National Birds of Prey Centre
NEWSLETTER August 2001, Number 11 NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Although the start of the year was extremely difficult for us, and I have to say that the appalling weather has also led to a very poor breeding season, nevertheless we are still here and still up and running. I was pleased, and proud to see how many people turned out as paying visitors to the Centre over Easter – following a plea from us and the government, to go out and help the tourist industry. Not only people who
had been encouraged to visit, but also members and old friends, all of whom managed to make Easter a much more cheerful time than we had expected. Add to that - the Gods also smiled on us with a clear and dry Easter as well, which was most welcome, and more recently rather unusual. The breeding season has been difficult. A number of the birds are now reaching old age and so the quality of eggs is dropping off and hatching the young are more difficult. We did quite well with falcons, very badly with eagles and most sadly failed with our Red Kites this year. However we have got two new pairs of Red Kites
together and we are hopeful for next year. We have a number of new birds on view, the Palm Nut vultures are out and looking better than they did on arrival. The Brahminy Kites that are confiscated birds and in dreadful condition, are moulting and looking much better and some can even fly now. The Hodgesons Hawk Eagles are looking well and more settled as are the Ornate Hawk Eagles. We have a number of birds still to arrive this year. On March 30th to my personal pleasure, we hatched a Burrowing Owl after a break of two years with no young. I should have known it was an omen! We have about 11 babies now and various pairs are on another nine eggs! But the March 30th baby, being an early and lone child, became a house owl, named Copper, he lived in the house with me and the dogs for several weeks. I would be curled up on the sofa with the dogs, failing as usual to watch a whole television programme, however hard I tried, only to wake up and find Copper flat out on his front, fast asleep in front of the fire, he was a joy to behold. He has since grown up and is a fully fledged member of the flying team, holding his own well. As I write, the last of the Burrowing Owl eggs that we brought in has just hatched and there is yet another burrowing owl just starting to live in the house – my poor dogs! Continued on Page 2.
Road closed “after” the entrance due to FMD
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
* Volunteers Evening * New Date for the Trust Launch * A Room with a View * Zoo Inspection * International News * More of the year so far…
VOLUNTEERS EVENING I have to say that this has been a howling success. We have a team of volunteers that are just wonderful, I would like at this time to express to all of them who travel miles, come rain or shine, do vile jobs and remain unfailingly cheerful and helpful… Thank you most sincerely. You have made such a difference to us this year (and previous years although in a less organised way) that the Centre and the birds and my staff have all benefited. I only hope you enjoy being here as much as we enjoy having you.
Copper the Burrowing Owl The other owl to join the team is a European Eagle Owl whom my sister Dinah has called Beryl. The theme for names this year is minerals. Beryl was less pleasant in the house, a charming person, but eating over half a pound of food a day meant that the floor suffered a little. She too is now outside and in training, although it would be fair to say that her training is not moving forward as well as I would like, she is being a little slow at the moment and really only seems interested in pouncing on litter. So far flying is not top on her list and her concentration is awful. But once this week is over, intensive work will begin and one of us will win! Many of the young birds have grown up and we are just starting to train young falcons and eagles. We also have three more Black Kites arriving in August from a friend in Europe. We are looking forward to this as it will mean that we have unrelated birds for flying and breeding. The wonderful weather in May and June has meant that the gardens are looking probably the best I have seen them. I really think it was, although late, the greenest spring I have ever seen. The last of the eggs are in the incubators – three Eleonora’s falcons, I think that very sadly they are clear, not fertile, but that is all part of the joys of captive breeding. Some you get right, others take a little more time and we have plenty of that to spare here.
Jemima Parry-Jones MBE
The evening worked well to get people to understand the needs of the centre and what people would be doing. Mark and Annie and I then went through what people could do and put up instructions in the Clinic for all to see. Volunteering here IS hard work, but after a few weeks here, being able to handle birds, and then assist with the demonstrations, seems to keep many of you happy. I hope that in this coming winter I will have the time to get more of you involved in other aspects of the Centre, such as schools stuff and even paperwork!
A MESSAGE TO ALL VOLUNTEERS As you will read, we have the launching of the Charity on Sept 30th this year. I am away for the week beforehand at an unavoidable conference, any of you who can help that week to make the Centre look absolutely spotless – let us know, the more help we can get the better. It will not be fun stuff! But it will help the Centre and the Charity. THE NEXT VOLUNTEERS MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE CENTRE ON SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2001, IN THE COFFEE SHOP AT 10.00am WITH MARK PARKER.
