Surfbirds News: March 2008 Archives

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March 28, 2008

Finches flock to Britain's gardens

With an average of 3.60 seen per garden, the house sparrow retained its top spot with starlings coming in second and blackbirds completing the top three.

Overall, the average number of birds seen in each garden has declined by a fifth since 2004, and house sparrows have decreased by almost two thirds since 1979, and starlings by three quarters over the same period.

Despite this, however, four species of finch, which spend the winter in the UK, were seen in increased numbers.

Siskin
Siskin © Stephen David Keightley, from the surfbirds galleries

Good winter for finches

Numbers of colourful finches visiting UK gardens over winter are at their highest levels for five years.

For the first time in the survey's 29-year history, the striking siskin made it into the top 20, and the scarcer brambling moved from 57 to 36 in the rankings.

This increase in bramblings and siskins (up by two thirds in the last five years), suggest that tree seed supplies have been poor this year and they've been forced into gardens to find food.

Along with siskin and brambling increases, redpoll numbers skyrocketed, being seen in twice as many gardens this year as last. Again this is probably due to poor supply of food.

Goldfinches on the up

With a third more birds recorded than in 2004, the colourful goldfinch made it in to the top 10 for the first time.

Goldfinch numbers swell because our milder winters encourage them to stay here instead of going to southern Europe.

Our gardens can be very welcoming to finches, especially those with nyjer seed provided and thistles and teasels left to grow which also provide food.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:40 AM | Comments (0)

Europe's most threatened bird thrown a lifeline

The Azores bullfinch, the most threatened songbird nesting in Europe, has been given a more secure future after Birdwatch magazine become a 'Champion' for the species through BirdLife's 'Preventing Extinctions' Programme.

The priolo – a local name for this species, which only occurs on the island of São Miguel in the Azores archipelago - is one of 189 Critically Endangered birds across the world, and one of three in Europe facing the threat of imminent extinction.

Azores Bullfinch, © Leo Boon, from the surfbirds galleries

Common until the 19th century, the Azores bullfinch became very rare last century. In the 1990s only around 120 pairs were thought to remain – a decline driven by the widespread loss of native forest (which provides the buds and berries that constitute its food), and the rampant invasion of São Miguel by non-native plants, such as yellow-ginger lily and lily-of-the-valley, that further degrade the natural habitat.

Since 2003, SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal), the RSPB, and some other partners, including the Azores regional government, have been implementing a €2.8 million EU Life project to increase the area and quality of the bullfinch's habitat, largely through the clearance of invasive exotic plants and the planting of native trees grown in a nursery. So far, 110 ha of native forest has been restored in the core area of the bullfinch's world distribution. The whole range has also been legally protected as a Special protected Area under the Birds Directive, and a management plan for the site is being implemented. Recently, SPEA has opened an environmental education centre in the area, focusing on the plight of the 'priolo' and its habitat.

Surveys carried out since 2002 have suggested a rise in the Azores bullfinch population to around 340 individuals, a sign that habitat restoration, and all the other protective measures taken, are starting to have an effect.

Jose Tavares, the RSPB's country programme officer for Portugal, said: 'With the help of the EU LIFE fund, a proper and comprehensive conservation programme to save this species from extinction is being implemented. With so much already achieved, Birdwatch's decision to add to this effort has provided a timely intervention to help this critically endangered bird.'

Jim Lawrence, BirdLife International's 'Preventing Extinctions' Programme Development Manager, said: 'It is fantastic news that Birdwatch has joined the 'Preventing Extinctions' Programme and has become one of a growing number of Species Champions.'

Dominic Mitchell, publisher and editor of Birdwatch, said: 'We are proud to support BirdLife on this important mission and look forward to encouraging our large number of readers to get behind this vital initiative.'

Already described as the biggest and most wide-ranging bird conservation programme the world has ever seen, BirdLife's Preventing Extinctions Programme aims to save all 189 Critically Endangered birds, by finding 'Species Champions' who will fund the work of identified 'Species Guardians' for each bird. SPEA is the Species Guardian for the Azores bullfinch.

The Azores bullfinch is closely related to the mainland Europe common bullfinch, but they are bigger, and the male 'priolo' doesn't have the bright plumage of their continental cousins. Instead, both male and female 'priolos' look very much like the female of the European bullfinch.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:34 AM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

Bermuda Petrel returns to Nonsuch Island (Bermuda) after 400 years

Three Endangered Bermuda Petrels (Pterodroma cahow – also known as the Cahow), translocated to Nonsuch Island before fledging in 2005, have returned to the island, and been observed entering artificial nesting burrows constructed for them.

Bermuda Petrel was thought extinct for almost three centuries. In 1951, 18 pairs were rediscovered breeding on sub-optimal rocky islets in Castle Harbour, Bermuda.

The birds began to be moved to Nonsuch, in the entrance to Castle Harbour, after Hurricane Fabian (2003) caused the flooding and partial collapse of the islets, which contained the entire known breeding population.

Bermuda Petrel Pterodroma cahow using artificial burrow on Nonsuch Island
(Bermuda), copyright Jeremy Madeiros, courtesy of Birdlife International

In the last four years, a total of 81 chicks have been translocated, of which 79 have fledged successfully.

The 6.5 hectare (15.5 acre) Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve has potential nesting habitat which is elevated enough to be safe from hurricane flooding and erosion. The present nesting islets total less than one hectare (2.4 acres).

The above clip is from the documentary ‘Bermuda's Treasure Island’ - produced
by Deirdre Brennan and directed by Éamon de Buitléar.

Under the direction of Dr. David Wingate, Bermuda’s former Conservation Officer, Nonsuch Island has undergone ecological restoration over the last 45 years, with the replanting of native and endemic trees and plants. “This has now formed a young closed-canopy forest, similar to what the first settlers on the island in the early 1600s described the bird as nesting under”, said Jeremy Madeiros of Bermuda’s Department of Conservation Services, who has managed the Cahow Recovery Programme since David Wingate’s retirement.

During February this year, Jeremy Madeiros and Andrew Dobson, President of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds, visited Nonsuch Island at night to check for evidence of Bermuda Petrel breeding activity.

“One bird landed next to us so we could check its band [ring], weigh and measure it,” said Andrew Dobson. “It then spent at least two hours in the burrow.”

David Wege, BirdLife International’s Caribbean Programme Manager, said: “The Bermuda Petrel has been making a steady recovery from the very brink of extinction, thanks to some truly inspirational conservation management, but the lack of suitable nesting habitat on the Castle Harbour islets will always be a major limiting factor on future population growth. If the translocated birds continue to return to Nonsuch Island and establish a viable breeding population, the long-term future for the species will be significantly improved.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)

Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds (HWPB)

The first volume (passerines) of the long-awaited book by Hadoram Shirihai & Lars Svensson, the Photographic Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palearctic, is now being readied for publication. It will be the most up-to-date work regarding identification, plumage variation, racial identification and taxonomy of the region.

Black Bush Robin Cercotrichas podobe, Israel. From the forthcoming Handbook of
Western Palearctic Birds, A&C Black. © Hadoram Shirihai

The Handbook team has established a Western Palearctic Photo Collection of almost all the bird species, races and plumage variations that occur in the region. More than 100 photographers have already contributed to the collection, including many of the most experienced and talented in Europe. However, they are still seeking to improve the collection and to find good images of a few of the missing species, subspecies and plumages. Thus, they are inviting contributions from photographers with high-quality or useful (for identification or ageing/sexing purposes) photographs taken in the field.

Click here for a list of gaps in the collection. Suggested photos for submission should be sent as low-resolution jpegs or a similar format. Please send these direct to the photographic editor of the project René Pop. Note that they are also interested in high-quality images of more common species that do not appear on this list.

For information and guidelines on how to submit photographs please click here.

