An impressive 2,000 Saker chicks have hatched in 2013 as a result of an artificial nesting programme in Mongolia. The project, which is run in partnership by the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Mongolia's Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, was launched in 2010 with the aim of increasing the wild Saker population.

In 2010, EAD — on behalf of the United Arab Emirates government — signed an agreement with the government of Mongolia to build 5,000 artificial nests in the Mongolian steppes to encourage breeding among the species and increase the world's population of Sakers. EAD reported that 3,700 chicks have been born since the project was first launched.

Several of the artificial nests have been fitted with cameras that record continuously, allowing officials to record the falcons' eating habits and predator threats. This year, the project has also been extended to address the problem of Sakers being electrocuted by power lines — a major cause of falcon mortality in Mongolia and China, which kills one falcon each week. Officials took a number of steps to address this issue, including adding insulation covers to the power lines.

This project has been instigated partly in response to the last 20 years when the United Arab Emirates has been the main destination for thousands of falcons caught and sold illegally for hefty sums on the black market. Kazakhstan is estimated to lose up to 1,000 Sakers per year to Middle Eastern falconers.

H.E Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General of EAD, commented on the project's progress: "This initiative was introduced to promote sustainable breeding practices and to provide birds with safe and secure breeding environments in a bid to boost global population numbers. I am happy to report that, in addition to the success we have seen with the breeding, we have also built up the capabilities of local biologists and have incorporated an educational programme in schools in Mongolia as well as two schools in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Education Council."

More information can be found on the Middle East Falcon Research Group website.

Tadcaster police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a Red Kite was poisoned in the area. The bird was found at Toulston Polo Ground, Tadcaster in October 2012, by a member of the public who contacted Yorkshire Red Kites, who in turn reported the suspected poisoning to North Yorkshire Police.

Following a post-mortem examination and forensic testing it was found to have
died from the illegal poison Carbofuran, which was banned in 2001. The RSPB have offered a £1,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest and charging of those responsible for the bird's death.

Between 2002 and 2011, there were 292 confirmed cases of birds of prey being
killed by Carbofuran poisoning in England. PC Sarah Ward of Tadcaster Safer
Neighbourhood Team said: "This crime is appalling. The use of Carbofuran is both
unlawful and highly dangerous. It is highly toxic and a few granules could kill.
Someone has put Carbofuran into the countryside unlawfully, risking the lives of
people, domesticated animals and wildlife. I urge anyone with information to
contact the police or RSPB immediately."

The Red Kite that died was hatched in Wales in 2009 and is believed to be one
of a breeding pair that first bred at Tadcaster Grammar School in 2012. They are
the first-known Welsh-born Red Kites to have bred in Yorkshire.

 Bob Elliot, RSPB Head of Investigations, said: "Since their successful
release back into the Yorkshire countryside in 1999, Red Kites have suffered at
the hands of illegal poisoning in North Yorkshire with this incident being the
twentieth poisoned Kite since 2000." Mr Elliot added: "Birds of prey are still
being targeted by those intent on killing our most protected species and it is
simply not acceptable to still be finding poisoned, trapped and shot raptors in
our countryside."

 Doug Simpson, Yorkshire Red Kites Coordinator, said: "The loss of any bird
through illegal poisoning is a big disappointment. It is particularly
disappointing in this case, with this kite being of Welsh origin and the first
from that source known to have bred in Yorkshire."

 Anyone who can help to identify those responsible for this poisoning should
contact Tadcaster police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Sarah Ward. You can
also contact the RSPB on 0845 4663636 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800
555111.

Quarries throughout the UK are great places for birds of prey, a recent study has shown. Teaming up with the building materials company CEMEX in its national partnership, the RSPB asked quarry managers to complete a survey of the birds of prey they see at their sites.

Although the two most commonly reported species have not changed since the previous survey, Buzzards have overtaken Kestrels to take top spot; both were reported at more than half the sites. Red Kite and Hobby sightings remained fairly constant, being seen hunting at 15% of the quarries, while the occurrence of Sparrowhawks has increased to 46%. There was also good news regarding Barn Owls and Peregrines, populations of which have been under pressure in recent years, with both species recorded at over a third of sites.

