October 11, 2008
Brazilian Merganser trip a roaring success
The first ever Brazilian Mergansers have been caught and colour ringed during a highly successful WWT and Terra Brasilis trip to Serra da Canastra, Brazil.
The crucial 10 day expedition has resulted in a superb 14 Brazilian Mergansers being marked, five of which have also been fitted with radio transmitters. This remarkable achievement will enable valuable information to be collected on their habitat use, movements and social interactions on the River Sao Francisco. These findings will help the project leaders (Terra Brasilis in partnership with Minas Gerais State Forestry Institute - IEF, ICMBio and WWT) to understand what these amazing birds require to survive.
Brazilian Merganser, copyright Wildlife and Wetlands Trust
Brazilian Mergansers are one of just six species of wildfowl to be considered Critically Endangered on the World Conservation Union Red List. These birds are extremely sensitive to habitat loss and disturbance caused by factors such as logging, river siltation, mining and tourism. For these reasons, there are currently just 200-250 known to exist in the wild, almost all in Brazil. There are also small numbers persisting in Argentina, but they have not been seen in Paraguay for more than 20 years. However, areas remain which haven't been surveyed adequately.
WWT programme manager for waterbird monitoring Rich Hearn, who participated in the expedition, explains: "This trip has been extremely successful and a valuable learning experience for all involved. The conservation team from Terra Brasilis are now ready to continue to capture and mark more mergansers as the breeding season comes to an end for another year over the next month or so".
Rich continues: "Partnerships such as this one between WWT and Terra Brasilis are one of the most effective ways in which WWT can support the conservation of threatened waterbirds. The efforts being made in Brazil to secure a bright future for one of the rarest and most enigmatic birds in the world will continue to be supported by WWT in the years ahead."
Posted by Surfbirds at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2008
WWT's concern at critically endangered Laysan Teal deaths in Hawaii
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is saddened to hear news of the recent deaths of some 136 Laysan Teal from avian botulism at Midway Atoll in Hawaii.
Laysan Teal are a critically endangered IUCN Red List species with total population of less than 1,000, 60 per cent of which are based at Laysan Island, some 225 km off the Hawaiian Islands.
Back in 2005, WWT scientists were part of a specialist conservation team which moved 22 of the ducks from Laysan Island to created wetlands at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in attempt to establish a sizeable population there. This had been very successful and some 400 of the species are now based there.
The first Laysan Teal was found dead at Midway last month and the death toll has been steadily rising over recent weeks. However, since the diagnosis was confirmed, the catchment basin has been drained and freshwater introduced to the wetlands in other nesting areas in an attempt to dilute the botulism. According to experts, this outbreak will not affect the 600 ducks based at Laysan Island.
Dr. Debbie Pain, Head of Conservation at the WWT, said: "This is terrible news for what is one of the most endangered species of duck in the world. Having helped reintroduce the teal to Hawaii in 2005, we really hope that the introduction of freshwater to the wetlands stops the toxin from spreading further. It is key that we do not lose any more of these wonderful birds."
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September 7, 2008
Surveys confirm Red-breasted Goose decline as WWT conservation efforts step up
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is stepping up its conservation efforts to save the Red-breasted Goose after recent surveys confirmed the population numbers just over 30,000 birds - a decline of over half in just 10 years.
The species is classified as Endangered on the World Conservation Union Red List and WWT, as part of the Red-breasted Goose International Working Group, is pleased to announce a series of developments aimed at reversing this worrying decline.
Red-breasted Goose © Martin Gillingham, from the surfbirds galleries
WWT is funding a field station at Durankulak in Bulgaria (the key wintering site for Red-breasted Geese) which will provide a focal point for Red-breasted Goose conservation action locally, including accommodation for survey teams and researchers, advice to farmers to manage their land sympathetically for the geese, and an education centre for tourists and local schools. The land was purchased in June, design plans are underway and construction should be completed by summer 2009.
