Otis Spring 2013

The global Great Bustard conservation publication

Otis Spring 2013

© Bryn Parry

© David Kjaer

Back with all the latest bustard news!

It’s all in the genes GeneƟc studies yield remarkable results The magazine of the Great Bustard Group

Issue 42

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GBG News

A word from the Director reserved funds men oned at the beginning of this page ensure the administra on and day to day running costs of the GBG are already covered. Money from membership and dona ons will go only to direct conservaon work.

The Great Bustard Group is the UK registered charity and membership organisaƟon formed in 1998 to re-introduce the Great Bustard OƟs tarda to the UK.

The GBG has said goodbye to Aus n Weldon who has secured a new job which must be something close to a dream for him - ge ng paid for fly fishing and doing so all over the world. We have also said hello to Louise Jane

The GBG is acƟvely involved in Great Bustard conservaƟon and is working with other organisaƟons, both naƟonally and internaƟonally to save the world’s heaviest flying bird.

President The Rt. Hon. The Lord Tryon Vice Presidents Dr Charles Goodson-Wickes DL John Chi y CertZooMed. CBiol. MIBiol.

MRCVS Paul Goriup BSc. MSc. Trustees David Bond (Chairman) John Browning Estlin Waters Kevin Duncan Simon Gudgeon

who has joined the wider team in an RSPB funded post, monitoring and studying the released birds.

At the me of wri ng a group of males are David Waters, GBG Founder and Director

Project base and a number of females are I start by offering my sincere apologies for the long

me which has passed since the last

edi on of O s. The explana on can be summed up very quickly in two words; insufficient funds. Measures are now in place to provide reserved funds for the design, publica on and distribu on of O s at least twice a year so we will bring you a corker edi on of O s in spring and autumn without fail.

Director David Waters Contact 1, Down Barn Close, Winterbourne Gunner, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 6JP. UK

01980 671 466 enquiries@greatbustard.org www.greatbustard.org

s ll displaying with great gusto at the original

Much has happened since the last issue. The spectacular results of the high quality birds, free from restric ve tracking devices are explained and interpreted later in this issue.

The results of the first stage of Dr. Paul O’Donoghue's gene c study are on page 24 and the possible impact on the project is

looking more than a li le interested in the males. We have our fingers crossed for a good breeding season this year.

Big news comes from the small cap ve group of birds the GBG cares for. All these birds were either unfit for release due to injury or were injured a er release. One of the females has given us some eggs. We do not yet know if they are fer le, but just to have such a young bird laying eggs is very encouraging.

The hunt for a new release site con nues and everything we have learned since 2004 will go into the selec on process. Balancing the needs of a release site and everything else on a farmed a ed landscape a dscaape iss a tricky t c y task. tas

discussed.

OƟs ProducƟon Team Editor: Suzy Smithson Design: Hyperfox Print: Bath Midway Litho

The me of membership renewal is also upon us. The LIFE+ project has brought new funds to the wider project at a strategic level, but has caused something of a drop in the revenues generated and received by the

Front cover photograph

by David Kjaer

GBG. LIFE+ is an asset to the project, but the funding is very much about new work, and what the GBG was doing before must s ll be funded and con nued with for the project to work. Membership is a vital founda on for the funding of the GBG's ac vi es. The

3

Contents

In this issue

Some of our wonderful volunteers

05

GBG News OƟs may have been quiet over the winter but the Project base has been buzzing and now spring has sprung at the GBG and OƟs is back for a new and even beƩer season!

10

The right birds

15

16

14

What are our bustards doing?

How our bustards behave.

4

Hungary

18

Keeping Tracks on Monitoring Explaining the delicate balance between monitoring the wild birds & increasing their chance of long term survival.

20

24

Genetic Analysis Dr. Paul O’Donaghue presents his findings on bustard geneƟcs.

25

Summer Visits Why now really is the Ɵme to visit the Project base.

26

The L21 story The incredible flight of our bird L21.

It’s not easy releasing bustards!

The problems we face when releasing bustards.

Meet the Morris Lewis Cowen talks to a most interesƟng GBG supporter.

David Waters reports on the recent conference in Hungary.

Bustardwatch All the very latest news from the Project base in Wiltshire.

22

We welcome two new faces to the dedicated GBG team.

We look at the geneƟc specificaƟons our birds must meet.

12

GBG updates

28

Genetic Material Sampling A most unusual trip to one of our greatest museums.

GBG News

All about Fergus Many O s readers will know of Fergus.

Some of the GBG/Severtsov Ins tute birds

He is the male Great Bustard who

raised in 2004 went to Moscow Zoo. They

features in so many of the TV and

have had the occasional egg in recent years

magazine features about the project. He

and the first fer le examples were

was hatched from eggs rescued by the

he only laid in 2012. The

GBG and the Severtsov Ins tute in 2004

properly

ssful successful

which was the first year we were

n breeding project in

allowed to bring bustards into the UK.

Spain does not

Fergus cleared the 30 days of quaran-

usually get any

ne but suffered a shoulder injury in the

eggs

one of the

from

later

eggs

short period of me in the so release

females un l

may

be

pen, before the scheduled release. His

they are 6 or

fer le.

injury does not cause him any pain or

7 years old.

discomfort, but does mean that his le

You

wing does not open fully. He therefore

i m a g i n e

was not released and has lived in an

therefore

aviary ever since, cared for by Karen

Karen's

Waters.

T

will

ry on an egg in the aviary Fergus is a regular media star and

23rd April. David was in Spain

contributor to bustard updates on radio

talking to a steppe bird rescue centre in

e

tameness of the

birds,

thanks to the

delight

when she picked up

h

m many, many hours put in i by Karen, has h meant that it is quite possible to undertake ar ficial

and TV. He has met, and probably

Extramedura when she phoned with the

insemina on of the female with sperm

pecked small chunks out of, many

news. There was then a bit of running around

extracted from Fergus. The real secret to

presenters including the BBC’s Fergus

with Karen and Trace Williams sor ng out

success with ar ficial insemina on is to

Walsh, Rory McGrath, Chris Packham

the incubators and organising the best place

have birds sufficiently tame and relaxed

and Mike Dilger.

to set them up. The incuba on and rearing

that the necessary processes can be

unit at the GBG Project base on Salisbury

undertaken without the birds ge ng

Plain needs someone to sleep on the

stressed. Karen's many years of caring for

premises each night as power cuts are not

the birds has meant that the project has a

infrequent. There is a a back up generator

very good chance of breeding success next

(kindly donated by Qinte c), but it needs

year, if that is, it does not happen with one

A female Great Bustard, Ramona,

someone on site to operate it so it was

of the eggs from this year.

injured her wing in 2010 when she

decided to bring the incubators to Karen's

broke her humorus. The bone has now

home and set them up in the spare bedroom.

He is very habituated to people and interacts strongly with them - o en leaving a decent sized bruise for the visitors to take away with them.

fused back together, but the wing does not open fully and again, she could not be released as she cannot fly properly.

Fergus and Ramona have lived in the same avaiary since 2010 and were joined by another female in 2011. The goal has always been to achieve breeding success, but this is a difficult thing with Great Bustards.

The GBG has been denied permission to import any birds from Russia for the

A few days later a second egg appeared and

purpose of cap ve breeding, so the only

then a third. The eggs kept on coming at

birds available are those which have been

slightly irregular intervals un l, at the me of

imported for the purpose of release, and

wri ng there are 6 eggs. With such a young

then subsequently suffered an injury and

female it was always considered likely that

not been fit to live in the wild.

the eggs would be infer le. The first couple of eggs have been confirmed as such and have been removed from the incubator.

Fingers and everything else are crossed that

Keep up with all the GBG news on our Facebook page!