Krüper's Nuthatch Sitta krueperi, Greece. From the forthcoming Handbook of Western
Palearctic Birds, A&C Black. © René Pop

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:10 AM | Comments (0)

More of Africa urged to boost rhino numbers

After bringing Africa’s black rhinos spectacularly back from the brink of extinction and securing a future for its once-thought-extinct southern white rhino, one of the world’s most successful conservation programmes is to celebrate its first decade by seeking to extend its operations to more of Africa.

Representatives of the governments of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have been invited to WWF’s African Rhino Programme (ARP) 10th anniversary celebration in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. They will join government and wildlife representatives, community representatives and eco-tourism operators from the current ARP participating States of in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

White Rhinoceros, South Africa, Kruger National Park
© Ian Barnard , from the surfbirds galleries

“What we have shown is that in partnership with governments and communities and business it is possible to stave off extinction for the rhino in some of its former range,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International’s Global Species Programme Director. “The task now is to secure a future for the rhino in the rest of its range, where threats from poaching and development urgently need to be addressed.”

Africa’s savannas once teemed with more than a million white and black rhinos. However, relentless hunting by European settlers saw rhino numbers and distribution quickly decline. The southern white rhino was thought to be extinct by the late 19th century.

Added to hunting and habitat loss, trade in rhino horn peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, when huge quantities were shipped to the lucrative markets of the Middle East and Asia.

Responding to the crisis, both species of African rhino were listed in 1977 in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibited all international trade of rhino parts and products. Despite this international legal protection, the black rhino population at its lowest point dipped to 2,400 in 1995.

In 1997, there were 8,466 white rhinos and 2,599 black rhinos remaining in the wild. Today, there are 14,500 white rhinos and nearly 4,000 of the more endangered black rhinos.

Today, most of Africa’s black rhinos are found in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, where the species’ decline has been stopped through effective monitoring and increased security, experience of the value of wildlife-based tourism and extensive assistance to enable communities to benefit from rather than be in conflict with wildlife.

According to the African Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Africa’s white and black rhino numbers have shown annual growth rates of 6.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively, since 1995.

“What we know from looking back at the last ten years is that sustained conservation can and does work,” says George Kampamba, WWF International’s African Rhino Programme Coordinator.

Although WWF has worked on Rhino conservation throughout its 45-year history, the ARP was notable for its overall approach. Working through field projects, it combined action at every level from local communities to global policy.

One striking, if unanticipated, indicator of the success of the programme is that land prices immediately increase in areas where rhinos are re-introduced. The ARP, which has had experience reintroducing rhinos to national parks, also passed a milestone last year when a KwaZulu Natal community received black rhinos for community-owned land dedicated to wildlife and ecotourism uses.

“Rhino conservation in Africa is going from strength to strength,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species Programme. “But poaching, illegal trade, and development remain significant problems across the rhinos’ range and there is no room for complacency.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:01 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Join the Shetland Migration

The Shetland Islands, one of Europe's best wildlife spots, are now within easy reach of Southern England.

The archipelago, described by many as 'a magnet for birders and twitchers alike' is once again to benefit from a direct service from Stansted.

Shetland is also able to boast that it is officially one of the best unspoilt island destinations on the planet, having achieved third place in an in-depth review by National Geographic Traveler magazine. The 522 experts concluding the islands 'have got everything with bells on'!

Atlantic Puffin, Shetland Islands, © Rebecca Nason, from the surfbirds galleries

The Atlantic Airways flights will be twice weekly (Fridays and Mondays) and run from May 23 to August 29.

Shetland is famous for its spectacular birdlife. With more than 100 islands, it boasts an extensive coastline festooned with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, gannets, fulmars and shags. Shetland is also home to more great skuas than anywhere else in the world and these ferocious birds, along with their Arctic cousins, patrol the islands' skies.

Breeding populations and passage migrants are also complemented by numerous rarities. 164 of the 250 species listed on the Online Guide to Rarer British Birds have been spotted on Shetland.

As well as birds there are also many other wildlife attractions amidst the rugged scenery. The islands are frequented by dolphins, porpoises and other whales while orcas are regular visitors, coming to hunt seals off the coast.

