Cymag, for example, was banned three years ago but is still used to kill rabbits. It is put down rabbit burrows as it releases potassium cyanide gas when in contact with water.
Some birds are shot illegally. The carcass of a
well-decomposed Buzzard, with no obvious cause of death, was sent for analysis and X-rays showed shotgun pellets. Similarly an X-ray of a badly-decayed Cormorant, a protected species, found close to a fishery near Ellon showed that it had been shot. So even old carcasses can be worth investigation.
On Aboyne Loch a speedboat raced through a family of Mute Swans, comprising two adults and five well-grown cygnets. Two dead cygnets were recovered from a reed-bed. The case went to court which accepted the driver's plea that it was not intentional. In a lochan near Strachan, where a colony of Black-headed Gulls was starting to nest, a digger began to remove the nesting island. The company was charged but court proceedings did not ensue. The island could have been removed legally outside the nesting season.
Egg-collecting is not a great issue as most egg-collectors gave up when the crime attracted a six-month custodial sentence. There is no significant trade in eggs as collectors just do it for themselves.
Badger
There is a large population of badgers in Grampian and quite a number of incidents are reported. Clear felling in forestry can cause disturbance as can housing developments. In a small woodland near Fochabers the owner jammed the entrances to three setts with sawn wood. It was reported to the police, went to court, and a fine of £1,800 resulted. In a wood near Drumoak felled trees blocked the entrance to a sett and the heavy machinery compressed the soil at the opening. A shot badger was reported on an estate near Fettercairn. This was an attempt to get back at the head keeper after a fall-out. The case was dropped as it could not be proved that the animal was alive when shot.
Snares set for foxes also trap roe deer, badgers and dogs. Snares are of two types. Self-locking snares tighten as an animal struggles but do not ease off when the animal stops struggling and the animal is strangled. This type of snare is illegal. Free-running snares, which ease off when the animal stops struggling, are legal.
Rabbit
Gamekeepers argue that snares are very effective for controlling foxes. The use of snares is under review at the moment. Smaller free-running snares for rabbits are legal. The Forestry Commission has a non-snaring policy so adjacent landowners cannot set snares on Forestry Commnision land as they have no permission. As snares have to be checked every twenty-four hours it is an offence to have a decaying carcass in a snare.
Crow traps are legal to catch Crows which are then destroyed. Dave gave an example of a walker who witnessed a keeper shooting two Buzzards caught in a trap, instead of releasing them. The bodies were removed and stuffed down rabbit holes. When the police investigated they recovered eleven more Buzzard corpses in various stages of decomposition. The court imposed as fine of only £200 - a poor result. Loss of a gun licence is more effective than a fine as a gun is an essential tool of the trade. It would help the cause of wildlife protection if more stringent and realistic penalties were imposed. A Buzzard caught in a trap was confined for at least forty-eight hours. The bird was stressed with damage to its head and feathers. The keeper was charged under animal welfare legislation.
Stoats are caught using spring traps set in natural or artificial tunnels. These traps have two bars which, when triggered, snap together and break the spine. Such traps are used legally only when covered.
Deer poaching is a problem in Grampian. The evidence is usually the legs, which have been chopped off, and the gralloch. A case of shooting deer involved two young men near Cushnie. One of them got into his father's gun cabinet and removed a .22 rifle. At night, three roe deer and a red deer were each shot about six times and the bodies dumped. They boasted about their exploit, the police were informed and the court imposed fines of several hundreds of pounds.
Red Deer
There are nine fishery boards in Scotland. Fishing is an important source of income, the Spey fishing reckoned to be worth £18.5 million to the area. There is not a large volume of crime but there is illegal netting of salmon in rivers and off the coast. There is some illegal fishing of freshwater pearl mussels. Sixty percent of the British population is in Scotland, mainly in the rivers Dee and Spey. These animals can live up to 100 years. The chances of finding a pearl are very low.
Dave finished off with some examples of infrequent crimes. A rider on jet skis was fined £800 for harassing bottle-nosed dolphins in the Moray Firth. Six visitors from the north of England were fined £1,200 pounds for shooting two Barnacle Geese at Meikle Loch. Hare coursing does occur and those who take part are usually involved in other crimes. When caught in suspicious circumstances it is difficult for the offender to plead "Taking the dog for a walk." when the dog is held on a quick-release leash.
