News: Peregrines

[The Peregrine Chick]

That is very sad news about Madame X being shot. But wonderful news that she is learning to fly again & with determination, may actually be released into the wild before too long. Amazing.

Note about peregrines getting shot ... peregrines have a bad habit of chasing crows and they are dark and crow-sized and unless you can tell the difference in flight (most folks can't), they are often mistaken for just one of a murder of crows.  And folks like to shoot at crows and while many more crows have been shot, peregrines mistaken for crows have been as well.  I'm not saying this is what happened to Madame X or that it is okay to shoot peregrines or heck shoot crows, I thought I would share a piece of peregrine trivia ...

[Kinderchick]

That is very sad news about Madame X being shot. But wonderful news that she is learning to fly again & with determination, may actually be released into the wild before too long. Amazing.

[RCF]

Endangered falcon shot in West Allis, Wisconsin
Mar 11, 2014
Someone opened fire with a shotgun on this beautiful bird. The x-ray shows her body full of pellets, and it's particularly troubling.  Peregrine falcons are an endangered species, and Madame X is a mom, expected to mate again this spring.

http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/Endangered-falcon-shot-in-West-Allis-249645131.html




UPDATE June 11 2014

Endangered peregrine falcon shot in March learns to fly again

WEST ALLIS -- Madame X, an endangered peregrine falcon shot in March, is learning to fly again.

"When she first came to us with multiple shot gun pellets in her body, her prognosis for release was guarded," said Scott Diehl with the Wisconsin Humane Society.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/Endangered-peregrine-falcon-shot-in-March-learns-to-fly-again-262705721.html

[The Peregrine Chick]

This is, indeed, very strange, but also very interesting - peregrine falcons raising herring gulls. Do you think what they mean by "the outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young" could mean that after they fledge & become self sufficient, they could then become prey for the peregrine falcons?

check my note below 

[Kinderchick]

This is, indeed, very strange, but also very interesting - peregrine falcons raising herring gulls. Do you think what they mean by "the outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young" could mean that after they fledge & become self sufficient, they could then become prey for the peregrine falcons?

[The Peregrine Chick]

Tracy I'm not sure where to post this. Nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08eDN1csgRA&feature=youtu.be

Nothing wrong with it's location as it is more of a news story than just a video.  I've tweaked your title to make it easier for folks to find later.

I'm interested in this phrase from the text below the video: "The outcome is not likely to be a good one for the young."  Not sure why they say this ... other than perhaps imprinting on peregrines but I don't know how much gulls will imprint on another bird species.  As for diet, Herring gulls are omnivores so they can digest meat just fine - not sure what the proper balance is for growing chicks but so far this peregrine seems to have managed very nicely.  As for when they fledge, according to what I know about herring gulls, they often get separated separated from their parents, live on their own before hooking up with other gulls - sounds like that part is hardwired in which case, they may be a herring gull with an odd background but still a herring gull.  Since peregrines don't as a species demonstrate any infanticide or siblicide behaviour, not sure that's a big issue ....

Also, the herring gull is a "red" listed species by the RSPB in the UK
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/herringgull/index.aspx (click on the Red button to find out more about the classification)

[Doreen]

South Coast Peregrine with an interesting brood
South West Peregrine Group / 10 June 2014

Tracy I'm not sure where to post this. Nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08eDN1csgRA&feature=youtu.be

[Kinderchick]

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.    

Weird... it doesn't work for me now either, RCF.
It did work when I came across the article a few days ago.
Very strange.

Thanks for posting a new link about the article, RCF. 

[RCF]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.     I tried it a couple of times and got this.

Not Found Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.
or this
The requested URL "http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/" cannot be found or is not available. Please check the spelling or try again later.

I found this link though and it seems this was from May 2013. 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/appeal-as-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-1-2948034

[RCF]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

Your link doesn't work Kinderchick.     I tried it a couple of times and got this.

Not Found
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.

or this

The requested URL "http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/" cannot be found or is not available. Please check the spelling or try again later.

[Kinderchick]

4 week old Peregrine Falcon chick found abandoned by the roadside in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a peregrine falcon chick was found abandoned in a box by a roadside...

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/4-week-old-peregrine-falcon-chick-found-abandoned-by-the-roadside-in-scotland/

[RCF]

Peregrine falcons eggs hatched in police custody after smuggling swoop Birmingham airport.

