Anyone else noticed changed behaviour of wildlife?

[RogerS]

After the dire winter, it looks like many of the small mammals haven't survived as our local buzzard is now dining on our blackbirds which is a bit of a shame as our blackbirds have, for many years, been our biological scavengers of all things mollusc.

Wrens seems to have disappeared sadly...either that or they became a buzzards' hors-d'oevre.

Anyone else noticed behavioural differences?

 

[dicktimber]

I see there is some disease going round that is killing birds that come into our gardens.
The RSPB were on TV the other night telling us to wash birdfeeders out to stop the spread...sorry i can't tell you the name of it.
We commented on the length of the breeding season for wild birds last year and the very small young that didn't have a cat in hells chance of fattening up before the cold weather set in.
We had several dead finches and a blackbird over the winter in the garden..plus the attacks by sparrow hawks on feeding birds seems to have gone up.

 

[laird]

It's salmonella the RSPB are worried about.
We've still got a large mix of birds in our garden, mind you I was going through 25 kg of nuts, 50 suet balls, and 50Kg of seed in less than 3 weeks over winter.
Attacks by raptors are well up. Sparrow Hawks, Peregrine Falcons and Hen Harriers are hammering the small birds, given a chance. The Rooks keep the Buzzards away and the Tawny and Barn Owls are back to only hunting at night.
Is it just me or does anyone else think that raptors have now ben over protected at the expense of our usual garden birds?

 

[Digit]

I

s it just me or does anyone else think that raptors have now ben over protected at the expense of our usual garden birds?

It's a sore point with some Laird but I always point out that the RSPB has come to same conclusion and on some of its reserves I understand their numbers are being controlled.
Locally we aren't noticing any problems as we have had a 'relatively' mild winter.

Roy.

 

[dicktimber]

That's cos you are in Gods Country, and the sun always shines!!!! :wink:

 

[Digit]

Shhhh! We get enough furriners round 'ere now!!

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

I

s it just me or does anyone else think that raptors have now ben over protected at the expense of our usual garden birds?

It's a sore point with some Laird but I always point out that the RSPB has come to same conclusion and on some of its reserves I understand their numbers are being controlled.
Locally we aren't noticing any problems as we have had a 'relatively' mild winter.

Roy.

sorry mate but thats coblers - all raptors are protected by law and there would be hell to pay if the rspb was controlling them.

also of the birds listed in lairds post only sparrowhawks take small birds - the peregrines take pigeons etc and the hen harrier take grouse but neither impacts negatively on songbirds (buzzards eat carrion, as do kites, and owls generally take small mamals), and the sprawk population isnt high enough to have a significant impact - the "data" otherwise is just propoganda put about by "songbird survival" who despite the name are just a front for some in the keepering community who would like the protecrtion on raptors lifted and might be better named "game bird survival"

and btw although salmonella is a problem for small birds if feeders arent kept clean, the disease hammering the finch and sparrow population is trichimonaisis (not sure of the spelling)

 

[Digit]

True Moose, I should not have copied the full quote, the RSPB is reputed to be reducing the numbers of predators such as Magpies.

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

True Moose, I should not have copied the full quote, the RSPB is reputed to be reducing the numbers of predators such as Magpies.

Roy.

thats definitely true (and also on some wildlife trust and national trust sites) however its not so much to do with little birds as nest protection of rare ground nesting species such as terns, stone curlew, lapwing etc.

and its also not new

in '99 i was a stone curlew warden with a wildlife trust and we controlled foxes, corvids (crows, rooks and magpies), mustelids (stoat and mink) and rodents (squirel and rat)

 

[Digit]

Where are there Stone Curlews now then Moose, further, what happened with the Bustard intro? Last I heard some of the young had fallen to Foxes.

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

Where are there Stone Curlews now then Moose, further, what happened with the Bustard intro? Last I heard some of the young had fallen to Foxes.