Great Bustard Group

5

GBG News

TheŌ from the GBG In the past the GBG has done very well in escaping the aƩenƟons of thieves but sadly over the The irony of our supporƟng media

and d we would ld like l k to extend d our thanks h k

company’s name change is not lost

to them, Hyperfox Director Suzy

on the GBG, but a great relaƟonship

Smithson is also Editor of OƟs

exists between bustards and foxes

magazine.

winter our culƟvator was stolen from our storage barn. It may have been taken as it was the only piece of machinery there which could be easily liŌed into the back of a van, and it may have gone just for scrap. It was a valuable piece

when it comes to our website and

of machinery for us and will need to be

printed documents! Salisbury-based

replaced. As a general rule we have been

designers AA1 Media Ltd created

very lucky but we will be thinking more about

the GBG’s current website and the

the security of our tools

new glossy version of OƟs. The

in the future.

company has supported GBG for six years, providing design, editorial, PR and web design to us, but this year the AA1’s underwent a name change and Hyperfox was born. Many a joke has passed between the GBG and Hyperfox but their enthusiasƟc support of our bustards conƟnues

The Hours of Darkness Great Bustards have big eyes, and living as they do, on the ground, they must have reasonable night sight to keep them safe from predators. There has been the odd report of Great Bustards displaying during moonlit nights, but very liƩle else. The GBG has recently had two very interesƟng insights into the nocturnal life of the Great Bustard. The CCTV camera was set up by the GBG some Ɵme ago, and its operaƟon was improved by a contribuƟon from the LIFE+ project and by some dexterous fiddling with wires and buƩons by GBG’s technical wiza wizard Charles Hibberd. The camera now shows and records in infra red night vision aas well as the dayƟme technicolour. The second contribuƟon came from an enquiry from a film company specialising in night Ɵme and poor light filming.

Ammonite Films have made some wonderful programmes for NaƟonal Geographic channel on the night acƟviƟes of big cats in Africa.

Having

spoƩed the news about our Stone Curlews on the GBG website they were interested in geƫng some footage on these elusive birds before dawn.

They arrived at our Salisbury Plain base in the middle of the night and RSPB’s Andrew Taylor installed them into one of the special photo hides.

The Great Bustards were fully acƟve several hours before it was light enough for the human eye to see them, with both feeding and displaying take place. There was some moonlight but not enough for our eyes to see.

The extent to which Great Bustards are acƟve at night will be a subject we will co conƟnue to study.

6

GBG News

Moscow conference a success

Fund raising thanks

In November 2012 a cap ve breeding conference was held at

The winter months saw the GBG struggling with a lack of funds. The LIFE+ project does provide strategic funding, but much of the work of the GBG is not covered by LIFE+. The existence of the large high profile LIFE+ project has also caused some of the GBG financial supporters to believe that the project is now well resourced at all levels and have reduced or withdrawn support. This cannot be said of the small core of GBG stalwart supporters. Through charity market stall and jumbles sales the GBG has been kept afloat through the winter months. Do not be mislead into thinking that something with such a modest

tle as a

GBG and was a ended by delegates from as far afield as Germany, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and even Argen na.

Moscow Zoo has had a popula on of Great Bustards originating with the first birds reared by the Severtsov Ins tute and the GBG in Saratov in 2004. A er a few years infer lity they did have two fer le eggs in 2012, and although neither fledged successfully the future looks encouraging.

The stars of the conference were Alejandro and Ricardo Sobrino. Alejandro has been keeping and successfully breeding

jumble sale is restricted to a token few pounds.

Great Bustard Bustards for decades. His project is the only one

aising star With people like our fund raising

which has ha regularly been producing chicks and stands

Rona Andrews in charge of these

as th the model for Great Bustard husbandry. A long

ure sales they have raised four figure

an and painful legal ba le over the possession of

sums and are a real lifeline to

the birds when the Great Bustard became a

the GBG. Our thanks goes to

fully protected species in Spain in the 1980s

all who help organise, staff and

Moscow Zoo Park. The conference was jointly promoted by

led the project to assume a low profile. I

dy up a er these

had heard the odd rumour about such a

events and to those who

place but could never learn any specific

dig around in their a cs

informa on.

and garages and seem to

One

or

two

Spanish

colleagues who knew about the place even

have a never ending supply

denied its existence to me.

of goods to donate to these

I first met

Alejandro and Ricardo in Portugal in 2012

sales.

aand later that year was able to visit them in Spa Spain and we have been in regular contact since then. The Moscow conference was the first me

Cold spring causes uses problems for Stone Curlews

they have presented their work to the interna onal Great Bustard Community.

The achievements of 30 years of dedica on and experience cannot be accurately summed up in a few words, but the key

The arrival of summer migrants is a classic sign of spring and its

factor may be iden fied as tameness. The Great Bustard is a

associa ons with warmer weather. The old saying of ‘One swallow

naturally wary and sensi ve bird and if not completely familiar

does not make a summer’ may equally be applied to Stone Curlews.

with people they will become stressed and this will prevent

Several Stone Curlews were picked up dead in the UK in April and a few

breeding. The way to overcome this characteris c is to spend

of them in Wiltshire. It seemed they had journeyed up from Africa and

sufficient me with each bird to allow them to become totally

arrived to find a severe lack of food. It is common to think of feeding

familiar with people, or perhaps a single person, and in me

birds in the middle of winter especially if there is snow on the ground,

they will become relaxed and tame.

but in January many birds will s ll have good reserves le and can survive this period without too much difficulty. It is the very end of the cold weather, and indeed the early part of the spring when reserves are at

their lowest. Once the weather turns and new plant growth starts there is s ll a delay before the cycl of green shoots and invertebrates cycle k kicks in. The Great Bustard enclosure has its usual pair of Stone Curlews and

a

second

pair

recently

prospected for a nest site. Doubtless

Alan

Goddard’s

habitat

management has helped these two pairs get through the colder than

David and Prof. Vladimir Ostapenko

normal spring.

7

GBG News

Join our monthly meeƟng

Save the date.. GBG’s Summer Garden Party The GBG summer Garden Party is to be held on Thursday 18th July at our now usual venue of the Wardrobe in Salisbury's wonderful Cathedral Close. The Wardrobe was once the building used to house the extensive range of clothes owned by the Bishops of Salisbury.

Now it is the Regimental Museum of the Regiments of Berkshire and Wiltshire. The party is a chance for all our members and supporters to meet each other and to enjoy the stunning surroundings in a Bustard themed evening. There will be a short auc on and we have some very interes ng auc on lots this year, including wire sculptures by Simply Wired, a personalised and signed copy of the

The monthly GBG mee ng at the manor in Shrewton is a great opportunity for members to hear the latest news and to meet

Unfeathered Bird by Katrina Van Grouw & a spectacular chocolate rabbit.

project staff, learn about the fundraising ac vi es and to get involved. The Manor offers a wonderful se ng and excellent food at very a rac ve prices. The GBG is very grateful for our hosts Cyril and Paula for accommoda ng our mee ngs and suppor ng us so strongly.

For those not aware, we meet at the Manor in Shrewton on the first Thursday of each month at 8pm. Those ea ng first meet at 7pm, and please note, diners should book by telephone by lunch me of the day of the mee ng. Recent mee ngs have included a presenta on by Dave Kjaer on his excellent photography and a film on the Hungarian Great Bustard project. All are welcome so please do come along.

CompeƟƟon winner!

Fergus’ lovely ladies Ramona and Morgana A huge thankyou to all who entered our ‘Name Fergus’ second lady’ compe

on in the last edi on of O s. We

had some great names suggested to go with his first lady ‘Ramona’ but the one Fergus seemed to like the best was Morgana. Thankyou to Mick Kelly for sending in this sugges on and now breeding has begun be sure to keep an eye on Fergus & his girls on the GBG’s Facebook page!

The Great Bustard morris side

8

GBG News

Gross Trappe Bistro opens!

GBG DVD updated The wonderful Bustard film made by Dr Manuel Hinge will be well known to many of you. Made in the years up to 2007 the film was enhanced by Sir David A enborough

The Gross Trappe Bistro has now opened in the

kindly providing the narra on. Manuel and Sir David have worked together on many

village of Buckow in Brandenburg. The village of

projects in the past and it was a great boost to have the support of Sir David. The film

Buckow is the home of the German Great

has become rather out of date, not covering the first breeding of the Bustards and

Bustard Project and Gross Trappe is of course,

other developments. As a part of the LIFE+ project the film has been updated to

German for Great Bustard.

cover the recent progress and new developments, par cularly those afforded

The cafe is open during the summer months, and

through the LIFE+ project.

is a ‘must visit’ place to anyone visi ng the area.

It is great to see tthe Great Bustard used and cognised recognised

by

local businesses.

9

GBG Abroad

The Right Birds

by David Waters The results of the geneƟc study and the behaviour of last years releases have led us to the conclusion that releasing Russian Great Bustards is not the best way forward. However the GBG is commiƩed to the conservaƟon of the species everywhere, and has a parƟcular interest in the Russian populaƟon. The GBG shall conƟnue to be acƟve in Saratov and in addiƟon to the census work it has funded and contributed to there are hopes for some agri environmental schemes and other pracƟcal conservaƟon measures in the future.

There is concern over the status of the wider populaƟon of Great Bustards in Russia and census work has shown the Saratov populaƟon itself to be in a decline.

Understanding the causes of these declines and then implemenƟng measures to halt the decline must be a conservaƟon priority. The Central European Great Bustard populaƟons are increasing, but the increases come as a result of a great deal of work and financial support. The Russian populaƟon is sƟll a large one, and it will be a much easier task to keep it as a large populaƟon rather than build it back up once it has declined.

10

The birds previously released in Britain have been from rescued nests in Russioa The GBG has sourced its birds from Russia

but is not normally considered necessary for

since the start of the reintroducƟon trial. This

a reintroducƟon or translocaƟon project. Just

was largely due to the fact that in Russia, or

within the UK the Red Kites, Common Crane,

at least in Saratov, the methods of agriculture

Cirl BunƟng, Ospreys and Sea Eagles have all

destroy significant numbers of Great Bustard

been translocated using viable eggs or chicks

nests. The problem is the use of mechanical

taken from good nests. If done in a controlled

weeding which is being undertaken at the

way, from a suitable populaƟon there is liƩle

Ɵme of nesƟng. The farming is largely

or even no impact on the donor populaƟon.

organic, and this does have certain benefits

The removal of early eggs will oŌen induce

for wildlife, but in the absence of a chemical

the parents to promptly lay a replacement

treatment for weeds, the physical destruc-

clutch.

Ɵon of weeds by steel blades of harrows and culƟvators can also be destrucƟve. This

As the quality of the birds reared for the UK

situaƟon does not occur in other Great

project has increased over the life of the

Bustard populaƟons, although some nests

project, and the negaƟve impacts of the

and even chicks are occasionally lost due to

monitoring devices reported elsewhere have

agricultural

oŌen

been removed, the tendency of the released

mowing, later in the year. There is therefore,

acƟviƟes

elsewhere,

Russian birds to undertake a significant

a chance to rescue eggs from some of the

dispersal to the south and west has become

destroyed nests and to generate stock for use

much clearer. The beƩer the quality of the

elsewhere without touching a viable egg or

birds the more able they are to move away to

nest. Such an opportunity is a rare chance,

France, or even just head out to sea.

The work of Dr Paul O’Donoghue at the University of Chester has thrown a great deal of light on this subject. The work was undertaken and funded by the University of Chester and the LIFE+ project contributed £5,000 to go towards the laboratory costs.

The GBG worked with Dr. O’Donoghue to provide the samples. A comparison was made with samples of Great Bustards from Russia, Germany and Spain, and these were then compared with the results from samples taken from the old indigenous UK popula on.

(Above) The work of the GBG in Russia has saved huge numbers of eggs from threatened nests

The results are described in Paul's report on

The conven onal wisdom has been that the

countries of Syria, Iran and Iraq, and north to

Iberian Great Bustard popula on is dis nct

central Europe and then east to Russia,

from the rest of the European Great Bustard

Mongolia and China, while others turned

popula on. A theory was that the species

west and populated western Europe, France

originated in Africa. One group moved west

and the UK.

to Morocco (where there is s ll a small

I have never been happy with this theory as

popula on) and then crossed to the Iberian

the Great Bustards in Spain were supposed to

peninsular at Gibraltar, but was then unable

be stopped by the Pyrenees. The other

to colonise further due to the Pyrenees

popula ons managed to cross mountainous

mountains.

regions - the Alps, Carpathians, Urals and the

Another group of birds went east and north

Al for example. Another observa on is that

covering

the Li le Bustard breeds in France and

east

the

middle

migrates to Spain and back every winter (they fly over the Bay of Biscay), as do many other species. speci How could these other bi birds cross the Pyrenees, but not n the Great Bustard?

The support for the theory o of

an

isolated,

gene cally Spanish

and

dis nct,

page 24, but the first significant observa on was that there really is very li le difference between the popula ons. It was also found that the closest match to the old UK populaon is the current Spanish popula on.

The results were reported to the GBG as a tool to help iden fy the most appropriate birds for release in the UK. Paul is undertaking a wider and much more detailed study, reviewing the gene c varia on of Great Bustards across their global range. The GBG is ac ve in sourcing and supplying samples for this study. The samples should all be secured by the autumn of 2013 and the laboratory work can then start.

The GBG is currently exploring the possibilies of sourcing Great Bustards from Spain for the UK project.

popula on

was deep seated, and when the first of

the

our

UK

released birds made it to France the editor of the Bri sh Birds magazine even suggested a cull of our birds to prevent them cr cross breeding with the Span Spanish birds.

11

Bustardwatch

Spring has sprung Andrew Taylor reports on the past months at the Project Site

One of the chicks from the eggs imported from Russia At our new site, which was used successfully

have seen in previous years. Soon all ten

for the first Ɵme last year, six young bustards

birds were flying around as a Ɵght flock, and

were released in early September. We were

the unpredictable, individual dispersal of

delighted to see four adult birds, including

young birds seen in previous years appeared

two released in the same place during last

increasingly unlikely.

autumn, appear at the site just a few days before the release pens were opened.

Another first this year is the use of coloured, numbered leg rings rather than wing tags to

We conƟnued to use the rearing suits aŌer

idenƟfy the birds. Suspicions about the

release for the first Ɵme, taking food to the

possible impacts of marking methods

released birds twice a day. This seems to have

lead

encouraged them to spend most of their Ɵme

ust using approach of just

in the safety of the release field, as we

leg

hoped, but has had more unexpected conse-

re year’s rings are

quences for the behaviour of the adults.

light green,

Despite not seeing the rearing suits for many

and if you

years in some cases, they quickly became

are lucky

almost as approachable as the young birds,

enough

taking full advantage of the supplementary

to see a

feeding.

bustard

to rings.

t h i s The regular feeding of all ten birds meant the adults and juveniles associated with one another at least twice a day from the first day of release. As a result a bond developed within the group much more quickly than we

12

year, please look

a

out

for a ring.

conservaƟve This

The first sign that this stability would not

to speculate that she might regret the trip

many visitors have seen the birds at their

persist came from L21. She was last seen at

she made.

best.

the release site at 4pm on 4th November. By 6th November she had reached Les Sables

Four juveniles reared in the UK remain in the

There has been an encouraging flow of birds

d’Olonne on the west coast of France – a

release pen at the original project release

between the first and second release sites

journey of over 500km due south in less than

site. Problems with their feather develop-

and Black 17 has returned from France to join

48 hours. Within a few days she had been

ment mean their flight is not strong enough

the others.

taken into cap vity due to concerns over her

for a full release this autumn. They are being

health. We decided that it would make more

held back un l early summer, when they will

The ability of the birds to find their release

sense to transport her back to the UK to be

have moulted again and be able to fly well.

site is amazing and the fact that they all

re-released with other bustards than to

The habitat within the release pen is superb,

accept their release site as being their real

release her in that area of France with no

and with supplementary feeding by the

home is very encouraging.

prospect of encountering other bustards.

p y of a group g p of rearing suit and the company se birds should be in four wild adults these

The situa on changed when the four adult

excellent condi on by the

bustards – P5, PK2, BK9 and T5 – moved back

released.

me they are

to the first project release site at the beginered in a wintered

ning of December. Within a week of their

Our bustards

stabilising influence being removed, the six

variety of loca ons. Several

juveniles were gone. We assume they all

spent most of their me

headed south, and probably together based

ry on or near Salisbury

on their previous behaviour, but we only

Plain, including ourr

have two records since then. An uniden fied

oldest two females,

male was seen flying around over Portland

O15

Bill on 10th December, and L04, a different

BK20 has been a

male, was found dead under power lines on

li le

1st January, near Quimper in western

adventurous.

Bri any. We know that surviving bustards do

As noted in the

return to their release site in the spring, and

last O s he

so we are hoping for more news of these

spent his first

birds any me now.

winter in the

and

release

Y22.

more

pen

Even more experienced birds are proving not

before star ng

to be immune to the urge to migrate south in

to fly in late

winter. BK17 wintered around her release

spring.

site with an older female in 2011/12, but

leaving

without that company this year made a very

release

similar movement to L21. She has been

August 2012 he has

wintering around St Denis du Payré in the

headed

Vendée and is the first bustard over one year

ered eastwards, and wintered

old from the project to be recorded in France.

in Hampshire.

Since the site

in lly gradually

In contrast, T5, a female Great Bustard released in 2011 that spent her first winter in

At the me of wri ng the breeding

France and returned to the project site in

season is upon us. Four ur male bustards

May 2012 has made no such movement this

are displaying each morning at the first

year. In fact we have not seen her apart from

b a spectacular l sight. i h release site, and can be

other bustards since her return. It is temp ng

This is a superb me to visit the project and

13

Bustardwatch - extra

What are our bustards doing?

Louise Jane reports

Great Bustard in its preferred crops We have been monitoring the behaviour of

However, summer is now

our bustards to gain an insight into the daily

arriving and the males’ behav-

life of a Great Bustard in the UK.

iour has changed. Hormones es

expected, most of their mundane

ac vi es

such

As

me is spent on as

preening,

have been running high and our dominant bird P5 is finding himself required

to

defend

his

feeding, and standing around. However a few

increasingly

surprising behaviours emerged while they

posi on. P5 spent 49 minutes in a stand off

were being observed.

with his rival PK2, which eventually exploded

morn-

into a full out wrestling match. There were a

ings have drawn

In the autumn three male chicks were

few touch and go moments for P5, but he

out, early starts are being rewarded with the

observed working as a team to kill a rat, only

ended up victorious with PK2 being pushed

sight of up to four male birds displaying as

for PK2 (a third year male) to steal it from

into the mustard. This means P5 can s ll

the sun rises.

them! As the chicks tried in vain to get a peck

claim the prime spot for displaying. As the

at their meal PK2 chased them off each me, leaving a window of opportunity for BK09 (a second year male) to steal a few mouthfuls.

For a typical male bustard in the UK during the winter this is the following: Male chick behaviour Adult male behaviour observaƟons carried out over 82 hours between 25/10/12 and 6/12/12)

All this took place in front of P5 (a sixth year male) who seemed oblivious to what was going on, or really does not like rat, as he did not a empt to get any.

BK20 (a second year male) had a momentary iden ty crisis this winter, joining a herd of deer for a week. The farmer had seen him si ng down with them and following them around the field. He soon remembered himself and has since returned to life as a bustard.

14

Male chick

Adult male

GBG

Staff GBG conƟnues to develop Louise Jane has joined the GBG in a LIFE+ funded post to monitor the birds ac vity on Salisbury Plain.

working with some amazing wildlife and in some spectacular places. I have studied the structure of the dawn chorus in Indonesia and worked on the reintroducƟon of the Northern Brown Kiwi to parts of New

I was capƟvated by the natural world at a

Zealand’s mainland. In the UK I have carried

very young age and this capƟvaƟon has never

out base line surveys on Golden Plover in the

disappeared, in fact it lead to me reading

Welsh highlands, monitored the demise of

Zoology at university. Naturally an interest in

the lapwing in Wales and helped in the

all living things goes hand in hand with the

recovery of the Stone Curlew. I have also

love of travelling, and you can bet my list of

worked with landowners and farmers seƫng

places to go is just as long as my wildlife list.

up Environmental Stewardship schemes in

I have been lucky enough to have the portunity to develop a career opportunity Louise Jane

Wiltshire and the Midlands. I am now excited to have the chance to work on the Great Bustard project.

Birdworld expert

Birdworld is a bird park just outside Farnham in Surrey and has been an acƟve and dedicated supporter of the GBG for many years. The GBG has a taxidermy diorama in the park and has aƩended various public and members events there. Birdworld raise substainƟal sums of money for the GBG through collecƟon boxes and their paper and cardboard recycling scheme. The curator Duncan Bolton is a recognised expert on incubaƟon and has kindly agreed to take on a more formal role as an advisor and overseer of the Great Bustard Project’s incubaƟon methods and early rearing techniques. Duncan’s experƟse will be a valuable addiƟon to the project resources helping to provide the highest number of the best quality birds possible.

15

GBG Abroad

CMS Great Bustard meeƟng in Hungry; 12th - 14th April 2013 David Waters reports The ConvenƟon on Migratory Species is a

signed the MoU, but were represented at the

United NaƟons led iniƟaƟve which helps

CMS MeeƟng are listed here with a Great

solve problems concerning species that cross

Bustard populaƟon esƟmate:

naƟonal boundaries. It is the crossing of boundaries, rather than true migraƟon,

Germany

130

example would be the Mountain Gorillas,

Austria

253

which although sedentary, occupy territory

Hungary 1555 Slovakia 100 – 337 (winter) and 2 breeding Romania 32 (Winter) and displaying males Serbia 15 (winter) and 2 breeding Czech Republic Croatia no longer regular Ukraine 680 breeding Russia Kazakhstan* 300 Mongolia* 1500 Not present, but Range States Turkey 700 Kazakhstan* 300 China* 500

which is the qualificaƟon. One high profile

which can cover the naƟonal boundaries of Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo.

The

intenƟon of the CMS agreement is to solve conservaƟon problems, but on occasion the common goals of conservaƟonists can help naƟonal

governments

to

solve

other

problems. At the Ɵme of the genocide in Rwanda

the

only

inter

governmental

cooperaƟon with its neighbours which conƟnued to funcƟon was the joint work of the conservaƟon teams working for the Mountain Gorillas.