Dave had not run out of information but, unfortunately, we had run out of time. His talk, much appreciated by a large audience, showed there is still much to be done to change some attitudes and to reconcile conflicts on the roles of certain animals in our countryside.
SKYE BIRDS
[19 February, 2008]
Before Bob McMillan retired to Skye he was an Assistant Chief Constable in Tayside. He has had a lifelong interest in birds, particularly raptors. Skye provided an opportunity to study an island which has few birders and therefore to make a considerable contribution to the corpus of existing knowledge. As well as recording the distribution of birds and making Wetland Bird Survey counts of wildfowl, he undertook extensive research into existing records. From these records and his own observations he has produced a book on birds of Skye. Having a "garden" list that includes Lapland Bunting, Red-throated Diver, White-tailed Eagle, Great Skua, Twite and Waxwing must be a great
incentive.
Twite
Skye, with a maximum length of fifty miles from north to south and a maximum width of forty-two miles from east to west, has 356 miles of coastline. The Cuillin, formed from a volcano and subsequent erosion by glacial action, has spectacular rugged scenery. Inhabitants of Skye learn to live with high winds and high rainfall, the latter with no real seasonal pattern. Snow does not linger for any length of time. Besides offering marvellous scenery and being an excellent place to watch cetaceans, Skye has a wide variety of bird species - fifty-seven recorded
breeding and many visiting.
There are some semi-natural woodlands on steep hillsides, out of reach of grazing sheep. There are also Forestry Commission plantations which provide habitat for Short-eared Owls and large numbers of some species such as Redpolls, Siskins, Bullfinches and Coal Tits. Red deer are numerous and increasing, probably due to forestry. Hen Harriers number about twenty breeding pairs, most of which are in forestry plantations. Unlike the East of Scotland, the main cause of loss is to foxes finding nestlings so control of these predators is advocated. The Merlin population is underestimated, so in 2008 an attempt will be made to make a more accurate count. Red Kites may have bred at one time but, since the reintroduction into the Black Isle, are now recorded annually only as a handful of sightings of tagged birds.
Between 1840 and 1883 the clearances resulted in 34,799 people being evicted. In 1882 five absentee landlords owned 357,000 acres. In the hundred years following 1851 the population fell from 22,500 to 7,700. But by 2006 the population had increased to 9,600. There is just one shooting estate which is fairly enlightened as regards raptors.
Study of birds in Skye has suffered from a shortage of birders, although two names stand out. In 1881 the Reverend Hugh Macpherson inherited Glendale Estate on Skye from his uncle, an absentee landlord. Hugh Macpherson himself was also an absentee landlord but, unlike his late uncle, visited the island frequently. This Victorian naturalist was a meticulous recorder who contributed records of 153 species for Skye. Of his time, he paid bird-catchers and gamekeepers to kill birds and send the corpses to him for examination. Seton Gordon lived on Skye from 1931 until his death in 1977. He was an outstanding naturalist, writer, mountaineer, photographer and an inspirational writer who produced, inter alia, a monograph Days with the Golden Eagle. But he was not a meticulous recorder.
Strongly associated with Skye are Golden Eagles. Of course Buzzards on roadside posts and telegraph poles satisfy many tourists that they have seen eagles. Between 1995 and 2007 there were some thirty confirmed breeding pairs and a number of sub-adult birds. Part of the Cuillin is a Special Protection Area which carries eight pairs of Golden Eagles, that is 2% of the British population. To help the Golden Eagle the rabbit population and heather moorland are encouraged, crofters being paid not to burn the heather. For some years, from nests with two nestlings, a single chick has been removed and moved to Ireland. Last year was the first successful breeding from these introductions.
Mull is promoted as the White-tailed Eagle island, rather to the resentment of the inhabitants of Skye which holds up to ten pairs, that is 25% of the Scottish population.
They nest up to six kilometres from the sea. They prey to a small extent on lambs and are in competition, in part, with Golden Eagles as both species feed on dead sheep. The Skye sheep flock has fallen from 200,000 in the 1990s to 150,000 to-day, resulting in fewer carcasses on which the birds can scavenge. The overall result is that there has been a slight reduction in breeding of Golden Eagles and productivity of the White-tailed Eagle, lower than the Scottish average of 0.7.