Otters are also abundant and Shetland is one of the rare places where these elusive creatures can be spotted with some ease.

The numerous walking routes all across the islands are popular as they provide contact with wildlife and spectacular views to a degree unprecedented in much of Britain.

Until Atlantic Airways started providing the direct service from Stansted, the Shetland Islands were not easily accessible from southern England or the midlands. This is the only scheduled service to Shetland from anywhere in England.

Magni Arge, CEO of Atlantic Airways, said: "Thousands of people travel to Shetland every year to see the spectacular wildlife and experience the friendly welcome of the islanders. With this service we are opening up this magnificent destination for millions more."

Notes:

1) Atlantic Airways was founded in 1987 and began operating scheduled flights in 1988. The 2007 schedule includes Copenhagen, Aalborg, Billund, Stavanger, Oslo, Reykjavik, London Stansted, Aberdeen and Shetland.

2) Services between Shetland (Sumburgh), and London (Stansted) operate twice weekly from May 23 to August 29. www.flyshetland.com

3) Atlantic Airways operates a modern all-jet fleet of BAe RJ/146. The four-engined aircraft seat from 84 to 95 passengers.

4) Atlantic Airways' busiest route is its service from the Faroe Islands to Copenhagen, which operates up to five times daily.

5) Atlantic Airways also operates local helicopter services within the 18 Faroe Islands, as well as holding the contract to provide air-sea and other rescue services.

6) Atlantic Airways also provides direct services between London Stansted and
The Faroe Islands. www.flyfaroe.com

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:28 AM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2008

Beck’s Petrel flies back from extinction

A bird that was known only from two records from the 1920s has been discovered in the Pacific after a gap of 79 years. Sightings of the Critically Endangered Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki published by the British Ornithologists' Club, have finally proven the species is still in existence, and delighted conservationists.

A voyage into the Bismarck Archipelago, north-east of Papua New Guinea, successfully managed to photograph more than 30 of these elusive seabirds. This included sightings of fledged juveniles - suggesting recent breeding. A freshly dead young bird salvaged at sea also becomes only the third specimen in existence. “This re-finding of Beck’s Petrel is exceptional news and congratulations to Hadoram Shirihai [the finder] for his effort and energy in rediscovering this ‘lost’ petrel,” commented Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's Global Species Programme Coordinator.

Beck's Petrel, copyright Hadoram Shirihai

Mr Shirihai first visited the area in 2003, where he observed ‘possible Beck’s Petrels’ – inspiring him to return four years later. Explaining this decision, he commented: “I was eager to know about these amazing petrels… and to understand better how we may conserve them”.

The small tube-nosed seabird was first described by Rollo Beck, an ornithologist and collector of museum specimens. The petrel, which now bears his name, was previously only known from two specimens he collected in 1928 and 1929 during an expedition to the region.

Hopes were raised two years ago in Australia with the sighting of a possible Beck’s Petrel in the Coral Sea off Queensland. This record was not accepted by the Birds Australia Rarities Committee. The recent evidence from the Bismarck Archipelago is published today, and finally confirms the rediscovery of this enigmatic bird.

Confirming the existence of Beck’s Petrel was difficult because it is similar to Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata, few people have looked for it at sea, and it may be nocturnal at the breeding grounds. “There are numerous atolls and islands where it may breed”, said Dr Butchart. “However, the remaining population may be small”.

Beck's Petrel, copyright Hadoram Shirihai

Like other tubenoses, Beck’s Petrel is potentially threatened by introduced cats and rats at its breeding sites, and by logging and forest clearance for oil-palm plantations. Until the breeding sites have been identified the threats remain speculative.

Notes:

Despite the 79-year gap between records, BirdLife International have categorised Beck’s Petrel as Critically Endangered rather than Extinct. "It probably remains extant, because there have been a number of recent records individuals of the very similar Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata in the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands which may refer to this species," states BirdLife’s Red List species account.