WWT led an International Action Planning Workshop for Red-breasted Goose in Romania in February 2008. This identified major threats and knowledge gaps, and formulated key actions needed for their conservation, including
→ conserving habitat in breeding areas
→ identifying and ensuring designation of key feeding areas as protected sites
→ understanding the effects of climate change on the sites used by the geese
→ mitigating the effects of hunting and disturbance by aligning hunting seasons across flyway and by educating hunters
→ identifying crop rotation systems that are suitable for the geese
→ lobbying for introduction of agri-environmental measures targeted at Red-breasted Geese
WWT is planning to track ten Red-breasted Geese using satellite transmitters in 2009, following a successful bid to the BBC Wildlife Fund. WWT scientists will travel to the breeding grounds on the Taimyr Peninsula next summer to catch the geese and fit transmitters. Following the birds' movements will help to identify any previously unknown sites, particularly in Russia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine, and give us a better understanding of site and habitat use.
WWT is also preparing a monitoring strategy for Red-breasted Geese across the flyway. This will ensure standardised methods for monitoring population size and trends, monitoring breeding success, and assessing threats. The strategy will be drafted in autumn 2008.
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July 17, 2008
Scoter numbers fall for second year
Common Scoter numbers wintering at Carmarthen Bay have dipped below 16,000 for the second consecutive year, according to figures released by WWT.
Common Scoters © Sean Gray, from the surfbirds galleries
It was the 20,000 plus overwintering scoters that earned Carmarthen Bay the distinction of being the UK's first marine Special Protection Area (SPA). However, the last few years have seen the marine duck suffer. An aerial survey carried out by WWT earlier this year recorded just 13,100 birds. This is the second year in a row the count has come in at under 16,000 - the lowest level that makes a population of international importance, and numbers are at their lowest since 1997/8, when the Sea Empress oil spill wiped out many birds.
Peter Cranswick, WWT's Programme Manager for Threatened Waterbirds, said: "It is too early to draw firm conclusions about what may be happening in Carmarthen Bay, but the decline in this Biodiversity Action Plan species is of concern and merits close monitoring. We urge the Countryside Council for Wales to maintain a full programme of surveys of the SPA."
Posted by Surfbirds at 6:52 AM | Comments (0)
April 28, 2008
Legal protection may herald better future for endangered voles
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is delighted that the government has given full legal protection to Britain's most endangered mammal, the water vole.
Speaking in February 2008 at WWT London Wetland Centre in Barnes, the Minister for Biodiversity, Joan Ruddock, announced that water voles will be protected against being killed, injured or taken from the wild. Police will also have the power to prosecute where water voles have been deliberately persecuted.
Water Vole © S.G.Davis, from the surfbirds galleries
WWT has thriving water vole populations at six of its wetland centres, including WWT London Wetland Centre where they were successfully introduced in 2001. The centre is now home to 3-400 individuals.
Debbie Pain, Director of Conservation at WWT, welcomed the new measures, "Water voles have suffered the most dramatic decline of any British mammal. Over the last century numbers have plummeted to a tiny fraction and they are completely gone from many areas where they were once common. So we're delighted with today's news that they will get proper protection. It makes the law much clearer for people who manage land and it gives the police the power to deal with people who deliberately kill water voles."
WWT has been actively working to maintain and then expand water vole populations on the land it manages wherever suitable. Water voles are present at WWT Llanelli, Martin Mere, Slimbridge and Welney Wetland Centres. WWT has also reintroduced them to WWT Arundel Wetland Centre and, most notably, successfully introduced them to the London Wetland Centre in 2001 with the Environment Agency.
Immortalised as Ratty in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, the water vole was common and widespread at the start of the 20th century. Since then they have suffered a massive decline in numbers and distribution. There is only one water vole alive today for every twenty that were alive then.
The loss of wetland habitat has been major factor in the water voles' decline. The spread of American mink, a recent introduction to the UK, has compounded their decline. American mink have become the water voles' main predator. Water voles are now so few and spread out that their future is at risk from individual incidents, such as accidental poisoning. Today's announcement makes the law much clearer for everyone whose business could affect water voles.
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:06 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2007
Help WWT save British breeding waders
This week, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the plight of British wading birds due to a startling decline in their breeding habitat.
