birds of prey

[Guest]

Bruno

 

If my aged memory serves me correctly the rooks are smaller than the crows and live on colonies.

 

I like to have crows nesting round the loft as they are very territorial and will defend their bailiwick against raptors. I do not like ravens though, they are far bigger than the crow and will take a young bird off the ground.

 

I was having problems in Washington State with Cooper Hawks and spoke with a very experienced falconer who's best advice to me to keep my birds safe while loft flying was to get my own Harris Hawk and put the bird up say 30 minutes to an hour before letting the birds out.  Harris Hawks are very territorial also and will clean the vacinity of any other raptors, but at about $20,000 for the bird and licence I decided to stick with the crows who I fed every day.

[Guest]

ROOKS

              THE BILL IS LONGER AND THE BASE OF THE BERK IS BARE

[jimmy white]

theres a breeding pair of eagle owls at or around alnwick, also a few pairs north scot.

the pair in yorkshire have been there a few years now, and bred over 20, there are also more breeding pairs in the u,k,they are not all reckoned to be related i,e, off the one pair, theres even debate that some have flew here, it should prove an interesting prog, on bbc 2 on wed, they are very territorial, and nest at the same terrain as the perigrine,but will kill the perigrine at dusk when it is beginning to roost,by stealth and not speed, why buy a toy one from the garden centre, when the rspb will [should] be helping them to breed, and look after them , the same as the perigrines, as they come under the same law as raptors, they say let nature take its course, well who knows it might just do that

[THE FIFER]

yes bruno the carrion crow (or as some call them the raven) is big and has a long black shiny beak, and only nests one to an area if u see one nest in a tree its a carrion, the ones which eat pigeons and any other birds around when they are feeding young, and clear everything from their area, i have even saw them going for dogs, the rooks are scruffy looking things with a grey coulor at the top of their beaks, sometimes in the carrion u will get white flights. have a book on them somewhere must look it out and post some picks,

[jimmy white]

exerpts from a bird forum,,,,,,

1.  i strongly suspect there is a healthy population of eagle owls in the uk. i know of one such location in the n, of england where they have successfully bred in the wild for several years now,in a rural environment,,i find it a little surprising that more sightings havent been reported.

2.i read a report in the gaurdian,claiming that a pair of eagle owls living wild in n, of englandhas successfully reared 15 young since 1996,  ouch ,that would be popular with pigeon fanciers,

3.since roosting perigrine falcons and other assorted raptors feature highly on the eagle owls nocturnal fast food menu, your probably right about pigeon fanciers being pleased to see their numbers increase,as far as them being a threat to racing pigeons, i shouldnt think so, since they are all safely out of harms way in their lofts during the hours of darkness, when eagle owl goes to work

4.the question of whether eagle owls were ever native is in some references stated it was. it was thought they were native to the uk until the latter part of the 19th century.

[Guest]

An interesting post Jimmy. Wondered at the original one from Bill (UHU Bill ;D  ) and amplified by Doostalker, on how a night hunter like an eagle owl could help us poor pigeon folks with daytime scourges like peregrines and hawks. Also cannot reconcile the night hunter bit from your bird expert website, with the BBC News' day time shots of the birds on the York Moors trying to herd one or two of the local sheeps (Er.. I think that's what was happening!

 

Anyway, whenever and wherever, happy to get help from it....but as always a final thought ....

 

Would distance pigeons flying in twilight be at risk from the eagle owl?  

[jimmy white]

THE HAWK CONSERVATIVE TRUST

the eurasian eagle owl is quite a common bird throughout europe its most adept at navigating between trees in subdued light, its capable of taking medium sized mammals up to the size of a rabbit[ NOT A SHEEP]

BEHAVIOUR IN THE WILD.

in forrested areas , which are typically inhabited by a number of species of birds of prey, there is often animosity between species. here the goshawk and the eagle owl are probably the most murderous,

the eagle owl is even known to tackle quite successfully ,raptors as large, and  swift as

the peregrine falcon ....

the day time scourges ,bruno , as you say the perigrines and hawks, are killed by the eagle owl whilst roosting, it would not be able or fast enough to catch them in flight

[Guest shadow]

Hope they have some effect on the wild falcon sistuation be fore the RSPB wants to cull them as a danger to other wildlife

 

quality not quantity

[snowy]

what time wednesday is it on?

and this morning, hawk waiting in my cherry tree behind the loft! i aint let my birds out since the near miss! why is it still hanging around here?

[jimmy white]

wednesday 8 pm   bbc 2    should be interesting  

[Guest]

Snowy, I was going to post a request for an answer to your problem, how to legally get rid of a hawk that hangs around the loft even when the birds aren't going out.  

 

Reckon I may have an answer from something John Harwood wrote in the BHW a good while back... fireworks. He used an expoding rocket. Wondered if you could rig something up that it won't forget in a hurry?    ;D

 

Try and get a picture too...  ;D     ;D

[Guest]

Have you got a paint ball gun snowy ??????

[snowy]

thanks will watch tonight!

good idea shadow!

& yes been thinking hard about getting a gun!

a PAINT BALL ONE ONLY TO SCARE IT AWAY

thanks

got to fight the kids first for the remote control & the missis,

should just make it by 8 o clock. 45 mins!

bye. wish me luck!