Boat operators are cashing in on the attraction of White-tailed Eagles, with hundreds of people taking advantage of boat trips to see the birds feeding on fish thrown over the side. Dead mackerel, having a swim bladder, float long enough for the birds to come in and pull them from the surface whereas species such as saithe, lacking a swim bladder, sink rapidly. Artificial buoyancy can be provided by pushing corks or polystyrene into their mouths. The nests then become littered with this rubbish. Bob advocates that the RSPB gets involved both to use the fishing birds as a marketing tool and to put an end to the practice of using unsuitable fish species as bait.
The traditional crofting system, with cereals and root crops, is good for a variety of wildlife. Changes in crofting practice has reduced diversity. In 1996 a successful Grasslands Scheme was put in place, paying crofters to manage fields sensitively in order to encourage Corncrakes.
Ravens are common, one of the best places to see them being a landfill site near Portree with up to 150 birds. Common breeding species include Twite, Stonechat and Rock Dove which come to bird feeders. Greenshank appeared to have increased in numbers. There is a big population of Shags, a good number of Black Guillemots and about fifty breeding pairs of Red-throated Diver. Puffin numbers have declined. Shearwaters breed on Skye. Gannets do not but many are seen during the breeding season as they hunt far from their breeding colonies further north.
Raven
Great Northern and Black-throated Divers are winter visitors. Great Northern Divers are solitary feeders whereas Black-throated Divers feed in groups but both species move out to sea to roost communally. Other winter visitors are the white-winged Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. Little Gulls are unusual visitors.
Dunlin, Turnstones, Purple and Curlew Sandpipers and a few Grey Plover are winter visitors. Greenshank occur in winter and on passage. Of Rock Pipits, some are breeders and some are seen on passage. Greenland Wheatears and White Wagtails pass through regularly. Iceland Redwings pass through in both directions. Pale-bellied Brent Geese pass through in autumn on passage from Arctic Eastern Canada to Ireland and some in spring, returning to their breeding grounds.
Red Grouse
The populations of some species are increasing. Red Grouse numbers are improving slowly but limiting factors are overgrazing by sheep and inappropriate muirburn. Siskins have been doing well over the last twenty years, probably due to increased afforestation. Bullfinches have adapted well to forestry plantations. But numbers of some species are falling. Lapwings breed in small numbers and have low breeding success. Linnets were never common and are in decline. Tree Sparrows were always scarce and have not been recorded in the last twenty years. Reed Buntings are now a rare breeding resident. A lack of birdwatchers over the years must have produced distorted records of numbers and distribution of birds.
Recent visitors include Little Egret and Bittern. Four Common Cranes together made a single appearance in 1990. A Greater Yellowlegs in 1985 was the third record for Scotland. The Spotted Sandpiper, a scarce North American vagrant, gave the first recorded breeding attempt for the species in the Western Palaearctic in 1975, although none of the clutch of four eggs hatched.
We were treated to an interesting talk, well researched, illustrated and presented by an enthusiast. It is difficult to imagine how Bob found time to be a policeman. He enthused his audience on the delights of Skye and was a fine protagonist for the joys of birding in that part of Scotland.
BTO AND THE NEW BREEDING AND WINTERING ATLAS
[18 March, 2008]
After a gap of ten years, Paul Doyle has recently again become a representative of the British Trust for Ornithology. The BTO promotes and encourages a wider understanding, appreciation and conservation by producing impartial, high quality material. It is neither a campaigning organisation nor a pressure group but an independent body that produces unbiased data; the information derived from their analyses does effect governmental decisions. At its simplest, its function is to count birds; most of what it does is to run surveys such as Garden Birdwatch and Breeding Bird Surveys. It is also involved in bird ringing, both of nestlings and of trapped adult birds.
At Constant Effort Sites, twenty-five species of
passerines are caught twelve times over a
summer. The results are standardised by trapping at the same time, at the same place and with the same use of nets. The number of adults gives an indication of population size and the number of juveniles that of breeding success.
Bird ringing in Great Britain was started in 1909 by Professor Arthur Landsborough Thomson of the Department of Natural History [now Zoology] at the University of Aberdeen and by Harry Witherby in England. It was taken over by the BTO in 1930. Why ring birds? Many data are produced; since the inception of the scheme 34,000,000 birds have been ringed and 617,000 recoveries made.
Ringing gives information about migratory movements. These may be local movements, for example a juvenile male blackbird ringed in Norfolk wintered in a Devon garden. The next summer it was back in the garden where it was born. In the following winter it was back in the same Devon garden. This happened again in the third year. It was noted that the two gardens were very similar both in size and in the vegetation. Or there may be movements over great distances. For example information is gained about migration routes and the fact that different populations of a species may take different routes between summer and winter grounds. Tiny transmitters, the signals from which are relayed by satellites, give an immense amount of data about migration routes and the time spent on migration.
The main thrust of the BTO work in ringing aims to find out survival rates, reproductive success as regards how many birds fledge to become adults, and the survival of adult birds. Coloured rings, as well as the normal numbered metal ring, allow an individual bird to be identified without having to trap it again. There is an Aberdeen Ringing Group which has the Greenfinch as one of the main species of interest.
When birds are recaptured, information is provided about lifespans. A Fulmar first breeds at an age of between six and twelve. An adult bird ringed in 1951 was seen in 1995, so it had a minimum age of fifty as had a Manx Shearwater on recapture. Dead birds, for example on the beach or the prey of cats, should be checked for
rings. Ring numbers on living birds can
sometimes by read through a telescope. The
number can be reported by letter, telephone or
on the web.
Populations of species change due to various environmental factors. The Whitethroat is doing quite well, increasing again in recent years after a decline due to a prolonged drought in the Sahal.
Whitethroat
The survival of blackbirds is related closely to the average winter temperature. In the early 1990s Oystercatchers declined greatly in the Wash because of stress caused by harsh winters and low populations of mussels and cockles, their main food items. Stress can alter the normal pattern of moult which may be delayed or feathers lost in an abnormal order and these signs can be detected by ringers. Although many species declined in the bad summer of 2007, inexplicably the Long-tailed Tit did well as did the Robin although, in the latter case, this may have been due to immigration.
At the end of each year a report is produced in which species are classified into three categories.
Robin
Green List Species are those which give no cause for concern. Amber List Species are the cause of some concern, being those with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe: those whose population or range has declined moderately in recent years; those whose population has declined historically but made a substantial recent recovery; rare breeders; and those with internationally important or localised populations. Red List Species require some action to be taken, being those that are globally threatened according to IUCN [International Union for the Conservation of Nature] criteria; those whose population or range has declined rapidly in recent years; and those that have declined historically and not shown a substantial recent recovery.
Since 1955 data have been collected for nineteen species of mammal, including all our larger native species, the commoner introduced species and even the domestic cat. Recently a scheme, to which contributions are invited, has been started to record numbers and distribution of moths.
Compilations of data have been published in the Breeding Bird Atlas of 1968 -72, the Wintering Bird Atlas of 1981 - 84 and the Breeding Bird Atlas of 1988 - 91. It has been a long time since publication of the last atlas and in the meanwhile there have been large changes in some populations such as the increase of wintering Blackcaps and fewer Hooded Crows in Aberdeen. There have been big differences in the numbers and distributions of Marsh Harriers and Kingfishers. A new atlas is required to assess changes that have occurred in bird distributions and abundances and changes in ranges since the last atlas. The data from three breeding and two winter seasons will form the basis of the 2007 - 2011 Breeding and Wintering Bird Atlas. It will be produced by a partnership between BTO Scotland and Birdwatch Ireland. The cost of production is £1,050,00 of which £250,000 is covered by a legacy leaving £800,000 to be raised.
Based on Ordnance Survey mapping, bird numbers and distribution will be recorded by dividing the country into squares, each of ten kilometres side. Within each large square are twenty-five two-kilometre squares, called tetrads. For validity, it is desirable to have eight tetrads surveyed in each 10-kilometre square. In some remote areas of Grampian, for example, no tetrads will be surveyed in some 10-kilometre squares. For these areas, simple records of birds seen by roving recorders are valuable and should be submitted.
Breeding Bird Surveys investigate what is happening to the numbers of birds by sampling tetrads in different habitats. Valid comparisons are made by surveying each year the same squares which were picked at random.
For the new Atlas, data will be obtained in two ways. Firstly, by roving recorders who note
species seen anywhere and at any time. These provide information about species that are hard to find and nocturnal species. Such information will be amalgamated into any other data for the 10-kilometre squares.
Secondly, by Timed Tetrad Visits which are designed to give the relative abundance of different species across Britain and Ireland. A visit involves a walk of one hour through the tetrad, two visits in the breeding season and two in the winter. To allow valid comparisons,
protocols have been established for the times of visits, how birds are recorded and how habitats are classified.