There are 19 CMS Memorandums of CooperaƟon (MoU), and 7 have been developed into legally binding contracts. The Great Bustard MoU meets every four years and has 13 naƟonal signatories, and is focused on the Middle European Great Bustard populaƟon,

• Includes eastern subspecies of the Great Bustard Otis tarda dybowskii

which is centered on the populaƟons in Hungary and Austria, but covers a much wider area and includes the populaƟons in Germany and Ukraine. Countries aƩending the meeƟng that may not necessarily have

Imre Fater explaining habitat work in Hungary

16

The mee ng consisted of two days for the

li le or no informa on from some me

Scien fic Symposium with presenta ons and

range states such as Syria, Iraq

discussion groups and then a field trip on the

and it is likely the popula ons

third day. This took the delegates to the

are decreasing there.

Devavanya Nature Reserve. Wet weather

Unregulated

caused a plan to take the delegates around by

hun ng are probably the

horse and cart to be cancelled, but an

biggest threats to the Great

excellent day was had by everyone. The

Bustards in the eastern

visitor centre was visited as well as the

popula ons and intensifica-

incuba on and rearing sta on, and of course

on of agriculture is a threat

there was

me to see the bustards

and

illegal

everywhere. A posi ve obser-

themselves.

va on is that where conserva-

By the late a ernoon over 150 Great

the Great Bustards will respond with

Bustards were displaying or feeding in front

a popula on increase.

d, on ini a ves are implemented,

of the observa on tower and amongst them was a single tree with a pair of Imperial

As always the experience of the GBG and the

Eagles adding to last years nest. The Imperial

partners in the UK LIFE+ project are of much

eagles are not considered a threat to the Mike Read Great ŠBustards – it seems to be only the

interest to those with small, wintering or

White Tailed eagle which is a problem for the

ences do provide useful informa on for other

bustards.

projects. Reciprocal visits are planned for

recently ex nct popula ons and our experi-

several other projects including Serbia and The final two days of the mee ng are for the

Romania.

representa ves of governments to report on the progress of previous ac ons and to consider new ac ons. The UK Government was invited to send a representa ve, but declined, as the UK popula on is not yet self sustaining. This may be considered progress as in 2009 the invita on was apparently lost and no response was received. If having a Great Bustard popula on which is not self sustaining is a reason for not a ending, I imagine having a self sustaining popula on would also serve as a reason for not a ending as there would be no reason for a ending..

At the oďŹƒcial governmental mee ng a review of the es mates of the global Great Bustard popula on was undertaken. A general trend was that popula ons in Europe were increasing, but elsewhere they were decreasing.

In 1994 the es mated global popula on was 23,000 birds and in 2012 it was 51,000.

In some places the increase may be, in part at least, to be er coun ng. In Spain the populaon is increasing but there are s ll some areas where the range is decreasing. There is

17

GBG Research

Keeping Tracks on Monitoring Device

by David Waters The use of a transmi ng device can help in loca ng the bird. A radio transmi er can emit a signal detectable over significant ranges under the right condi ons and this is par cularly so if the receiver can be installed in an aeroplane. The down side of radio transmitters is that the right condi ons are not always found. A bird in a field of wet oil seed rape growing on a chalky hillside will allow a weak signal to be transmi ed and this may well bounce around and give a misleading picture as to its direc on of origin. Furthermore ge ng the receiver into the air is a costly and difficult proposi on. GPS and satellite The Great Bustard Morris side brought cheer amidst the rain

technology may be employed in tracking devices, and these may even save the operator the task of going to the field. Merely opening up a laptop computer and pressing a handful of bu ons could show the loca on of

A valuable source of informaƟon or a Christmas tree?

a given bird over the last week or any other

colours on top or underneath each other and

period of

fascina ng and necessary. Nobody would

two legs to choose from, the permuta ons

them leaving home or the office. Remotely

expect every released bird to survive, so an

are numerous. The coloured rings offer the

gained data without any real observa ons

individual bird which disappears or dies is of

advantage of being detectable without

need to be treated with care as the bird may

li le strategic concern, but the reasons which

catching the bird. A Great Bustard is usually

not be using the habitat found under the

cause the disappearance or death may be of

observed from a considerable distance, and a

electronic dot on the map in the way it is

great strategic value. Watching a bird and

ring, or rings, res ng above the foot may well

expected. The bird may be flying over the

me it is spending

be obscured by vegeta on. Long hours may

loca on, it may be hiding a er being flushed,

feeding or flying or roos ng can all help build

need to be spent looking through telescopes

it may be feeding, roos ng or displaying. If

a picture of the suitability of its environment,

to catch a glimpse of a leg ring as a bird walks

the informa on is studied without reference

and of the condi on of the bird.

through a field of rape or similar vegeta on.

to the weather, local ac vi es (ploughing or

Great Bustards can be difficult birds to find.

One method used which offers easier recog-

ramblers or in the case of Salisbury Plain,

Despite their size they can be very secre ve

ni on is the use of wing tags. These have

military ac vity), or the behaviour of the bird

and difficult to locate. However, once found

varied in design and material, but the ones

there is scope for a misleading picture to be

they are o en creatures of habit and if they

previously used by the project have been

are not flushed, they may remain in the same

from so

field for the be er part of a season. Iden fy-

unning short length of plas c cord running

ing individual birds is a desirable, although

ing through a piercing on the leading

not always essen al element of study. The

edge of the wing. These mayy

long accepted norm for the study of wild

be coloured and numbered

birds as individuals has been the use of leg

offering easy recogni on at

rings. These may be the small metal ring with

reasonable ranges. The

a number as administered by the Bri sh Trust

birds do s ll needed to be

for Ornithology (BTO), or larger or mul ple

located to obtain any

coloured rings. With the op on of different

observa ons.

Learning the fate of released birds is both

knowing how much

me to the ‘observer’ without

other agricultural ac vity, dog walkers or

18

cured by a vinyl material secured

p built up.

A bird wearing a necklace-type transmiƩer

A shared problem with all the remote

will also have considerable seasonal weight

It must be reported that opinions are divided

tracking devices is that of a achment. Small

changes, par cularly the males who may gain

on the issue of the impact of monitoring

transmi ers may be glued to feathers, but

or loose several kilograms over the display

devices. Sta s cal significance is a term o en

the feather will be moulted out and the

season. An elas c harness is o en used to

heard when discussing such ma ers. I

weight of the transmi er will likely speed this

accommodate the growth or seasonal

declare I only need to hit my thumb with a

up. Necklaces have been used for radio

change in a birds weight.

hammer once to know it hurts, but this

transmi ers and in some species the transmi ers have been glued to the skin of

The GBG has found out to its cost that

the bird. The most common way of a aching

released birds with poorly fi ed harnesses

a transmi er is to use a harness. Great

will not more far from the the point of

Bustards offer par cular challenges in

release and will not survive long. Care has

respect of the use of harnesses: if fi ed when

always been taken to ensure those fi ng

the birds are young the harness

harnesses have suitable qualifica on but this

must allow the bird to

has not been enough to avoid problems. In

grow to several

the first year of releases the harnessed birds

project partner has argued there was no evidence to suggest harnesses reduce life expectancy. When I asked about the effect on distances flown I was told by the same person that it was meaningless to compare the distances as the harnessed birds did not live as long as the others and therefore did not have the me to fly as far!

its

fared very badly. Many being unable to fly

at

properly or even fly at all un l they were

me

caught and the harnesses removed. In subse-

only sta s cs you can trust are the ones you

f

quent years Prof. Alonso, the most experi-

made up yourself’. The impact of monitoring

ng.

enced individual in the world in respect of

devices may be less significant on wild birds

It must

harnessing Great Bustards generously gave

as the cap ve birds will always be less fit and

allow

his me to the GBG. Despite this experience

somewhat disadvantaged in the struggle to

t h i s

and exper se only one bird with a harness

survive. For cap ve reared birds the posi on

without

has survived over a year. Also none of the

of the GBG is the same as the Great Bustard

being too

harnessed birds has flown anything like the

Project in Germany in that leg rings of the

at

distances covered by unharnessed birds. The

usual type are the best way of iden fying our

me of

typical distances covered by birds without

released Great Bustards.

m mes w weight the o fi

loose the

conclusion may be hotly disputed. One

ng The birds fi ng.