All the species observed are fully protected in the UK and experts are excited to have them using these reclaimed habitats. Sam Tarrant, RSPB quarry restoration advisor, said: "Due to their scale, quarry sites offer usually large open spaces with a good range of habitats suitable to these magnificent birds: from rocky ledges, ideal nesting sites for peregrine falcons, to rough tussocky grass, just the sort of habitat for the small mammals hunted by Kestrels and Barn Owls. The sites can also provide a great range of other habitats including woodland, reedbeds, grassland, heathland and ponds. Historically, restored sites have provided many amazing places for wildlife in the UK. The CEMEX/RSPB partnership is a great example of industry and conservation working together to benefit wildlife."

Being one of the largest building materials companies in the UK, and owner of the sites, CEMEX is proud they are giving nature a home on their sites. As part of CEMEX UK's commitment to increasing biodiversity awareness within the company, a poster has been provided to all our quarry sites to highlight the importance of quarries to birds of prey.

Andy Barber, a CEMEX quarry manager, says: "I have been working for [the company] for the past 20 years. I love to see the different species that visit the quarry. Over the years we have thought about our method of working and restored areas to accommodate some species, particularly Sand Martins and Little Ringed Plovers. I have seen a large and welcome increase in the Buzzard and summer visitors include Hobby which often hunt the Sand Martins. We also had a visit from two Red Kites this year which was exciting."

To find out more about wildlife on quarry sites and the RSPB's partnership with CEMEX UK visit the RSPB/CEMEX web pages.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is appealing
  for information after a Red Kite was found with severe injuries in South
  Lanarkshire, having been shot, while the RSPB in Northern Ireland is calling
for  witnesses after a dead bird was discovered in the Castlewellan area on 14
  August.
Scotland's animal welfare charity was alerted on 8 August when a
  member of the public discovered the bird in the village of Leadhills.
  Unfortunately, the juvenile female Red Kite was suffering to such an extent
that  the kindest and only humane option was to put it to sleep. Post-mortem
results  confirmed that the bird was shot.
Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said:  “This bird was caused a great deal of pain and suffering as a result of being  shot. Sadly, she was so badly injured that she would not have been able to make  a recovery.
"As well as being cruel, injuring a wild
bird is a criminal  offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and we
are very keen to  speak to anyone who has information about this
incident.”
Anyone with  information is being urged to contact the
Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline on 03000  999 999. Calls are treated in the
strictest confidence and information can be  left anonymously.
The bird in Co Down is the fourth killed there this  year, representing 30 per cent of the total breeding population in the province.  The bird's body has been
submitted to the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute  for a post-mortem. 
It is strongly suspected that it, and the other birds, fell  victim to
poison.
Of the four deceased birds, two were breeding males,  one was a
breeding female and one was a juvenile. Sadly, the female was found  dead in the
nest where she was incubating two eggs, meaning the chicks inside  also
perished.
Adam McClure, Red Kite Officer for the RSPB, said: All  birds
of prey are protected under the law, but unfortunately this doesn’t always  mean
that they are safe from poison.
“We do not know what caused the  deaths
of these four birds as yet and are eagerly awaiting the post-mortem  results
dating back as far as January. However we suspect that they did not die  of
natural causes.”
Anyone who has information about the deaths of the
  birds is asked to contact the Police Service of Northern Ireland on 0845 600
  8000 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Red Kites were  once ubiquitous across Britain, but were hunted almost to their total loss as a  breeding species, with just a handful of pairs left in South Wales by the 20th  century. Successful reintroduction programmes have seen numbers increase across  England and Scotland, but the species still suffers from persecution and remains  vulnerable in Northern Ireland.

A study spearheaded by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University
of Minnesota has shown that the world's largest owl — and one of the rarest — is
also a key indicator of the health of some of the last great primary forests of
Russia's Far East.

The study found that the rare and spectacular Blakiston's Fish Owl relies on old-growth forests
along streams for both breeding and to support healthy populations of their
favourite prey: salmon. The large trees provide breeding cavities for the
enormous bird, which has a two-metre (6ft) wingspan. And when these dead,
massive trees topple into adjacent streams, they disrupt water flow, forcing the
gushing river around, over, and under these new obstacles. The result is stream
channel complexity: a combination of deep, slow-moving backwaters and shallow,
fast-moving channels that provide important micro-habitats critical to salmon in
different developmental stages.

 The study appears in the October issue of the journal Oryx and is
currently available online as a
PDF. The authors, including Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife
Conservation Society, R. J. Gutiérrez of the University of Minnesota, and Sergei
Surmach of the Institute of Biology and Soils (Russian Academy of Sciences),
studied the foraging and nesting characteristics of Blakiston's Fish Owl in
Primorye, Russia, where they looked at nesting habitat over 20,213 square
kilometres (7,804 square miles). They found that large old trees and riparian
old-growth forest were the primary distinguishing characteristics of both nest
and foraging sites.