[Guest]

Well, watched the programme and Shadow's post about 'unwelcome' proved to be spot on.  >

 

Couldn't believe my ears when BTO and RSPB said this owl had no protection under Wildlife act. It has to be on 'their' list... and that only contains 'home bred' British Birds. (Racist Fascist B*st*rds)

 

Thought all birds were protected. Wonder what the Owl Trust thinks?

[snowy]

great programme! how stupid of them! just because there is no written notes with illastrations for so long its not classed as a british protected species!

just wish no-one had seen or drawn the bloody HAWKS! for so long!

it wouldnt be protected then! would it!  

[snowy]

i think they will survive well & good on them

[THE FIFER]

if u want to frighten the hawk from somewhere at night get one of those levels with the lazer beam on it they shine for a great distance at night, and will frighten them, it works with the crows, u do not need a big level u get the small ones in woolworths.

[jimmy white]

watchedthe programme and noted they only feed mainly on rabbits, they did not say that the would not tolerate any perigrine nesting anywhere near them[which they dont, they kill them]  but off course our old freind [in first post] rspb duncan orr ewan , does not want them CAUSE THEIR NOT BRITTISH, and will kill RARE birds, thats the man who looks after the perigrines [thats the  RARE birds] who does he think he is, god.  these birds nest in quarries ,the same as perigrines, and if their nesting in the quarries, the perigrines, wont be there.,, the expert on the programme says they ARE originaly brittish, im sure he will prove that too ,rspb mr duncan orr hiven ewan, is playing god, judge and jury

 

 

[fifestay]

The following is an extract from RSPB site any prizes for guessing where the Sparrows have gone ...keep recording raptor attacks on their website keep telling them but here is Article

 

RSPB calls for help to find tree sparrows across the South-East

The RSPB is asking people who live, work in or visit the countryside to help find one of the South-East's rarest breeding birds, the tree sparrow.

 

The country cousin of the house sparrow, tree sparrows were once widely distributed but have declined by a staggering 95% nationally and have all but disappeared from our countryside.

 

Andy Cotton, RSPB Conservation Officer, explains: 'Small remnants of the population continue to survive in isolated pockets around the South-East. The best-known surviving population is in the area between Romney Marsh in south Kent and Hastings in East Sussex.

 

'However, the RSPB suspected that small colonies might still exist in out-of-the-way places. An initial plea for sightings last year, largely to farmers, yielded some welcome results, with a small number of new colonies being found across Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.

 

Tree sparrows have declined by a staggering 95% nationally.

The best-known surviving population is in the area between Romney Marsh in south Kent and Hastings in East Sussex.

To help our search for tree sparrows, please call our Brighton office on 01273 775333.

'It has encouraged us to ask everyone to keep a look out for tree sparrows in the South-East  this spring. We are hopeful that there are more tree sparrows out there waiting to be found. By getting a complete picture of where these birds are surviving, we can direct the conservation effort to save them.'

 

Where populations of tree sparrows are reported, the RSPB can offer free advice sheets to landowners. These give details of various low-cost actions that can be taken that are proven to help tree sparrows and other much-declined farmland birds including linnets, yellowhammers and corn buntings.

 

Anybody who would like to help in the search for tree sparrows can call the RSPB in Brighton (01273 775333) for a free identification chart and a form for recording sightings.

 

Tree sparrow sightings can be sent in to the RSPB using the recording form supplied with the free identification chart or by e-mailing details (please include detailed location information a

[Guest]

Well said, Jimmy. I noted your 'pal'  hiphuk ewing was on the program, and was trying to imagine your face when you saw him.  ;D

 

They are two-faced, Jimmy. Greetin & girnin about birds of prey being persecuted in one spiel, then telling viewers they can shoot and kill this one... also persecuted in the past .... because its not British and not protected. Forgetting about the re-introduced 'British' birds-of-prey coming from Scandinavia etc.

 

Well, I think they're wrong. Its a European bird and the Act is part of a European Directive, applying EU-wide. Birds can fly from one country to another. Bloody impossible that they can be protected in one European country and shot to bits in another.

 

I've emailed the World Owl Trust on this one.  

 

I hope they do settle, Snowy. Their being here should close the loop by keeping the other predator populations in check. But the one thing that worries me is that of the Yorkshire pair's 21 offspring, only one has ever been reported... and dead at that. What's happened to the others?  

[jimmy white]

good lad bruno, lets know how you get on , the rspb are very hard to understand???

fifestays post prooves that.

[jimmy white]

i i wonder if" rspb hip huc ewan" has read section 27 of the wild life and countryside act,,,WHAT CONSTITUTES A BRITTISH BIRD,,,,,,

 sec ,27 wildlife and countryside act 1981,,

[ANY BIRD OF A KIND WHICH IS ORDINARY RESIDENT IN OR IS A VISITOR TO GREAT BRITTAIN]  ,,,,,,,SO MR EWAN [ HIS SUNDAY NAME] MUST BE BLATENTLY WRONG IN SAYING, ON THAT EAGLE OWL PROGRAMME "THAT THEY ARE FOREIGN AND DONT BELONG HERE"   THAT 1981 ACT CLEARLY CONTRADICTS HIM    THE 23 YOUNG BIRDS WERE BORN HERE,IN THE WILD, AND RUNG ,TO PROOVE IT.

      P.S  I JUST LOVE HIP HUC EWAN,,,,, BOTH HIS FACES. ;)

[jimmy white]

e,mailed defra, just out of curiosity, see  if mr ewan can change the goal posts. dont know if theyll answer me but well see.

[Guest]

DISC's on the lofts, to stop hawks does it help or not?

[Guest]

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