A man tried to smuggle the peregrine falcon eggs out of Birmingham International Airport

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2014/05/15/peregrine-falcons-eggs-hatched-in-police-custody-after-smuggling-swoop-birmingham-airport/

[The Peregrine Chick]

Found this on a tweet (never thought I would say that  )


Migration pathways of Peregrines fitted with satellite tags in five regions of Arctic Eurasia.



Click on the image to see a larger version of the picture

[The Peregrine Chick]

Peregrine falcons halt Essex reactor decommissioning plan
BBC Essex /  19 April 2013



Nesting peregrine falcons have halted work to decommission a former nuclear reactor in Essex.  The pair were spotted on the roof of one of two reactors at the Magnox Bradwell-on-sea site, which were about to undergo maintenance work.  Because the birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the company has had to "pause" the work. 

A spokesman said it had taken advice to ensure other work at the site "would not distress our new residents".

There are about 1,400 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the UK. They normally favour rocky cliff tops to make their nests.  However, the two birds have this time chosen to build a nest more than 50m (165ft) up at the industrial site.  It is not the first time peregrines have chosen the reactors as a nesting spot. In 2008 another falcon was filmed in its nest on the reactor.  The latest residents, however, have chosen a less accessible spot and filming the nest has not yet been possible, the spokesman said. 

Steve McNitt, the site's safety and environment manager, said: "It's difficult to know how long the falcons will stay.  We are hoping for a successful brood and are planning on having them around through the summer. Eggs normally hatch after around four weeks, and the chicks begin to fly about three weeks later.  They tend to stay close to the nest and remain dependent on the adult falcons for around a further two months."

Members of Essex Birdwatching Society have confirmed seeing the falcons returning to the reactor nesting site. 

The twin reactors at Bradwell-on-sea are currently undergoing decommissioning work. The site was shut down in March 2002 after 40 years of operation.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Where have all the falcons gone? Dramatic decline has set alarm bells ringing among conservationists.
Cahal Milmo / the Independent / 14 Oct 2013

... continued from part one above ...

The row is symptomatic of rising anxiety among conservationists as they see the success stories of bird-of-prey conservation in recent years, such as the widespread return of the red kite across England and a rise in buzzard numbers, offset by problems for some of Britain’s most iconic hawks.  Despite its problems in Bowland, which experts said could be related to natural causes ranging from last year’s harsh winter to competing bird species as well as human intervention, the peregrine falcon has recovered strongly from near extinction in the 1970s due to use of DDT pesticides. There are now some 1,400 breeding pairs across Britain.  Sources told The Independent that many of the abandoned peregrine sites in Bowland were on land owned and managed by energy and water company United Utilities, which is regarded as a model of sustainable moorland management. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the company.

But conservationists say the falcon and other species are also markedly absent – or have had numbers dramatically reduced – in areas that coincide with the 850,000 acres of upland moor in northern England where some 500,000 grouse are shot annually in an industry worth £67m a year.  David Morris, the RSPB’s area conservation manager in the North-west, said: “We are deeply alarmed and concerned by this drop in numbers of peregrines in Bowland. We don’t know what is causing it.  “We have seen a pattern elsewhere where commericially-driven grouse moors have in recent years geared up in the intensity of their management of the land. There is no escaping that in these areas species like peregrines or goshawks are just disappearing. They have become absolute black holes for the birds of prey. We are not anti-shooting but grouse shooting has become commercialised to an unsustainable level and that has included rogue gamekeepers on some estates persecuting birds of prey and systematically removing them.”

Some 70 per cent of the 152 people convicted for persecution of birds of prey under the Wildlife and Country Act were employed in the game industry, according to the RSPB.  Among the measures being sought by conservationists to tackle the problem is the introduction of vicarious liability, making the owners of grouse moorland estates responsible for the actions of employees. The introduction of the measure in Scotland last year has seen a sharp drop in the number of poisonings of bird of prey.  Moorland owners strongly denied any systematic destruction of birds of prey, pointing out that it was only because of the habitat created by estate workers, for wild birds including grouse, that species like the hen harrier were present in the first place.  A spokeswoman for the Moorland Association said: “We would condemn any illegal killing of birds of prey. We believe very strongly that there is room in the uplands for the full sweep of birds that should be there. There must be a balance and we are working with all sides to explore ways to manage birds of prey numbers sustainably.”

Link to story:   The Independent - Where have all the falcons gone?