Winston Churchill once reportedly said ‘the

wing tags is greater s ll.

19

GBG at home

It’s not easy releasing bustards!

Trace Williams, LIFE+ Project Manager reports pri a private farmer some 12 miles from the

One of the important ac ons within the LIFE+

origin site. This site provided a 20ha release original

project was to find a second releasee site;

fie a whole field of winter food, a prac field,

sed all birds had previously been released

ccally resident female Great Bustard, a

n at our original Project Site on

grassland nature reserve which could

Salisbury Plain but it was felt that

provide ideal chick rearing habitat

releasing birds at addi onal sites

and, most importantly, a substan-

was likely to be beneficial as it

ally lower number of foxes than

could facilitate the more rapid

Salisbury Plain.

spread of bustards across the project area – and also out onto other

loca ons

with

As reported in previous O s edi ons,

suitable

fema bustard O15 joined with the female

d habitat in the wider region. We need

the released juveniles at this

ng to strike a balance between helping

n new site and was undoubt-

the bustard popula on to spread more

edly responsible for the

quickly and ensuring that it con nues to

current second year male

func on as a single popula on. If the new release site was located too far from the current one, there would be a risk that the bustards released there would not join the exis ng popula on, forming a small and vulnerable sub-popula on.

Bk09 that is now displaycriteria

ing

to

post-release

site, which included like

morning!

Results to the first 60 days

assess any poten al things

every

saw

33%

h higher survival at the new

us previous

site largely due to the ability to

records of birds in the

d back inside the security of gett bi birds

At the start of the LIFE+ project, we were

area, suitability of landscape

aware that many of the birds released in

and habitats and proximity of power lines.

the fence at night, and the lower number of

previous years had dispersed from the

We looked within a 15km radius of our

foxes on site. These ini al good results were

release site in early November and that some

Salisbury Plain base as we had the worry of

compromised by the proximity of a power

had occasionally gone to Somerset for the

south-westerly dispersal; if the site was not in

line on the edge of the farm which saw the

winter. Three had even made it as far as

the right loca on would the new birds ever

death of one bird. We also encountered

France! We knew also that many had never

meet the older ones? We soon found out

problems with gamekeepers and shoo ng

been seen again.

how diďŹƒcult it was to iden fy the perfect

ac vity which is common across most farms

release site. There was always going to be a

in the county, and also occurs around the

The search for a new release site began in

compromise, however we were pleased

me that Great Bustards are being released

2011. The project team developed a set of

when in 2011, an agreement was made with

20

each year.

grassland and arable land, if oil seed gras ra is or can be grown, presence of rape hedgerows and woodlands. Human disturbance,

footpaths

and

byways, the level of game shooting, flight hazards, proximity of other suitable habitat, proximity of chick rearing and breeding habitat, and whether the farm is in a government funded agri-environment scheme. It’s not easy releasing bustards!

We are currently in discussion with a new lan landowner who has 700ha of organic

The simple act

o f

moving the actual release field, allowed more success in 2012. Also important changes were made to rearing. The 2012 released © Mike Read birds flew be er than ever before; they soared high, showed great control and landed perfectly. We also achieved 100% survival for the first 90 days post-release for the first me. Yet, despite all our efforts – which were assisted by the presence of a group of adult bustards – in December our juvenile birds le the site. We know that one

farmland. The farm has no shoo ng or game bird ac vity – this is a very rare find. Indicaons are so far good, and we have even been invited to undertake fox surveys. The farm sits within a major area of suitable habitat – big sky country – with undula ng large open arable and grassland fields as far as the eye can see. It is hard not to get excited at this stage as unknown issues o en suddenly appear. However, we very much hope that this farm will soon be a new focus for the great bustard reintroduc on.

went to France but s ll await news of the

You may remember that the LIFE+ project

others. These results further confirmed our

contributed to a gene c study inves ga ng

fears; that the Russian birds have an ins nct

the gene cs of bustards worldwide. This

to migrate.

study has the poten al to iden fy other

Now that the first release site is no longer used for releases due to the high number of foxes on Salisbury Plain, we are s ll undertaking to find a third release site. The search criteria have been refined further and importance weighted to a low number of foxes and the ability to control predators. We also look

sources of great bustard for the reintroducon project. If a source of non-migratory Great Bustards was available, based on our success last year, we could suddenly see our results take a huge leap forward. We very much hope to report on this issue in the next edi on of O s!

at landownership and designa ons, suitability of the landscape such as availability of

21

Meet Mr. Morris

Andy Barrington

Paul Goriup

Lewis Cowen meets ‘Mr. Morris’ The success of the Great Bustard Group has

chance to buy a job

given its name to many offshoots – Great

lot of six Hohner

Bustard ale, chocolate, soap and those

melodions,

wonderful painted bustard statues that have

squeeze boxes, for $75

graced the town of Warminster.

each, or £45, which is a

or

bit of a steal. So I bought And now there is the Great Bustard Morris, a

one and then had to learn

group of tradi onal dancers who are in

to play it.”

increasing demand at fairs, fetes, carnivals and other events all over Wiltshire and

The then Mrs Barrington banished

beyond.

him to the car to learn how to play it,

people in the town,

quite an ordeal in the heat of an Australian The “side”, as morris groups are called, is the

which

summer. But once he had mastered it the

brainchild of Andy and Liz Barrington from

than he expected. He said: “Some people

word got around and he was approached by

Swindon, who have been involved with

came along to dip their toe in the water and

the Adelaide morris side to be their accom-

morris dancing for more years than either of

then decided it was not for them. We ended

panist.

up with a nice li le nucleus of 15 or so but

them would care to remember.

When Andy arrived back in the UK, Andy

proved more of a problem

some of them have got jobs that take them away and then school holidays intervene at

Andy’s interest grew from his enjoyment of

offered his services to the Devizes-based

folk music in his na ve town. He said: “In the

Moonraker Morris and he played with them

late 1960s I was a regular a ender at

un l internal disagreement split the group

Swindon Folk Club, which was booming in

The name of the group caused some discus-

apart.

sion, but Andy and Liz had already been along

those days. There were about 120 people in a pub back room, which I’m sure must have

He tried to join morris sides in Oxfordshire,

been against fire regula ons.”

but you have to live in the area to qualify.

When he and his first wife emigrated to

Andy said: “I thought, if a li le town like

Australia in the early 1970s, he sought out

Devizes can have a morris side, why not a big

the local folk scene and joined the Cel c

place like Swindon?”

Music Club in Adelaide. It was there that the transi on to morris took place.

He said: “One of the club members had the

22

His search began to find other like-minded

our busiest me of the year.”

to Great Bustard Group mee ngs at the Bustard Inn on Salisbury Plain and been migh ly impressed by what the group had achieved in a fairly short me.