Black-tailed Godwit, copyright Stephen Round
British wading birds need wet grassland to live and breed, yet it is one of the fastest disappearing habitats in the UK. We have lost almost half our wet grasslands over the last century as a result of land drainage and agricultural intensification and, as a result, populations of breeding waders have fallen dramatically. Numbers of Snipe have dropped by a massive 61% across in the last 20 years, Curlew by 40% and Lapwing numbers have plummeted by 35%.
Population studies have also shown that land changes are forcing remaining waders onto nature reserves where effective management of their habitat is becoming increasingly important if we are to stop individual species from disappearing altogether. With such a high proportion of breeding waders concentrated in just a few sites, it is vital that these areas are protected and maintained.
WWT has begun a project to create new areas of wet grassland on its reserves and ensure that existing areas are expertly managed to encourage greater populations of these breeding waders. So far WWT has had some significant success. Leigh Marshall, Reserve Manager at WWT Welney Wetland Centre in Cambridgeshire, said: “Back in the 1970s, some 50 pairs of Black-tailed Godwit bred on the Ouse Washes, south of WWT Welney. Since then the population has steadily declined to almost nothing. Careful attention to water levels, grass management and cattle grazing has created ideal habitat at Welney itself. In 2006 there were four breeding pairs on site, and two successfully raised two young each.”
Work is continuing on WWT’s reserves at Arundel, London, Martin Mere, Slimbridge, Washington and Welney to ensure the right type of vegetation by allowing the right cattle to graze during non-breeding seasons; to carefully control water levels by installing specialist sluices; and to install effective measures to protect waders and their young from predators.
If wet grasslands continue to be lost, so will these unique wader species. Help WWT stop British wading birds disappearing forever.
Posted by Surfbirds at 3:23 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2006
The Bitterns Return
Three rare Bitterns have returned to the WWT London Wetland Centre and they are making their presence known – just in time for this year’s free entry days on Sunday 29 January and Thursday 2 February 2006.
© Nigel Blake from Surfbirds Galleries
These normally shy and secretive birds have been visiting the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust’s London reserve each winter since 2002, but in the past have remained hidden from view for weeks at a time. However, this year the birds are more confident and have moved into smaller areas of reedbed adjacent to the viewing hides, enabling visitors to get some amazing views.
It is hoped that the three birds will remain visible to visitors when the London Wetland Centre opens its doors for free on Sunday 29 January and Thursday 2 February, in celebration of World Wetlands Day 2006 (for a full list of activities on these days please visit: http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/wetlandcentre/event.asp )
Reserve Manager John Arbon said: “Bitterns have fluctuated from being an extremely common bird in centuries gone by, to almost extinct in the UK in the last few decades. Thankfully their numbers are on the rise again and it is amazing to think people can see them here, just 4 miles from Westminster. And with three birds in such a small area of reedbed it might be one of the highest densities of Bitterns in one area in the UK.â€
The Bitterns have been seen at several different locations around the reserve, but the best views have been from the WWF Hide and the Peacock Tower, on occasion the birds being just metres away from the hide windows.
§ The Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is a large buff-brown heron, smaller and more compact in shape than the grey heron. Its ginger-brown colouration helps it to be almost entirely invisible in its habitat of reedbed – especially when it adopts its camouflage position with bill pointing up (a habit known as ‘Bitterning posture’)
§ Feeding on a diet of fish, amphibians, small mammals and insects the male’s booming call (used to attract its mate during the breeding season), which sounds like a very low fog-horn and can carry up to 5km on a calm night, is often the only thing that gives away the presence of this bird.
§ It is thought Bitterns require a reedbed area of at least 10 hectares to breed, with double this amount being preferable. Male Bitterns have been recorded ‘booming’ in only 10 places (across 4 counties) in the UK. It is not likely that they will ever be heard booming at the London Wetland Centre as the reedbeds are currently about a quarter of the size required of a breeding territory.
Bittern were first recorded at the London Wetland Centre on 11th January 2002 when three birds were sighted and subsequently stayed for up to 6 weeks. They have since returned each winter, usually first being seen in later December.
World Wetlands Day marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian City of Ramsar on 2 February 1971, when governments across the world agreed to conserve and make the best possible use of their valuable wetland resources. With 1314 designated Ramsar Sites, covering 111 million hectares world-wide, the Ramsar Convention now has 138 countries signed up.