The authors say that management and conservation of old-growth forests is
essential for sustaining this species because they are central to the owls'
nesting and foraging behaviour. Moreover, conservation of Primorye's forests and
rivers sustains habitat for many other species, including eight salmon and trout
species that spawn there; some of the 12 other owl species found in Primorye;
and mammals such as the endangered Amur (or Siberian) Tiger, Asiatic Black Bear, and Wild Boar. Listed as Endangered by IUCN, Blakiston's Fish Owl is restricted to riparian areas in Russia, China, Japan and possibly North Korea.

"Blakiston's Fish Owl is a clear indicator of the health of the forests,
rivers, and salmon populations," said lead author Jonathan Slaght. "Retention of
habitat for fish owls will also maintain habitat for many other species
associated with riparian old-growth forests in the Russian Far East."

Friends of Red Kites (FoRK) have released the latest figures regarding the species' success during the 2013 breeding season in the North-East. For some
reason — probably the loss of kites to illegal persecution in winter when they wander around — the population is failing to expand on the pattern of other reintroductions.

 Kites were widespread early in the season and monitoring work identified 27 potential breeding territories being held by pairs or displaying males. However, the nesting season that followed proved disappointing, with a high failure rate and only limited evidence of breeding (two pairs) outside the core area in the Derwent Valley. The very cold conditions of March and April may have had some impact on the fitness of birds at the start of the season.

 FoRK are concerned that the population is not expanding as it should. This is
the third consecutive season where there has been no apparent increase in
breeding pairs. Comparisons with other regional release programmes, made after
the same interval following the release of kites, show that the North-East has a
significantly lower breeding population. If the national trend had been followed
we could have expect a population by now of upwards of 50 breeding pairs. This
problem is to be discussed with the RSPB and others.

 Twenty nests were found and 17 pairs went on to produce eggs. Two of the
other nests were built by unmated males and the third by a young pair that did
not go on to lay eggs. The final results showed that, worryingly, nearly half
the nests failed despite, in sharp contrast to 2012, the weather then being
favourable from hatching until the fledging period. The nine remaining closely
monitored pairs went on to fledge at least 18 young, compared with 13 pairs
fledging 22 young in 2012. The fledging total was the absolute minimum as the
outcome at two further localities was not known. In one area of mature woodland
where an early nest appeared to have been abandoned during incubation,
alarm-calling adults late in the season may have indicated the presence of
young. Two of the successful pairs fledged broods of three young; five pairs had
two young and the remaining two fledged single chicks.

 Once again all but two of the nests found were in the Derwent Valley. The
exceptions were one in the Causey Gill, and one at a site near Wylam, close to
the Northumberland boundary, which was used for the first time in four years and
which produced at least one chick. Birds were also prominent during the season
around the Derwent Reservoir, Blanchland, Edmundbyers, Muggleswick and the
Derwent Gorges but once again, despite extensive searching, no nests were
found.
 2013 was the fourth year in which responsibility for monitoring was
undertaken by FoRK, the organisation made up of former volunteers with the
Northern Kite project that released 94 birds from the booming Chilterns
population over a three-year period. Ringing, wing-tagging, the completion of
BTO Nest Record Cards and liaison with the Rare Birds Breeding Panel was also
undertaken.

In the Derwent Valley, several sites used regularly in recent years were
unoccupied indicating that previous 'tenants' may have perished, but several new
sites were found, one of them in a garden just 25 yards from the back of a
bungalow. During June and July, 12 chicks at six nests were ringed by Keith
Bowey, Ken Sanderson and Ian Kerr, aided by our regular climbers. Ten of them
were wing-tagged with the normal Northern project tags of pink on the left wing
and the 2013 year tag of yellow with black lettering on the right wing. Two of
the ringed young were too small to tag. Other nests had young that were too
large to handle safely and one was not found until the young had fledged.

An analysis of the seven failed nests showed that one was predated when it
contained two young. Nest lining had been ripped out and was hanging over the
edge. Another nest, predated at either the egg or small chick stage, showed
similar damage and was just 30 yards from a successful Carrion Crow nest, perhaps a clue to the culprits. The cause of failure at the other seven was not established.

 Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the start of the Northern Kites
reintroduction project. FoRK is planning to increase the size of its monitoring
teams in an effort to ensure that all potential areas are fully covered. The aim
will be to recruit volunteers from the Durham and the Northumberland and
Tyneside bird clubs, RSPB and other groups to 'adopt' potential areas and survey
them for displaying birds in February and March and for evidence of breeding in
April and May. This will aim to build on a one-day survey carried out during
March 2013 when, despite appalling conditions with freezing winds, icy roads and
heavy snow in upland areas, more than 30 volunteers turned out to search for
kites.

 For more information on FoRK, visit the Friends of Red Kites
website.

On Monday 8th July, Colin Burne, of Winters Park, Penrith, pleaded guilty to the intentional killing of Buzzards on land managed by a private shooting syndicate in Whinfell Forest, near Penrith (Cumbria). The 64-year-old gamekeeper attended Carlisle Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to three charges. These related to the killing of two Buzzards on 11th February 2013, killing five Buzzards before this date and possession of a wooden stick as an item capable of being used to kill the birds. He received a 70-day jail sentence, concurrent on each charge, suspended for 12 months. In sentencing, the judge stated that had it not been for his ill health he would have considered jailing him.

On Monday 11th February 2013, a cage trap containing live Buzzards was found by members of the public on land managed by the shoot. Cage traps can lawfully be used to control certain crow species, but any non-target species that become accidentally caught, such as Buzzards and other birds of prey, must be released unharmed. The next day RSPB Investigations Officers set up a covert camera near the trap site. When the footage was retrieved it showed Colin Burne entering the trap and intentionally killing two buzzards by beating them to death with a wooden stick.

Bob Elliot, Head of RSPB Investigations, said: "After we retrieved the footage and played it back, we were surprised at the openness with which Burne had killed the birds. Buzzards were given full legal protection in 1954 — six years after Burne was born — but he calmly dispatched the birds as though it was a routine operation, rather than an illegal act killing a protected species."

A search of the trap site by officers from Cumbria Constabulary and the RSPB revealed the presence of the remains of many other Buzzards, showing that the killing of these birds at this site had become a regular practice. Burne admitted to the killing of five of these birds. Mr Elliot added, "Buzzards are magnificent birds and their presence in the countryside brings pleasure to many people. This case confirms the urgent need to tighten up the use of crow cage traps to ensure that protected species, such as Buzzards, are not routinely killed."

PC Helen Felton, who led the investigation for Cumbria Constabulary, commented: "This was a despicable crime in which someone who was in a position of trust as a gamekeeper trapped Buzzards and then later came back to kill them. From what was found nearby, it was clear that this practice had been taking place for some time. The sentence that has been given today highlights how wildlife crime is not tolerated in Cumbria. Those people who believe they can kill protected species will be brought to justice."

BirdGuides is dedicated to supporting the RSPB investigations team, and one of our news team played a small but important role in the Cumbrian case, putting the member of the public directly in touch with the RSPB. We're pleased to be able to play a part in reducing the persecution of our native birds and strongly recommend noting the RSPB investigations team contact details. To report a case of persecution, you can email [email protected].

The RSPB is calling on farmers and birdwatchers to help locate the UK's rarest nesting bird of prey: the Montagu's Harrier. The population of this beautiful bird of prey is down to fewer than a dozen pairs, most of which nest in crops. The organization is appealing for sightings in an attempt to locate and protect their nests, which are often hidden away in lowland crops and often only found at harvest time.

Montagu's Harriers return to the UK in late April after spending the winter in Africa. They breed almost entirely in the southwest and east of England on lowland farmland, particularly choosing winter cereals, oilseed rape and grass silage. The core population often returns to the same nesting locations each year and RSPB has been working successfully with the associated local farmers for over 30 years to protect the species.

Mark Thomas, who leads on the species' work for the RSPB, said: "Along with species like Stone Curlews and Corncrakes, farmers have been essential in conserving our tiny population of Montagu's Harriers and through this hotline we hope to locate additional pairs that may otherwise have been missed. The UK population is currently teetering on the brink, and finding additional pairs will be a bonus. All reports will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We're hopeful that farmers and birdwatchers who spot the harriers will contact us so that we can confirm the sightings. We can offer free advice on how these sites can be protected to ensure these magnificent birds can successfully rear young."

Anyone who thinks they may have seen a Montagu's Harrier is urged to contact the hotline on 01767 693398 or email [email protected]. Details should include the date and six digit grid reference, if possible, and a contact telephone number.

RSPB
Friday 31st May 2013