<<November 2006 | Main | January 2007
December 28, 2006
Rockhoppers take a tumble
The rockhopper penguin, one of the stars of the current blockbuster Happy Feet has taken a massive tumble possibly because of climate change - according to the latest survey figures from Falklands Conservation.
The organisation, a partner to the UK-based RSPB within BirdLife International, says the latest survey of penguins in the Falkland Islands 2005/06 reveals a sharp decline since the beginning of this millennium as rockhopper penguin numbers have tumbled from 298,496 pairs in the islands in 2000 to 210,418 pairs now almost a 30 per cent decline in five years.
However, figures from 1932 suggest the population of rockhopper penguins then measured around one-and-a-half million pairs a decline of around 85 per cent.
Dr Geoff Hilton, an RSPB biologist who has worked on the decline of the rockhopper penguin, said: The decline of the rockhopper penguin in the Falkland Islands suggests a massive shift in the ecology of the Southern Ocean, possibly linked to climate change. It is really alarming that these huge declines involving the disappearance of literally millions of birds are happening on islands all round the Southern Ocean, and yet we don't really know what is going wrong.
In 2002/2003 the waters around the Falkland Islands were affected by a harmful algal bloom which poisoned many penguins. Surveys have shown that some species, like the gentoo penguin, have been able to recover from the worst effects of this event, but that the populations of rockhopper penguins are still struggling.
Nic Huin, of Falklands Conservation, said: Although the factors driving the long-term decline of rockhopper penguins are a little elusive, these survey results show that this species seems unable to bounce back in good years from the population crashes that happen in bad years. This is gravely worrying for the future of this little bird, which has its most important world population in the Falkland Islands.
December 28, 2006
Help Save the Lewis Peatlands
Surfbirds readers may be aware that a revised planning application was submitted on 12 December by Lewis Wind Power (British Energy/AMEC) for a giant wind farm on Lewis. Most of the turbines and associated infrastructure are still located on the Lewis Peatlands SPA.
Black-throated Diver, copyright Graham Catley
The developer has made changes to the layout and reduced the number of turbines - partly to minimise bird impacts, but we remain gravely concerned. Despite the changes, the development remains huge in scale: 181 wind turbines, each 140 metres tall, on an area designated for its special wildlife. There would be over 30 kilometers (27 miles) of overhead cables supported by 137 pylons (each 27 metres high), with a similar length again of cable underground; plus turbine foundations (each around 1000 cubic metres), hard standings, roads, quarries and no fewer than 8 electrical substations.
Lewis Wind Power believe they have addressed the threats to key bird species “ including golden eagles, red and black throated divers, merlin by moving turbines, creating ˜buffer zones' and offering ˜mitigation' for habitat loss. They say the damage that will occur is justified - we strongly disagree.
We are especially concerned about the impacts of this development on dunlin and golden plover, which breed here in very high densities. We do not see how the developers can avoid causing serious damage to these populations.
The moor is a very special place, both in national and international terms. The fragile peatland habitat (blanket bog) is found only in a few areas in the world, and though the turbines could be taken down after the lifetime of the development , the supporting infrastructure would cause irreversible damage to the structure of the peat, altering the water pattern and soil make-up forever. Our independent peat expert advises us that the developers have seriously under-estimated the damage to the habitat.
The developers seek to justify all this on the grounds that the development would bring an interconnector allowing electricity to be exported from the Western Isles to the mainland. This, they argue, would enable the Isles to be developed as a renewable energy powerhouse, creating local employment and bringing much-needed income to the community. We simply don't believe that it is worth damaging such a valuable place, when there are viable alternatives. An interconnector to the Western Isles can be delivered without this development. We need renewable developments to help us in the fight against climate change, but if we are trying to protect the environment, the last place we should put them is on one of the best wildlife sites in Europe. The Scottish Executive's own research shows that Scotland can exceed its renewable energy targets without the need for development on sensitive sites such as this.
The RSPB will be objecting to this wind farm in the strongest terms “ but we are only one voice. The more objections the Executive receives, the more ministers will have to listen to our arguments.
That is why I am asking you, at a time when you will have Christmas and other things on your mind, to take the time to write a letter or e-mail objecting to this development. Objections need to be with the Scottish Executive by the end of January. Please send a letter to Consents and Emergency Planning Unit, Scottish Executive, Meridian Court, 5 Cadogan Street, Glasgow G2 6AT or e-mail energyconsents@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Further information about what is proposed is available from:
our website http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/action/lewis/index.asp, where we will be posting information as well as our objection letter as soon as we have had a chance to review the developer's Environmental Statement (which runs to hundreds of pages!)
the developers' website at www.lewiswind.com
Please help us stop this development “ and thank you for your support.
<b>Martin Scott
RSPB Conservation Officer, Western Isles </b>
December 19, 2006
Stamp out Albatross slaughter this Christmas
Help stamp out albatross slaughter during the season of goodwill, that's the festive plea from the RSPB, which is launching an appeal to raise funds to protect these fantastic birds by asking people to send in their stamps from their festive post.
Wandering Albatross, South Georgia, copyright Susan Myers/VENT
It is estimated that this year 100,000 albatrosses will die on the end of a longline hook – innocent victims of the longline fishing industry. On Christmas Day alone an estimated 274 albatrosses will drown, and by the time the bells of Big Ben ring out 2006, a further 1644 of these great birds will fail to see another year.
The RSPB's Grahame Madge, said: Christmas and New Year in the UK is the height of summer in the Southern Ocean and albatross parents will be battling against the elements raising their single chicks as they have for millions of years.
However, albatrosses now have a problem as many birds die trying to grab an easy meal from the baited hooks meant for target fish, such as tuna or toothfish.
Sadly, the accidental slaughter of these birds at the hands of the longline fishing industry means that too many albatrosses will be orphaned or widowed, leading to the ongoing population crash in the numbers of these great birds.
Thankfully, solutions exist. The RSPB, in conjunction with BirdLife International, has created the Albatross Task Force - a team of international observers to advise crews of longline fishing vessels on the simplest and most effective ways to avoid accidentally catching these iconic birds. Techniques such as using weighted lines to make baited hooks sink more quickly and the use of bird-scaring (tori) lines to deter the birds from the stern of fishing vessels are simple, yet effective measures.
Sarah Kennedy, Radio 2 presenter, has been a key supporter of the campaign to protect albatrosses. She said: Not many people will be fortunate enough to see an albatross, but everyone can take a role in trying to help them.
I'm delighted to tell people that I'm supporting the RSPB in its bid to save these fantastic birds. If everyone could be encouraged to send in their stamps to the appeal rather than putting them in the bin, these birds would have a brighter future.
The RSPB will sell the stamps to dealers and an auction house to raise much-needed funds for the Save the Albatross Campaign. For example, £50 will buy a tori line for a longline fishing vessel.
People with stamps can send them to: RSPB Stamps, PO Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 9XT. Money raised from stamps will be used to help fund the Save the Albatross Campaign. People wanting to donate first-day covers or stamp albums can send them to: Bill Lawrence, RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Beds SG19 2DL.
Grahame Madge added: With postal services expected to handle in excess of 100 million cards each day until Christmas, just a tiny proportion of these stamps could make a huge difference to many albatrosses next year. This simple action could be one of the best Christmas presents anyone can give.
To find out more about the work of the RSPB / BirdLife International's Save the Albatross Campaign log on to: www.savethealbatross.net
December 08, 2006
Birdwatch 2007 calendar features Digital Photography Award winners
This summer Birdwatch magazine, in association with optical company Kowa, challenged its readers to produce their very best digital bird images in its first Digital Photography Awards. Professional and amateur photographers both submitted images, and while many entries were taken with digital SLRs and telephoto lenses, the judges (leading bird photographers and experts David Hosking, Steve Young, Dominic Mitchell, Stephen Moss and Chris Harbard) were delighted that the new technique of digiscoping was well represented.
The very best of these images have been specially selected for the new full-colour A4 Birdwatch 2007 calendar, which is available FREE with the December 2006 issue of Birdwatch, on sale now.
December 28, 2006
Recently Discovered Species Gain Protection
A team of researchers, sponsored by American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has failed to find conclusive evidence of any Cozumel Thrashers on the island of Cozumel, off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, leading to fears that the species may be extinct. Just twenty years ago, the Cozumel Thrasher was common and easily found, but storms and introduced predators, such as cats and boa constrictors, decimated the species. Following Hurricane Gilbert, a Category Five storm that devastated the island in 1988, only one or two sporadic sightings were made.
In 2004, an ABC-sponsored research team located a single bird. Since then, however, two Category Four hurricanes have hit Cozumel and much of the island's forest cover was demolished. Nevertheless, remnant populations may persist. The Island also holds two other endemic species and 15 endemic subspecies, including the rare Cozumel Great Curassow and Cozumel Roadside Hawk, which were glimpsed during the 2006 survey. Contact: Paul Salaman, American Bird Conservancy, 540/253-5780, psalaman@abcbirds.org
December 07, 2006
Fish for wildlife disappearing from North Sea, warns RSPB
In advance of the crucial pre-Christmas Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels to thrash out how many tonnes of fish the industry can catch next year, the European Commission's annual proposals for industrial fisheries, such as sandeel and sprat, highlight that seabirds, whales and other marine animals may be finding it difficult to find the food they need to survive.
Industrial fisheries pursue these important fish species - which make up the bottom of the food chain - not for human consumption, but to provide fish meal and oil for rearing livestock and farmed fish.
Dr Euan Dunn, the RSPB's head of marine policy, said: œThe Commission says that the lack of small oily fish, such as sprat and sandeel, in the North Sea is cause for concern. These species should only be allowed caught when scientific evidence proves the stocks have replenished enough to sustain the fishery, as well as providing enough food for seabirds.
Guillemot, copyright Adrian Webb
In recent years there has been unprecedented breeding failures of sandeel-dependent seabirds. Seabirds fared badly in East Scotland, where guillemots had an extremely poor year. This year at Fowlsheugh (Aberdeenshire) and the Isle of May (Fife), in scenes reminiscent of the calamitous failure of 2004, by mid-July dead chicks littered the ledges and the sea under the colony. This shortage may well be driven by a rise in sea temperature reducing the growth of sandeel populations. In turn, this scuppers seabirds if there are few alternative prey - especially sprats - available.
December 07, 2006
Chestnut-eared Bunting, Fair Isle, Shetland, October 2004 accepted as the first British record.
The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) has accepted the record of a Chestnut-eared Bunting Emeriza fucata (of the nominate subspecies fucata) seen on Fair Isle, Shetland, on 15 - 20 October 2004 as the first British record.
Chestnut-eared Bunting, copyright Adrian Webb
The species has a patchy breeding range from Japan in the east, west through the Korean peninsula, southern and central China, the western Himalayas, Nepal, Kashmir and Pakistan. The nominate migratory subspecies fucata has a breeding distribution that is wholly east of Lake Baikal. Some of the known populations of nominate fucata, in the lower Yangtze and Fujian regions of China, are within the range of other vagrants known to occur in Britain. However, only a handful of vagrant species have breeding distributions that are wholly east of Lake Baikal.
Given the restricted and far eastern distribution, Chestnut-eared Bunting would appear to be an unlikely vagrant to Britain, although its range does overlap the ranges of known vagrant species. It is not currently known in captive bird trade (but there is some evidence that it has been previously traded). In addition, the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the Far East in 2004 curtailed legitimate trade of captive birds between the Far East and Europe. These bans were in place during autumn 2004 and would reduce the risk of captive origin even more (although a man was caught smuggling two Crested Hawk-eagles (infected with Avian Influenza) into Europe from Thailand at this time, indicating that illegal trade in wild birds continued throughout the ban).
The age of this individual, the date, the location and associated eastern vagrants are all supportive of natural vagrancy. The support cast of eastern vagrants included another first for Britain (and the Western Palaearctic), Rufous-tailed Robin, which was also found on Fair Isle later that week on 23 October, and also coincided with an Eastern Crowned Warbler in Finland. All three species are from the far Eastern Palearctic.
Bob McGowan, Chairman of BOURC, commented "However unlikely it might have seemed to some, the credentials for natural vagrancy of the Fair Isle record were solidly based. As a trapped bird, the biometrics and plumage characters established it as an individual from the migratory population, nominate fucata. Its age also conformed to the usual pattern of first winter eastern vagrants, although it was not possible to ascertain the sex of the bird. The Committee analysed in considerable detail the migration timings, routes and distances of the species and this showed that a mid-October arrival date at Fair Isle was plausible for a vagrant Chestnut-eared Bunting. Certainly the support cast of other eastern vagrants, and in particular the Rufous-tailed Robin, virtually coincident at Fair Isle, was considered highly significant."
As there was no strong ground for doubt about its wild origins, the Committee agreed to accept this to Category A of the British List.
The British List stands at 573 species
(Category A = 553; Category B = 10; Category C = 10).
British Ornithologists' Union
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS Tel & Fax +44 (0) 1 865 281 842 Email bou.admin@bou.org.uk web: www.bou.org.uk / www.ibis.ac.uk
British Birds Rarities Committee
Bag End, Churchtown, Towednack, Cornwall TR26 3AZ
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/yrr86/bbrc.htm
Steve P. Dudley
British Ornithologists' Union/British Ornithologists' Club
PO Box 417, Peterborough PE7 3FX, UK
Tel & Fax +44 (0) 1 733 844 820
Email steve.dudley@bou.org.uk
BOU Web: www.bou.org.uk / www.ibis.ac.uk
BOC Web: www.boc-online.org