This year’s World Wetlands Day theme is Alleviating Poverty through Sustainability. Visitors to the London Wetland Centre on the free days of Sunday 29 January and Thursday 2 February 2006 will be able to go on free bird-watching walks and guided tours. There will be children’s activities throughout the weekend of 28 and 29 Jan, as well as a programme of talks for adults around sustainable living on Thursday 2 February.
www.wwt.org.uk
Saving wetlands for Wildlife and People.
Help us to save wetland birds and their habitats by becoming a member of WWT. Telephone the Membership office on +44 (0)1453 891198
or email: membership@wwt.org.uk
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:07 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2005
Spotted Crake on the Menu for Sparrowhawk
Birdwatchers at the London Wetland Centre last weekend were horrified when they witnessed a rare bird they had come to see being devoured by a Sparrowhawk in front of their eyes.
The Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana), a small diminutive member of the Rail family was first spotted at the centre on 25th September (one of 2 birds initially seen) and since then a steady stream of visitors arrived daily to see this rare spectacle. The last time this species was seen at the London Wetland Centre was in 1999, before the centre opened to the public.
Eye-witness Mike Waite described the moment this indistinct but alluring rarity met its fate: "It was last Saturday, 1st October, just after 4pm. A group of around a dozen visitors were watching the juvenile Spotted Crake through binoculars and telescopes as it obligingly fed out in the open along the muddy edge of the wader scrape.
All of a sudden WHACK! a handsome male Sparrowhawk swooped down and grabbed the bird in its talons. The latter struggled feebly for a short while, but the Sparrowhawk maintained its vice-like grip until flying off with its still twitching prey in its talons, into a tree on the Thames bank, to consume its rare victim.
Everyone in the hide was universally shocked, and outraged in a 'slaughter-of-the-innocents' kind of way! The Crake learned in the hardest possible way why its conspicuous behaviour was unbecoming of this species."
The London Wetland Centre commented: "It was quite a shock for visitors to see this rare bird come to such a violent end, but what they saw was evolution in action. The inexperienced juvenile Spotted Crake had been clearly visible for several days in the same area - it was only a matter of time before it came to the attention of a hungry predator. This experience shows why this species is normally shy and secretive!"
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:34 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2005
Celebrate World Wetlands Day
Celebrate World Wetlands Day for Free at the London Wetland Centre
Sunday 30th & Monday 31st January 2005.
The London Wetland Centre will be throwing open its doors for free on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st January in celebration of World Wetlands Day 2005, offering everyone the opportunity to experience wetlands and their beautiful wildlife.
Special free hourly guided tours of the reserve and 'World Wetlands'
exhibit will run on Saturday 29th (although normal entry charges apply on this day), Sunday 30th and Monday 31st January. Family activities on these days include 'The Great Human Pondskater Experiment' (an attempt to mimic a pondskater and defy the laws of gravity to walk on water!), the 'Wetlands Lecture' investigating the properties of water and who lives in water, and 'The Great Pond Safari'.
Centre Manager, Stephanie Fudge, said: "Wetlands around the world serve a vital function in storing water and helping to prevent flooding, in addition to providing food and supporting diverse wildlife. With climate change heralding an increase in extreme weather events, including both floods and droughts, the importance of saving wetlands now is paramount.
We hope people will come along to the London Wetland Centre and take
advantage of the free entry to learn more about their inherent value to people and wildlife and why we must act to save them."
Wetlands are second only to rain forests for the diversity of life they support. Over half of the world's precious wetlands have been lost over the past century and, while there is still a wealth of wetland diversity around us, we must now make a concerted effort to save it - WWT will show everyone just how they can do their bit.
World Wetlands Day marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian City of Ramsar on 2 February 1971, when
governments across the world agreed to conserve and make the best
possible use of their valuable wetland resources. With 1314 designated Ramsar Sites, covering 111 million hectares world-wide, the Ramsar Convention now has 138 countries signed up so WWT's celebrations will certainly be in good company.
For more information contact Martin Senior: T 020 8409 4405
martin.senior@wwt.org.uk
or Catherine Worswick on 020 8409 4412 or catherine.worswick@wwt.org.uk
Posted by Surfbirds at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)