Bismark Archipelago, copyright Birdlife International

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea. It includes mostly volcanic islands spread into four provinces with an area of 49,700 km² (19,189 sq mi ). Most islands are mountainous, covered by tropical forest (replaced locally by plantations), and surrounded by extensive reefs.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:13 AM | Comments (0)

March 7, 2008

Last Refuge of Rediscovered Fuertes’s Parrot Acquired by Conservationists

Roving Classroom Helps Rare Parrot Once Feared Extinct

(Washington, D.C. – March 5, 2008) American Bird Conservancy’s partner group Fundación ProAves has established the first private protected area for the critically endangered Fuertes’s Parrot. The species, whose population size is estimated at just 160 individuals, lives only in a small area in the Andes of Colombia that is heavily impacted by deforestation.

“Until recently, the Fuertes’s Parrot was feared to be extinct,” said Paul Salaman, American Bird Conservancy’s Director of International Programs. “The species inhabits a cloud forest threatened by clearance for cattle ranching and agriculture. By conserving the remaining patches of forest and taking other steps to help this species, we hope to see its numbers rebound.”

Fuertes’s Parrot. Photo: Fundación ProAves, www.proaves.org.

In 2002, Fundación ProAves’ President Alonso Quevedo found a flock of 14 Fuertes’s Parrots (or Indigo-winged Parrots), and confirmed the survival of a species that had last been seen in 1911.

The 1,500 acre reserve is in the same area, and at the core of a site identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) as essential to maintain this species. The AZE, a coalition of biodiversity conservation organizations from around the world, prioritizes protection for endangered and critically endangered species, such as the Fuertes’s Parrot, that are in their last remaining refuge.

The reserve, a joint project of American Bird Conservancy, ProAves, and IUCN NL/SPN, sponsored by the Netherlands Postcode Lottery, and supported by Robert Giles and Robert Wilson, consolidates a 5,000 acre zone of protected lands with the municipality of Genova in the department of Quindío. A management plan and guidance on how to conserve the Fuertes’s Parrot have been developed for the area, and an education and outreach program to local communities is underway.

“Public education together with forest protection is critical for the long term conservation of the Fuertes’s Parrot,” said Alonso Quevedo. “Since 2005, the ProAves ‘Parrot Bus’ has brought the conservation message to communities across the Central Andes, the priority zone for threatened parrots and biodiversity in Colombia.”
The Parrot Bus has proven to be a practical way of reaching the remotest rural communities and represents an important mechanism for gaining support for conservation actions. The Parrot Bus helps to protect Fuertes’s Parrot and acts as a mobile environmental education classroom. Since its first tour in 2005 it has reached over 70,000 children and adults who have attended demonstrations and workshops, and received information on the conservation of birds and their habitats. This education project has been made possible by support from the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2008

Destruction of Sumatra forests driving global climate change and species extinction

Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.

The study found that in central Sumatra's Riau Province 4.2 million hectares of tropical forests and peat swamp have been cleared in the last 25 years. Forestloss and degradation and peat decomposition and fires are behind average annual carbon emissions equivalent to 122 percent of the Netherlandstotal annual emissions, 58 percent of Australia's annual emissions, 39 per cent of annual UKemissions and 26 per cent of annual German emissions.

Banded Pitta, at risk from habitat destruction on Sumatra © Marc Thibault, from the surfbirds galleries

Riau was chosen for the study because it is home to vast peatlands estimated to hold Southeast Asia’s largest store of carbon, and contains some of the most critical habitat for Sumatran elephants and tigers. It also has Indonesia's highest deforestation rate, substantially driven by the operations of global paper giants Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL).

At last December's Bali Climate Change Conference, the Indonesian minister of Forestry pledged to provide incentives to stop unsustainable forestry practices and protect Indonesia's forests. The governor of Riau province has also made a public commitment to protect the province's remaining forest.

“If the commitments by the Indonesian government are implemented, it will not only save its endangered species but actually slow the rate of global climate change through the carbon savings,” said Ian Kosasih, director of WWF-Indonesia's forest programme.

