A golden eagle has been found shot on the edge of Buccleuch Estate near Wanlockhead. It is currently receiving specialist veterinary treatment at an SSPCA rehabilitation centre. SSPCA statement:
An osprey hurt in the storms which battered Scotland last week was nursed by oil workers after landing on a North Sea vessel. Now named Carla by the crew, she was safely transferred ashore and is being cared for by the SSPCA until she’s well enough to be released.
A satellite-tracked golden eagle has been found dead in suspicious circumstances. Incredibly, news of this incident has been withheld for almost five months. Grisly details here:
Tom McKellar, a farm manager from Auch Estate, has been fined �1200 for possession of the banned chemical carbofuran. Police found the poison at McKellar’s home at Bridge of Orchy in June 2009, following the discovery of a poisoned golden eagle close to the estate boundary. Unfortunately nobody has been charged with placing poison baits in the open, nor with poisoning the eagle.
A young osprey raised in the Highlands has made what is believed to be the fastest migratory flight from Scotland to West Africa. The osprey, called ‘Alba’, flew 3,000 miles from the RSPB’s Loch Garten Reserve near Aviemore to West Africa in two weeks. This journey usually takes several months to complete. BBC news:
A six-year project to reintroduce white-tailed eagles to East Scotland reaches a milestone as this year’s cohort are released from a secret location in Fife. This year’s release marks the end of the reintroduction phase and brings the total number of released eagles to 85. The project has been led by RSPB Scotland, with support from Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage.
The ecology of urban sparrowhawks has been studied within Edinburgh since the late 1980s. However, despite ongoing monitoring of a number of nests across the city, little is known about the dispersal strategies and survival rates of juvenile birds once they fledge the nest. In an attempt to improve our understanding of the behaviour of these juvenile birds, 31 sparrowhawk chicks from 7 nest sites in Edinburgh have been ringed with unique colour rings this year. You can greatly assist this research project by watching for and reporting observations of these colour ringed birds. The colour rings are white, uniquely coded with 2 vertical alphanumeric characters (i.e. letter over number or letter over letter) and are placed on the right leg. To provide ease of visibility, these codes are repeated twice around the circumference of the ring. The rings can be read on a perched bird at a distance of approximately 20m with binoculars or up to 75m using a scope. If you don?t have such equipment, taking a picture with a digital camera will often allow the ring to be read once the picture is uploaded. A small unique metal BTO ring has also been applied to the left leg of the chicks but these cannot be read unless the bird is in the hand. If you observe one of these colour ringed Sparrowhawks, please record the ring code, date and time, as well as the location. Please report all sightings, even if you were unable to determine the ring code to Alan Heavisides Email: alanheavisides@yahoo.com
A series of public talks on the future of the hen harrier in Scotland will take place in September. The four speakers are all hen harrier experts from the Scottish Raptor Study Groups. The event is being organised by the Watson Bird Centre in Dumfries & Galloway. For further information:
