looduskalender.ee

I found something and now I need to find it again that I think indicated that urban environments are one of the biggest threats to migrating birds -- I think there was also some hope. Ways we can change the coating on windows or something to make them less hazardous.

I posted without my article in hopes that would force me to go find it.

Sigh... I cannot think where I saw the article.

Kill Lights Save the Birds
http://www.flap.org/lot.htm
An article on Toronto and turning down or out the lights on tall towers at night.
From the article:
FLAP, a bird rescue organization whose mission is to ensure safe passage for migratory birds through urban areas, is playing a major role in the campaign. The City of Toronto and FLAP have mapped the downtown core identifying commercial buildings where bird collisions are likely to be a concern. As a result, the number of bird rescue zones covered by volunteers has increased and new "holding stations" where members of the public can leave injured birds have been established.

Alice that is a great initiative. I will pass it around.

A survey ov bird populations show a decline in numbers in the south of England whereas as in the north and Scotland their no. are rising. Why ?

http://www.wildlifeextra.com//go/news/n ... de.html#cr

Interesting new developments from the U.K.'s bird life ... There should be some bird experts here from the isle to comment this! Otherwise the RSPB directly?

Referring to the forum's "BS tracks", where is reported that on the Strait of Gibraltar insuperable strong winds can blow, there are more hints to that natural phenomenon.
Those winds especially in the Alps can become a danger to Western-tracking birds - sometimes in autumn unsuperable. They can suddenly be captured inmidst the Alps - e.g. thousands of exhausted swallows cannot fly on in time (means before it's becoming too cold.) Just some days ago, I've heard of it from the radio news here.
It is reported from time to time of extra chartered planes to get them transported to further Southern regions!

I suppose the main reason is over-development and population increase.

There is ever more concrete and housing, and smaller green areas in the South.

I think I should like to go North with the birds!

Two days ago, I was visiting family on the South coast - Lymington, - and a friend told us about a White Tailed Sea Eagle that had been seen and photographed nearby "about 5 - 6 months ago"
He stressed that only one eagle had been seen, so we can't really expect a growing population of sea eagles here.
Sad - it would be a good area for them - good fishing, salt water and fresh.
Perhaps that eagle will come again?

I asked Maertha if she knew about this sighting. She soon found the evidence!

http://www.goingbirding.co.uk.gridhoste ... iled+Eagle

Scroll down to 12. 2. 11 and below for the coastal reports.
It looks like the eagle then travelled north.

Where does this belong ?
Tonight i saw a magical film on TV. I also learnt a lot. How The Monarch Buitterfly migrates all the way from Canada to Mexico. See this film (for 7 days,I think) here:

http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/la_gran ... 90294.html

Its one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a long time. Though its french or german maybe you can just enjoy the beauty of it. I didn't even know this butterfly migrated.

I think I saw a post about cuckoos but I am not sure where and maybe this link has already been posted, but it has some information about cuckoos on their migration. These five birds were caught within 70 km of each other but now in Africa they are 3,600km apart.

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr ... o-tracking

;(
both times I tried to watch, it said "une erreur s'est produite"

I found an interesting website about birds and aeroplanes. It contains among other things a list of bird strike accidents (international) http://www.davvl.de/en/bird-strike/accidents, a bird migration forecast (just for Germany) and the complete index of the technical periodical “Bird and Aviation” since 1986. A lot of articles are available as pfd-documents.

Source: German Bird Strike Committee (GBSC)
Articles: Scroll down the page and click at “Alphabetic index”
http://www.davvl.de/en/scientific-journal/complete-index

(This is a preliminary summary of Urmas and Ülo's talk on Nov 17. The authors have not reviewed it yet - lack of time - so please be prepared for corrections!)

Ülo Väli and Urmas Sellis talked about use of trail cameras and web cameras, and experiences and facts learnt about the cameras and raptor nest life, with illustrations from a number of raptor nests, in a nearly 2-hour presentation in the Estonian Ornithological Society (EOÜ) lecture series; talk in Estonian, video at http://www.eoy.ee/node/417.