Carbon emissions are likely to increase, the study predicted, as most future forest clearance will be conducted in areas with deep peat. “If government and local industry were to create positive incentives for projects to reduce emissions by saving forests in Riau Province, it would both protect the province’s massive carbon stores and also contribute to the economies of local communities that are dependent on these forests,” said Kosasih.

The report by WWF, Remote Sensing Solution GmbH and HokkaidoUniversitybreaks new ground by analyzing for the first time the connection between deforestation and forest degradation, global climate change, and population declines of tigers and elephants.

The province has lost 65 per cent of its forests over the last 25 years and in recent years has suffered Indonesia's fastest deforestation rates. In the same period there was an 84 per cent decline in elephant populations, down to only 210 individuals, while tiger populations are estimated to have declined by 70 per cent to perhaps just 192 individuals.

“We found that Sumatra's elephants and tigers are disappearing even faster than their forests are in Riau,” said WWF International's Species Programme Director, Dr Susan Lieberman. “This is happening because as wildlife search for new habitat and food sources, they increasingly come into conflict with people and are killed.

“The fragmentation and opening up of new forest areas also increases both the access and the opportunities for poaching. Therefore, a concerted effort to save these forests will contribute significantly to slowing the rate of global climate change, and will give tigers, elephants, and local communities a real chance for a future in Sumatra.”

Led by global paper giants APP and APRIL, the pulp & paper and palm oil industries are driving Riau's Sumatran tigers and elephants to local extinction in just a few years by destroying their habitat, the study found.

As part of its efforts to save Sumatra’s remaining natural forests, WWF is working urgently with the Indonesian government and the pulp and palm oil industries to identify and protect the forests that are home to elephants, tigers, orang-utans and rhinos. Sumatra is the only place on
Earth where all four species co-exist.

Posted by Surfbirds at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)

Rare birds reach Sudan after 50 year absence

Two sociable lapwings, satellite tagged in Kazakhstan last summer, have flown more than 5,000 miles to central Sudan where they are spending the winter before their return flight to breeding grounds in the central Asian republic.

The species is one of the smallest birds ever to carry a tracking device and its journey has revealed far more about its migration than scientists expected.

Only now are conservationists realising how important African countries are to sociable lapwings. There are few recent records of the birds in Africa but new surveys could find more. The last sighting of sociable lapwings so far south in Africa was by the RSPB’s Dr Mark Avery, who saw a small flock in Kenya 20 years ago.

The tagging project began last year when scientists from the RSPB and Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan fitted satellite-tracking devices to three birds on their breeding grounds on the barren steppe expanses of central Kazakhstan.

Their journey will be featured on BBC Radio 4’s World on the Move series, being broadcast on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

Dr Rob Sheldon, an RSPB ecologist, said: 'The fact that these birds have reached Sudan is remarkable because we had no idea that they would fly that far.

'A Sudanese team is going out to find them this week and if they see more birds, our efforts to help them will become more complicated but also more gratifying. Their appearance in Sudan is fantastic news and has turned the whole tracking project into a hugely exciting conundrum.”

The sociable lapwing, closely related to the northern lapwing seen in the UK, was given the highest threat status by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 2003, after numbers fell 95 per cent to just 200 pairs.

A flock of more than 3,000 in Turkey last October was the largest seen for more than 100 years and a huge boost to efforts to reverse the bird’s fortunes.

Conservationists from the Sudanese Wildlife Society, part funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative, will try to locate the Sudanese birds, count them and find out more about the sites they are using.

Dr Sheldon said: 'The more we know, the easier it will be to improve their protection and help them increase their numbers.'

Dr Avery saw eight sociable lapwings near the Kenyan coast in 1988. He said: 'I had stopped by a water hole in the middle of no-where and the birds were just standing there. It was fantastic to see them but it’s only now that I’m appreciating how lucky I was.'

Ibrahim Hashim, a Research Professor at the Sudanese Wildlife Society, said: 'Finding these birds will not be easy because they are in a remote region where few people go. But that will benefit them because it means they should suffer little disturbance.