Roy.

stone curlew are recovering well - largely due to the rspb stone curlew recovery project working with farmers to ensure nesting plots - they are all over the wessex downs and the breckland, and there are begining to be sites in between (tho obviously i'm not going to give specific locations for non wardened sites as they are vulnerable to both disturbance and egg collectors)

I was working at weeting heath NNR in the norfolk breckland - still the premier site for those who want to see one

Bustard wise it depends on which intro you mean - I understand that they are still at large in the military land in wiltshire, though they have suffered some nest predation - the cambridgeshire project (which was an NE project not and RSPB one) failed when the adults went missing - if they will insist on releasing a number of turkey sized birds right next to one of the largest traveller encampments in the country just before xmas .....

 

[Digit]

That's great news on the SCs Moose, one of the few species I haven't seen. I was unaware of the Cambridge intro, the military land project always seemed a good site to start off, but Cambridgeshire?
It's not just of the itchy foot brigade either Moose, done any reading about the missing Mutes?

Roy.

 

[laird]

BSM, I wasn't talking solely about songbirds. I was talking about garden birds. Our garden has a wide range from phesants,rooks, ravens, wood pigeons, collared doves, etc. down to siskins, tre creepers, wrens etc. Yesterday a sparrowhawk chased (and missed) a woodpecker, two hours later a peregrine chased 3 collared doves.
My comment on raptors stands.

 

[big soft moose]

My comment on raptors stands.

well you are entitled to your view - but the facts dont suport it - what i dont get tho is why you dont consider the raptors to be garden birds too, they are just doing what comes naturally and there arent that many (protection from persecution doesnt stop them dying in other ways after all, all it has done is restore the predator/prey balance to its natural equilibrium)

more info

sparow hawks and the (lack of) impact on songbirds
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/s ... view=print

hen harriers can coexist with waders
http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-196100

garden bird diseases
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbi ... isease.asp

causes of decline (in garden birds)

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbi ... trends.asp

 

[RogerS]

....(buzzards eat carrion, ....

And also live pigeons in flight...seen it with my own eyes.

 

[big soft moose]

....(buzzards eat carrion, ....

And also live pigeons in flight...seen it with my own eyes.

and anything else they can get their talons on... i should have said buzzards (and kites) eat mainly carrion

that said intercepting a flying pigeon wouldnt be easy for a buzzard as they arent the most agile raptor - are you sure you werent looking at a peregrine ?

 

[Digit]

One of the odd things about raptors locally is their odd distribution. We get Buzzards, Kites, Osprey, passing through generally, Harris Hawks, Merlins, and Peregrines, but never a Sparrow Hawk.
I checked the RSPB site and they agree that they are rare here, but why?

Roy.

 

[Digit]

Interesting point there Moose. Do Buzzards, from your experience, hover much?

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

One of the odd things about raptors locally is their odd distribution. We get Buzzards, Kites, Osprey, passing through generally, Harris Hawks, Merlins, and Peregrines, but never a Sparrow Hawk.
I checked the RSPB site and they agree that they are rare here, but why?

Roy.

probably habitat - although sprawks are common in gardens their principle habitat is woodland (largely deciduous woodland at that), your area is pretty open and so favours the raptors that hunt over open ground or heath/moor like merlins and such, and also as you are quite close to the coast it favours cliff nesting species like peregrine .

by the way harris hawks arent a native species to the uk - there are feral populations built up from escaped keepers/falconers birds so their distribution is probably dictated by what escapes etc there were locally.

 

[big soft moose]

Interesting point there Moose. Do Buzzards, from your experience, hover much?

Roy.

they can do - but they dont do it a lot, their preffered hunting technique is to soar on thermals and updrafts while waiting to spot prey on the ground.

also although buzzards can hover breifly under their own power most of the time if you see one seemingly hovering it is actually riding an updraft on a hillside, hedgerow, building etc (the same applies to kites). The only day flying uk raptor that hovers habitually is the kestrel