This coincided with Andy meeƟng Mike Prior,

Morris dancers work with sƟcks of varying

Andy said: “The bells are very important

the designer of Wiltshire’s new county flag,

thicknesses, swords or handkerchiefs, but

items. They were for keeping witches and evil

which features a Great Bustard prominently

their most noƟceable prop is their bells Ɵed

spirits away. That’s why the priests used bell,

at its centre. Mr Prior was quite happy for the

firmly below each knee. They are not cheap

book and candle for exorcisms.

group to use the flag and its colour scheme

items. Each group of bells costs between £60

for their costumes and a strong relaƟonship

and £80, though Liz has managed to keep the

“Morris was born in a Ɵme when people

has developed with the Great Bustard Group.

cost down to £20 a set by buying the bells

were very supersƟƟous.” We leave Andy with

The dancers performed at the group’s 2012

separately and making them into harnesses

a smile, it is impossible not to, his enthusiasm

garden party at the Wardrobe in Salisbury’s

herself.

is infecƟous and we look forward to seeing the Great Bustard Morris side at many of our

Cathedral Close and Karen Waters donated a box of Fergus’s feathers for them to wear in

The bells are loud, but they have to be as the

their hats.

morris side can find itself performing in

future funcƟons.

spaces as various as village halls and huge Morris dancing is growing in popularity.

fields.

Although it claims an ancient lineage, and there is reference to “nine men’s morris” in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there is no documentary evidence of morris, or Morys, dancing before the 15th century.

The term is derived from Moorish dance and the spelling Morris dance first appears in the 17th century. Although it is a tradiƟonal English pasƟme, there are morris sides in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong, with isolated groups in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus and France.

Although it looks a very physical exercise, age is no barrier to being a morris dancer. The oldest Bustard morris men are in their 70s and the youngest, Anna Freeburg, is just ten.

Andy and Liz are keen to set up a youth secƟon, like the Morris Minors at Chippenham. Andy said: “We would love to work with schools and youth groups to encourage more youngsters to get involved. It is great fun.”

Andy is puncƟlious about the turn-out of the group. They always appear in clean, crisp white shirts, their sashes bright and colourful and their shoes shined to a gleaming finish.

He said: “I think turnout is most important.

We wanted the ‘Bustards’ to be smart bordering on immaculate and it pays. Two years ago we were performing in Devizes and I heard a lady saying, look at their shoes, aren’t they clean? The bustard is a smart bird and we should be smart too.”

23

GBG Research

GeneƟc Analysis to establish closest living relaƟves to the exƟnct UK populaƟon of Great Bustards A report by Dr. Paul O’Donoghue of the University of Chester Aim: Gene c analysis of a range of Great

the UK birds have a T (thymine) base where all

the other groups at the furthest le . From this

Bustard (O s tarda) biological samples (current

the other birds have C (cytosine) base. One of

data, it can be inferred that the individuals from

Spanish, German and Russian popula ons,

the UK birds also shows a bi-allelic form within

the Spanish popula on are the most closely

alongside museum-sourced ex nct UK samples)

the same individual, possibly sugges ng a

related with regards to evolu onary history to

to ascertain the phylogene c alignment of the

muta on within this individual a er maternal

the UK birds.

UK samples with current viable popula ons, in

inheritance. All of the German birds possessed

order to assist with decision-making in the

the C base at this site.

However, I must s pulate that this tree is purely an inference of the evolu onary divergence and

reintroduc on programme within the UK. Variable site 3> Transi on SNP. 6 of the 10

is based on the most probable history, based on

Methods: Two areas of the mitochondrial

Spanish birds have an A base at a site where all

the informa on provided. It must be noted that

genome (maternally inherited) were u lised in

the other birds have a G. Interes ngly, these

these samples contained rela vely li le gene c

this researched (Cytochrome B and Control

individuals are the same 6 which also share

varia on. However, the irrefutable fact is that

Region II). Sequencing of these areas allowed

The Great is returning to variable site Bustard 2. In other words 6 of the Spanish Britain.

Slowly but surely this birds share one haplotype, and the remaining four share another, with 2 commonbp differences incredible bird, once

for the region of DNA we sequenced, the Uk

the alignment of the strands, and an assessment of similari es and differences between groups (Russian, Spanish, German and UK).

birds are 99.7 similar to Spanish birds compared to 99.4 for German and Russian birds. (Table 1).

between them.

Table 1. Similarity matrix for groups based on

Results: Cytochrome B The cytochrome B strands (385 bp (base pairs)) were iden cal across all individuals, and therefore all groups. As such, these strands were non-informa ve in separa ng out the

Variable site 4> Transi on SNP. 3 of the 13

place in the BriƟsh countryside, is German birds have a G site where all the other making hills of Wilt-to birds havethe an A.rolling This site change is unique shire itsbirds, home aŌer an absence German but is not observed in every ofGerman 175 years. individual.

sequence similarity across all four groups (as a propor on of 1) Conclusion: The greatest similarity is between the Spanish and the UK ex nct popula on, however, the

individuals from each group. However, as this region of mitochondrial DNA is o en used for

The public isc Analysis following the reintroduc on Phylogene

ascertaining species due to its slow rate of

Using this DNA sequence data, a Maximum-

tant, but s ll close to the UK popula on

muta on, this may not be indica ve of gene c

likelihood tree can be established, which infers

samples, having 0.03% less similarity in

uniformity within these individuals, and further

the phylogeny (changes in lineages over

comparison to that of the Spanish birds. The

samples would need to be used to establish if a

ime) based on the most probable hypothesis of

evidence suggests that the idea to u lise

German and Russian popula ons are equidis-

larger propor on of the current wild popula on

evolu onary history. Put simply it shows

Spanish birds for a UK reintroduc on makes not

shares this sequence.

branches on a ‘tree of life’, with branches which

only biological sense but would also comply

are closer together or a ached illustra ng a

most strongly with the IUCN reintroduc on

reduced divergence me.

guidelines to restore ex nct popula ons with

Control Region II This region produced some

the closest gene c rela ves where possible.

varia on across individuals and groups and as such has been used as the basis for any conclu-

For this purpose, a consensus (uniform across a

This idea that Iberian bustards founded the UK

sions drawn from this research. Across the 366

group) sequence was generated for each group,

bustard popula on fits in very well with the

bp length sequence there were 4 variable sites,

and

phylogene c pa erns seen in other groups and

3 of which were unique to a par cular group,

generated using this data. This is shown in

although none were comprehensive across an

Figure 1.

en re group (German n=13, Spanish n=10, Russian n=9 and UK n=7).

Variable site 1> Transi on SNP (Single nucleode polymorphism). 3 of the 9 Russian birds have a G (guanine) base at a site where all the other individuals have an A (adenine) base. This site change is unique to Russian birds in this study, however, is not observed in all the Russian birds.

the

maximum

likelihood

tree

was

It is important to note that these conclusions Figure 2. Figure 1. Maximum likelihood tree for

are based purely on the informa on acquired in

phylogeny of 4 groups based on the alignment

the analysis of Mt DNA regions and further

of the Control Region II sequence within each

whole genome approach would be useful. The

group.

sample gathering element of this next stage is

From Figure 2 it can clearly be seen that the UK birds are most recently diverged form a

well underway and the microsatellites have been op mised.

common ancestor with the Spanish birds.

Finally, the findings of this report will be

Likewise, the Russian birds are most recently

prepared for publica on, hence the brevity of

diverged from a shared common ancestor with

this document.

Variable site 2> Transi on SNP. 4 of the 9

the Spanish and UK birds, and the German

Russian birds, 6 of the 10 Spanish birds and 1 of

group share only the common ancestor with

24

species.