NEST CAMERAS IN RAPTOR STUDIES
Translation of authors’ summing up:
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?
1. More precise information on nesting phenology:
- Arrival, egg-laying time, hatching time, fledging time, departure time
Result: better strategies for nesting territory protection regulations possible
Studies of annual variations needed

2. More precise information on nesting biology:
- Number of eggs, prey objects; nest-building, robbing and other behaviour
Result: better planning of species protection
Studies of annual variations needed

3. Determining nest status is not always simple
- Raptors may build and decorate several nests
- Breeding nest can be built very scantily or late
Removing a protected species nest from protection register must be supported by thorough study

4. Several species may inhabit and use one nest
- Prudence needed in deciding on the resident species
Removing a protected species nest from register must be supported by thorough study

5. Individual birds can be recognised
- Sex-related differences in behaviour can be studied
- Possible to read rings, observe other individual characteristics
- Mobility of birds, survival of individuals etc can be estimated

More about the talk
Of our known “forum birds” Urmas showed several sequences of Sulev and Linda; Padis and Remo and Tuuli competing for Padis’s nest 2010; some sequences on Eha and Koit (LSEs, 2009). Ülo introduced a new possible camera star pair, LSEs Karin and Kaarel, first Estonian LSEs with transmitters whose migration 2011 can be followed on Birdmap. http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/index.php?lang=en.

Trail or web cameras?
Strong points for web cameras are constant monitoring, viewable on-line, inclusion of sound, detailed records, no storage space limit. Trail cameras (automatic cameras), with motion-initiated recording, are cheaper and easier to install and handle, so allowing more cameras to be used which makes e g estimates of annual variations or individual traits versus average species behaviour feasible. A team can set up 4-5 trail cameras per day in the field. Initial cost of one installed web camera with communication lines, solar power panels and other appendages may equal 30 trail cameras. Major technical limitations of trail cameras at present are battery life (standard, some days; special batteries, whole season used prudently) and memory space (16 GB, allowing ca 20 000 images; 32 GB introduced). 2011 was the first season of trail cameras at raptor nests. Authors agreed that the two camera types complement each other.

Raptor nests: Musical chairs or Owners, residents, occupants, sub-tenants, visitors …
The trail cameras were mainly used at lesser spotted eagle (LSE ) nests, a few for goshawks. LSEs frequently build and maintain several nests. To determine which nest might be used for breeding in a particular year is problematic. Raptor nests in general were often used by other birds, raptors as well as others: temporarily, for short-time residence, breeding.
An LSE nest was claimed in turns by buzzards, long-eared owls and two different LSE pairs and inspected by several other species. Some LSE nests appeared to have been taken over by buzzards, one by a honey buzzard; conversely, a successful LSE nest was originally owned by goshawks. Other changes of nest residents were demonstrated, e g buzzard’s nest, with eggs, taken over by LSE pair, black stork ousted by LSEs; mallard breeding in white-tailed eagle nest.
“Best” strategies for protection regulations and nest classification depend on reliable data on aspects such as whose nest, for how long, for what (breeding? “spare”?).

Liis, very many thanks for all the work you have done to bring this report to us.

Yes,thank you Liis for all your work all year round too.

A rare Asian Hooded Crane takes a wrong turn and ends up in Tennessee

http://news.yahoo.com/rare-asian-bird-t ... 06711.html

I can report some un-seasonal bird behaviour.
Yesterday, I drove to Andover, about 15 miles north-east. It is a rural route, woods, meadows, a river. I saw some adult pheasants at the side of the road. Males and females. Suddenly, a female took flight but was so slow to gain height that she crashed into the car. I was travelling at about 45kms/hour. The bird had no chance.

This is usual behaviour in August, September, when the pheasants eat a lot of grain and are heavy. This time of year, such flight problems are not usual. I couldn't stop because of traffic behind me, but I saw a big spread of feathers and a sad little heap on the other side of the road.

Temps have been 11 - 14C by day. No frost at night.

Jo,sorry you had a fateful meeting with the pheasant but you couldn't take it home ?
Would have made a lovely meal. After all the deed was done.
Weather here similar,no frost either. Warmest year since 1900 in Alsace. Weathermen consider its still Automn here.

Sorry you had a such a definite meeting with the pheasant,Jo.... but tha

I thought about it, Carmel, but there was too much traffic for me to stop!

Thankfully I have never hit a bird, but I came close to a vulture once. They dine on road kill and are never very good at taking off. I wish we had a better system for getting the carcasses further off the roads.

(I just realized we had a cold three weeks before Christmas -- because I was so thrilled there was no rain, I really did not notice the frosts, although I was amazed by a frosty covering on my car. The fog was so heavy it really was almost like snow on the car. )

... but you would have had to hang it, to get the meat tender. Remember the pheasant cooking episode in Shogun? Where the Japanese villagers nearly lynched the Englishman because he was going to use "rotten" meat - well hung pheasants?
Are pheasants native in England or were they originally brought in as game birds?

I think ours came from China (wikipedia says Mongolia) so I bet they were imported to England. My understanding is that even the rabbit was brought in by the Normans.

I wonder if that only referred to one species (something I learned when studying fleas and plague)?