Dipper
For some species in Scotland, including Dippers
and Great Spotted Woodpeckers there is a dearth of data as too few squares in their ranges are surveyed. Not only for such species, more squares need to be surveyed which means more volunteers. It is hoped that more birdwatchers will take part and that some may undertake more than one tetrad.
Contact regional organisers Paul Doyle and
Graham Cooper, whose contact details can be found on page 22 for information, forms and detailed instructions.
RED KITES AND WHITE-TAILED EAGLES
Jenny Lennon, the RSPB Red Kite Project Officer, gave an account of both the Red Kite and the White-tailed Eagle Projects the aim of which being the re-introduction of these species to the East of Scotland.
1. Red Kites
Although it weighs less than one kilogram the Red Kite is the fourth largest bird of prey in Britain. With a silver-grey head, forked tail and longer wings, the Red Kite is more elegant than a Buzzard. The usual life span is twelve to fourteen years but some individuals survive for twenty. They become sexually mature and breed when aged two or three. As they have weak talons they are principally scavengers, feeding on carcasses but they do take some live food including insects and worms, while a small rabbit is the largest item of live prey.
The Red Kite, still widespread in Europe, was once common in Scotland. In Scotland the last pair bred in Aberdeenshire in the 19th century. A few hung on in mid Wales but although this population has increased it remained local and was never likely to spread and colonise more of the British Isles. Therefore, starting 1989, the range of the Red Kite In Britain was extended by a number of re-introduction projects, for example in the Black Isle, Dumfries and Galloway, Yorkshire and the Chilterns. As a result of these efforts there are now about one thousand pairs in Britain of which a hundred are in Scotland. Regrettably the Black Isle has fewer than fifty pairs due to a number of reasons including persecution - as scavengers they are very susceptible to poisoned baits - and this population has not expanded into other parts of Scotland.
The Aberdeen Red Kite Project aims to establish a small breeding population in Aberdeenshire by 2012. Aberdeen was chosen as the Red Kite once lived in this part of Scotland. Buzzards, being widespread and at high density indicate a plentiful supply of available food and there is a low incidence of persecution of raptors near Aberdeen. A population here would help to produce a continuous geographical range. Another important consideration is that, with a large human population, there is an opportunity to develop public interest in these beautiful birds.
Therefore, by obtaining birds from other areas, single birds taken from nests with more than one chick, it is intended to release thirty fledglings annually for three years. This, of course, requires various practicalities to be met. Firstly a suitable place had to be found where holding pens could
be constructed to rear the chicks until release. Pens, each to hold four to six chicks, were built with volunteer labour. Each cage has two nest platforms and mesh on one side only. At the back of each cage is a hatch through which the birds can be fed without seeing, or being in
contact with, humans.
The chicks are taken from the nest at five to six weeks old as at that age they can both feed themselves and thermoregulate so there is no need of an adult to brood them. On arrival, the chicks were quite chubby and had an average weight of one kilogram, the same as at the time of release. They were fed on venison offal from the RSPB Abernethy Reserve, lots of road kill and rabbits, trapped to avoid them ingesting lead shot.
Before release all the birds were leg-ringed conventionally as well as being wing-tagged and radio-tagged. The wing tags are quite large allowing the letters to be read with binoculars or telescopes. The colour of the tag on the left wing indicates the release site [for example purple for Aberdeen, red for Central Scotland]; the colour of the tag on the right wing indicates the year of release, for example green for 2006, black for 2008. The tags, which carry individual identifying numbers, should last for up to ten years.
A radio transmitter, with a unique frequency, weighing only ten grams and costing £180, is glued to a tail feather. In line of sight, the signal can be picked up at a range of forty kilometres, but much less in the field. The battery lasts for up to a year and the transmitter falls off when the feather is moulted.
The birds were set free aged about thirteen weeks, later than in the wild to make sure they would be strong fliers. As the young birds were of different ages they had different release dates. Starting in the middle of July 2007 the batches of young birds were released, five or six birds at a time, so that they could be kept track of initially.
They were fed at the cages for two weeks after release but soon found their own food. The birds' locations are monitored by visual identification and by radio-tracking. The radio-transmitter has posture sensor so it tells if the bird is perched or flying.
If a bird is missing for a week it is put on a missing list notified to the other areas. At the date of the lecture there were no known casualties. Two birds had decamped to Dumfries and Galloway; of three that moved to Central Scotland one returned; one moved to the Nethybridge area and another kept moving between the Nethybridge area and Aberdeen all winter but seems now to be settled back here.