'We feel privileged to have these birds in Sudan and are very happy that we can play a part in increasing their numbers. These birds are now being protected on their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan and we hope very much to give them equal protection in Sudan.'

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:51 PM | Comments (0)

Derisory fines for Cypriot bird killers

Two poachers involved in the shocking shooting of 52 red-footed falcons on the British Sovereign Base Area at Akrotiri, Cyprus, on 5 October last year were this week fined a 'derisory' €1,250 each.

BirdLife Cyprus, the RSPB's partner on the island, has protested.

Under the relevant bird protection law, the British Sovereign Base Area (SBA) court could have imposed a fine of up to €17,000 or up to three years imprisonment, or both. The massacre was one of the most severe, from a conservation perspective, ever reported in Europe.

BirdLife Cyprus added that the poaching situation in general – and the situation regarding illegal bird trapping in particular - sharply deteriorated on the Island during 2007, following several years of improvement, and called for urgent intervention from the EU.

After plea-bargaining before their court appearance, the two Limassol men accused of gunning down the threatened birds of prey admitted to shooting only four of the falcons, which they said they had mistaken for turtle doves. The shooting took place in a 'no hunting' area at Phasouri, within the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area.

Despite admitting to shooting the falcons in their testimony to SBA police shortly after their arrest in mid-October, the two had initially pleaded not guilty before the court to charges of shooting protected species in a prohibited area. But, after plea-bargaining, the prosecution amended the number of shot falcons on the charge sheet to just four.

'This is disastrous case of failure of a judicial system coming close on the heels of failure of an enforcement system,' said BirdLife Cyprus Executive Manager Martin Hellicar.

He added: 'The shooting of these highly endangered falcons should never have been allowed to happen and the derisory penalties imposed today will not even begin to act as a deterrent for other would-be poachers in what is a well-known poaching black-spot.

'Unfortunately, ineffective penalties such as the ones imposed today are the norm when it comes to poaching offences in Cyprus, whether this be with guns, nets or limesticks. It is high time for Brussels to take serious note of the degenerating poaching situation in Cyprus - particularly as regards illegal bird trapping, which doubled last autumn - and demand effective enforcement action from both the UK and Cyprus governments.'

On-going monitoring of illegal bird trapping by BirdLife Cyprus showed trappers killed an estimated 500,000 birds in autumn last year, to be sold as expensive ambelopoulia delicacies in local restaurants. The banned delicacies were found to be freely available in local restaurants.

The cold-blooded shooting of the Red-footed falcon flock had caused widespread outrage in Cyprus and across Europe. The handsome falcons – a species of global conservation concern – appeared to have been shot down for 'target practice' as they rested on the Akrotiri peninsula, a key stop-over point for migrant birds heading for Africa. Farm workers found forty-six of the migrating falcon flock dead at the scene. Six injured birds were taken to the Cyprus Game Fund bird hospital, where they later died of their injuries.

This is not the first time illegal shooting has resulted in the killing of birds of prey and other migratory birds, such as bee-eaters, at Phasouri on the Akrotiri peninsula, Limassol. BirdLife Cyprus has for years been calling for effective anti-poaching action on the peninsula, which is the most important autumn migration stop-over area on the Island for thousands of birds, and birds of prey in particular.

After the October massacre, the Sovereign Base Area police and Cyprus Game Fund said they were stepping up joint anti-poaching patrols in the Akrotiri area. The main problem on the peninsula in recent years has been the absence of such joint action. Taking advantage of this enforcement gap, illegal hunters have profited along the ‘border’ between the base area and the republic, simply stepping across the dividing line to avoid either SBA Police or Game Fund patrols.

'BirdLife Cyprus will be keeping a very close watch on the poaching situation in the Akrotiri area,' Hellicar vowed.

Nicola Crockford, of the RSPB added: 'As the spring migration begins in earnest, Cypriot authorities and the British Sovereign Base Areas, in partnership, can show their commitment to bird protection by clamping down decisively on those individuals who illegally kill birds.'

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:44 PM | Comments (0)