Visiting the GBG

Full of the joys of Summer A displaying male Great Bustard is one of the most spectacular sights in the bird world. A trip to the Project base early in the summer gives an excellent chance of seeing this spectacular highlight of nature. The Project Site has much else to offer over the rest of the summer too. The bustards themselves are s ll very much in evidence and there is always the chance of seeing the elusive but ut magical sight of a female with a chick or two. We have been blessed with Stone Curlews breeding at the Project base each year, and they are already in residence at the me of wri ng; the chance to get good views of breeding Stone-curlews without any risk of

© John Burnside

disturbing them is a rare one and not to be missed.

normally possible at short no ce, it would be Other Salisbury Plain specials have a high gh

Birds

profile over the summer with Corn Bun ngs

apart,

and Yellow Hammers always showing well

and bright summer’s day there can be fewer

and there is chance of hearing the dis nc ve

more pleasant places to spend an hour or

call of the Quail.

two than on Salisbury Plain. The trips do

Montagu’s Harriers make an occasional treat over the summer months as do the Hobbies which zoom overhead from me to me.

wise to book as far in advance as possible.

on a warm

tend to get booked up well in advance over the summer months, par cularly over weekends. Whilst finding a space or two is

As the evenings offer such a wealth of wildlife to see in the summer we shall be offering evening trips on a trial basis from 1st June, to explore the level of interest. Talk to Lynne at visits@greatbustard.org or on 07817 971 327 to make a booking.

Bring a guest along - FREE This voucher enƟtles a guest to one free visit to the GBG Project Site when accompanying a paying visitor.

Simply present this voucher to GBG staff when you visit the site and your guest will not be charged. Valid un l 1st September 2013.

25

Helping GBG from Abroad road

Oniris Wildlife Centree in France A report by the team in France on France.

to deal with oiled birds following oil spills on the Atlan c coast or in the Channel and is the main French contact of the Sea Alarm founda on. Thousands of oiled birds were admi ed into their care in 1999-2000 during the Erika oil spill and the CFVSE was also G B G would like to thank the

CV CVFSE

in

France for their recent care of one of our Great Bustards who became lost on her travels and ended up in need of a li le TLC.

involved at the me of the Tricolore (2002) and Pres ge (2002) accidents.

For over ten years, three other ac vi es have been developed. Firstly, the CVFSE welcomes pupils from primary to high school and the general public for educa on about biodiversity conserva on. Conferences and guided tours of the centre are organised. Thanks to

The wildlife veterinary and ecosystems

its localisa on at Oniris, veterinary students

centre (Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune

also come, as volunteers or on training

Sauvage et des Ecosystèmes des Pays de la

courses to learn wildlife medicine and

Loire « CVFSE ») is a wildlife rescue center

surgery. Courses for professionals or veteri-

and a research center on wildlife diseases

narians working with na ve European

and ecosystem health. It is located at the

wildlife are also performed.

Na onal College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering of Nantes (“Oniris”) (h p://www.oniris-nantes.fr/en/) on the west-coast of France near the mouth of the Loire river.

Secondly, the CVFSE is now a research center for wildlife diseases and ecosystem health.

Topics covered by the research team are the use of wild animals or bees ass sen nels of the environmental pollu on (HAPs,

Wildlife rehabilita on was the first ac vity of

en heavy metal, pes cides, roden

the CVFSE and remains today an important

cides…)

rn North-Western

in

one. Founded in 1985, the CVFSE received

France, the preven on of

eighteen animals in its first year. From this

hospital-acquired

and

zoono c

for

me, ever increasing numbers of animals

infec ons

have been admi ed into their care and at the

wild

moment more than 1,500 animals are admit-

animals in care and the

ted each year.

medical

Most of these are birds, mainly raptors, sea

ment of the epidemio-

birds and passerines as well as small

surveillance

mammals like hedgehogs. The CVFSE is able

of the wildlife rehabilita-

staff

respec-

vely, and the develop-

26

capabili es

centres

in

Finally, the CVFSE offers its skills in epidemiology, wildlife medicine and surgery on request. As a result, Epidemiological surveys, anesthesia and surgery for sampling or transmi er implanta on have been carried out recently.

The Story of L21

By CVFSE staff aavoid

We received the Great Bustard L21 on 12th

t h e

November 2012. She was last seen in England

stress

on 4th November at her release site on Salisbury Plain in Britain. She was then sighted in the Vendée region in France near Les Sables d’Olonnes on the 6th of November. She was captured on 10th November by LPO (Ligue de

of

handling) and we

contact

that she had gained ga

the GBG to alert them to the

monit monitored

weight regularly regularly. The GBG

presence of this atypical bird with us

team arrived on 17th November to pick

(this bird was the first Great Bustard ever at

their bird up and drive her back to her

the CVFSE). We also asked GBG for advice on

release flock in Britain. It was a great

her diet. At this me, we learned that her

and unique experience for the CVFSE’s

A er her admission to the CVFSE, a clinical

nickname was L21 and that she needed

staff! We don’t usually take care of this

examina on was performed ans highlighted

varied food daily including fresh lucerne and

kind of birds. Occasionally we have

that she was thin and dehydrated (her weight

insects. We already had mealworms that we

received one or two young griffon

was 2.880kg). She was immediately given

use for other birds (and L21 loved them) but

vultures that have flown too far from

rehydrata on fluids (saline and glucose) and

we had to find lucerne...in autumn! We

the Pyrénées in the South of France but

this con nued for the first three days of her

called many places in an a empt to find it.

it was the first me that a Great Bustard

stay. Because of her rings, we were able to

L21 was only weighed every two days (to

came to visit!

Protec on des Oiseaux) (French Na onal Associa on for Protec on of wild birds) because she looked weak and exhausted.

The GBG team arrive to collect L21

27

GBG Research

GeneƟc Material Sampling at Salisbury Museum Ruth Manvell reports Early one Saturday morning Charles Hibbard

10am that morning. Sean worked on the

and Ruth Manvell made their way to

cabinet with his tools and with the rest of the

Salisbury and South Wilts Museum in

group looking on with a good deal of trepida-

Salisbury’s historic Close to meet with curator

on. The last thing anyone wanted was for a

Adrian Green and local taxidermist Sean

pane of glass to break with no me to rec fy

Douglas. In order not to disrupt visitors to the

it before the museum opened.

museum, and before the public arrived, their purpose was to extract small areas of skin

However all went well and small pieces of

from four an que pieces of taxidermy

skin from each bird were put into labelled

housed in the building. The specimens were

sample pots ready for dispatch to Paul. Then

Great Bustards, three of which were recog-

the process of pu ng the cabinet back

nised as having originated from England and

together was underway. A er taking the

one was of unknown origin. The reason for

opportunity to clean the glass while the

taking the samples was to extract unique

cabinet was open, Sean carefully tacked the

gene cally coded material from each bird for

glass back into place with the ba ens and

comparison with the samples from those

a er several minutes everyone breathed a

taken from various other Great Bustards with

sigh of relief that the opera on had gone so

origins from known countries. Ul mately the

smoothly and without incident.

tes ng of the samples being carried out by Paul O’Donoghue at the University of Chester was to determine the closest match of the various overseas bustard samples to the Great Bustards that inhabited the English countryside many years ago.

Grateful thanks must go to Adrian and Salisbury Museum for allowing the samples to be taken in order to help the gene c project move forward and to Sean for making this possible with his knowledge and experience of working with these very valuable

The four birds within the display consisted of

cabinets and their specimens. Addi onal

one female and three male birds. The female

samples were kindly supplied by the Natural

was known to have been shot locally in 1870

History museum, the Royal Zoological Society

and was thought to be the last Great Bustard

of Scotland and we extend our thanks to

eaten in Salisbury at a formal dinner in 1871

both. GBG also supplied samples from their

where she was served to the then director of

collec on.

Salisbury Museum. The three males, one of which was thought to have been shot near Shrewton in the Till Valley was one of the last birds to be killed in Wiltshire. Another of the birds was shot in Savernake in 1852 and the final bird was of unknown origin.

The most difficult part of the procedure was opening the huge cabinet (that consisted of large panes of glass and heavy wooden ba ens) without breaking it. The cabinet had not been opened since it was assembled many years ago. Poten ally very fragile, it needed skilled and experienced hands to eventually return it to its original state in me for the visi ng public due at

28

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