Preparations are under way for the release of the next batch of birds. The pens have to be cleaned and refurbished, the new stock has to be secured, and the various necessary licences obtained. Publicity is important and this includes visits to schools so that birds will be 'adopted'.
The establishment of a feeding site with subsequent public viewing is one aim of the project but as the birds are finding enough food in the surrounding countryside they have no need of supplementary feeding and are not co-operating. In the future it is hoped to establish a feeding centre open to the public and perhaps have a visitor centre with CCTV.
2. White-tailed Eagles
In size the massive White-tailed or Sea Eagle ranks as the largest bird in Britain and the fourth in the world. It has wing-span of 2 - 2.4 metres; a male weighs 3 - 3.5 kg and a female 4 - 7 kg. They settle in territories and pair at three to five years old and are sexually mature at five years. In addition to taking fish, gulls, ducks, geese, rabbits and hares, they scavenge dead animals such as deer.
They were once widely spread in UK and Ireland, hanging on in the east coast of Scotland until the 1880s but persisted for longer on the west coast. The last pair bred in 1916 in Skye and the last bird was shot in Shetland in 1918. It is a species threatened globally due to persecution and pesticides. The world population is 9,000 to 11,000 pairs of which a third live in Norway.
The re-introduction into the east of Scotland expands their range and helps to ensure their survival. In Scotland, after two failed attempts in the 1950s and 1960s, the first successful re-introduction of Sea Eagles was on the Isle of Rum in 1975 - 1985 with eighty-two birds released. Then fifty-eight were released in Wester Ross between 1993 and 1998. The first chick hatched in Mull was in 1985 and the year 2000 gave the hundredth. In 2007 on the west coast there was in excess of two hundred birds, including forty-two breeding pairs and thirty-four chicks. They are long-lived birds and are slow breeders as they do not breed successfully every year. And they are still vulnerable to poisoned bait and to egg collectors.
The East Scotland Project is a five year project [2007 - 2011] to release fifteen to twenty chicks annually, that is a total of between eighty and one hundred birds on the east side of Scotland to form a breeding population. It is funded by the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage while the Forestry Commission Scotland hosts the release site in the Tay/Forth area and provides venison for the caged chicks. The east coast, chosen as it infills the range of the species, is a very suitable habitat with plenty food and brings the species close to many people.
The plan was first discussed in 2003 and in 2005 and the Norwegian Ornithological Society approached to supply chicks. Norwegian White-tailed Eagles are happy with people and may nest in close proximity to human habitation. In 2006 the partnership between the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland was formed, while consultation took place simultaneously with various bodies such as the National Farmers Union for Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Tay Fisheries.
Fifteen birds were released in August 2007. The source of the chicks was a different area in Norway from the one that supplied the west coast introductions. They were collected at six to eight weeks old, each chick taken from a nest with twins so one chick was left for their parents to raise. As there were few broods of two chicks, the Norwegian Ornithological Society was able to supply just fifteen birds which the Norwegian Air Force transported to RAF Kinloss.
The chicks were fed on venison, rabbits and off-cuts of fish until, at twelve to fourteen weeks old - slightly older than Red Kites - they were ready to fly and released. Blood samples were taken to sex the birds. Like the Kites, they were ringed and wing-tagged. As they are bigger birds, each was fitted, on its back, with a radio transmitter which should remain in place for up to five years. Once released, the birds were fed until the end of October at the release site. They are now independent and feeding on geese, rabbits, hares and carrion.
In the five months since the birds were released there have been over five hundred sightings recorded, with birds seen both over Dundee and in parks in the city. One bird moved to Mull by way of Stonehaven, St Fergus, Findhorn Bay and Granton-on-Spey. Sadly there have been three deaths, two from power lines and one killed in Angus.
It is hoped that these two projects will result, ten years from now, in thirty to forty breeding pairs of Red Kites around Aberdeen and a few pairs of White-tailed Eagles.
Reports of sightings are much appreciated.
For Red Kites, report sightings to Jenny Lennon, Red Kite Project Officer, either
by telephone to the Local RSPB Office 01224 624824
or e-mail aberdeenredkites@rspb.org.uk
For Sea Eagles, report sightings to Claire Smith, East Scotland Sea Eagle Officer, either
by telephone to the Local RSPB Office 01224 624824
or e-mail eastscotlandseaeagles@rspb.org.uk