Editor / Director: Jemima Parry-Jones MBE The National Birds of Prey Centre Newent, Gloucestershire, England GL18 1JJ. Tel: +44 (0)1531 820286 / Fax: +44 (0)1531 821389 Email: jpj@nbpc.demon.co.uk Website: www.nbpc.co.uk
THE NATIONAL BIRDS OF PREY TRUST I have spoken to you about this a number of times. The Trustees decided that the best way to start the Trust’s life was to have a fund raising launch. So with that in mind we contacted HRH The Princess Royal who is the patron of the trust and asked if we could organise a launch at Gatcombe, her country home. She very kindly said yes and the date decided upon was May 13th. The plan was to invite a small number of interested and very wealthy people to the event, entertain, inform, wine and dine them and ask for funding. A good plan we thought, sadly foot and mouth thought otherwise and as the epidemic spread with horrific speed, it became apparent that we were unlikely to be able to go ahead. Gloucestershire was (and still is) badly hit by FMD, we had over 80 cases by the end of April, and in fact two of those were only 500 yards away from here. When all the invitations had gone out and all the printing had been done, we had to cancel, which was a real blow. However we were not as badly hit as some, so I am not going to complain. After much thought and trial dates, we decided that this time we would go for a launch here at the Centre as the whole thing was a little easier to manage and we could invite more people. So we chose a date that suited the Princess. This is why you will see that my website and answer phone message all say that NBPC will be closed to the general public on September 30th 2001. Much as I would like to invite all you members, I can’t as that would make the day unworkable. However if you feel that the Trust will do a valuable job and you want to help, please feel free to send a donation. Make sure that you mark it for the attention of The National Birds of Prey Trust, not Centre. I am so concerned that people don’t mix up the two that if and when the Trust is financially viable, we may move its offices and work away from here to prevent confusion.
THE NATIONAL BIRDS OF PREY CENTRE WILL BE CLOSED ON SUNDAY 30th SEPTEMBER 2001
A Room with a View This spring it became more and more apparent that the room we were using as a brooder room for the young birds was not suitable. It has no windows and so the babies were getting no sunlight. It also meant that none of our visitors could actually see what we were doing, and how successful we are at breeding.
For the rest of the time you can watch them moving around, or more commonly sleeping and doing absolutely nothing. Of course, you will have to use your imagination for all this, as the breeding season is nearly over and the Brooder Room will be pretty much empty until next spring! However if you are here – do have a look and better still come back again next April and May to see how we are doing with the 2002 breeding season.
VOUCHER SUCCESS
Baby Bengal Eagle Owl
So we bit the bullet and got in Wayne Radford and sorted out the room that had been earmarked as the New Brooder Room. As you walk out of the shop, there on your left hand side is a large window, very kindly donated to us. Shading your eyes against the reflection, look in and you will see brooders and incubators sitting on the work surfaces. Anytime between 12.30 and 1.30 you may see Gary, or one of the other staff sitting feeding and weighing babies.
Many of you gave the voucher published in the April Newsletter to friends, family and work colleagues. This in turn introduced visitors that had never been to NBPC before, some of which have now joined as members! This voucher is only valid until the end of August, so if you can think of someone that would enjoy a day out at the Centre during the Summer holidays… here’s another one! --------------------------------
VOUCHER ONE FREE CHILD
With on full paying adult
ZOO INSPECTION
NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA About two years ago I did some writing for Dorling Kindersley who were producing a large Animal Encyclopaedia. They asked me to write about 42 fact sheets on various birds of prey and owls. Yesterday I received a copy of this, which I guess is now out. It is called Animal and is not cheap, I am glad that they gave me my copy, it is a nice book and well done. I have not read our contributions yet.
This year was the time for our once five yearly zoo inspection, and again FMD caused us some problems. The first date booked we had to cancel as zoo inspectors, many of which are vets in their own right, did not want to be travelling around the country risking the spread of disease. However in early June we really did need to get it done as technically we were operating without a licence, even though the circumstances were extremely extenuating. So we got together a huge file of paperwork – that is the toughest part of a zoo inspection. You have to have risk assessments for almost everything including breathing, plus records, proof of conservation and education work and a million other things as well. The difficulties were compounded as I had only just got out of a six day stay in hospital. However the day came and went, it was OK. There were things that we should have got better done, but time and staffing had not allowed, (all of which I hasten to add were minor problems that were solved within two weeks anyway!) and things such as the pre inspection audit that we excelled at. I am glad it is over, and it was as ever a learning experience. You can never really forget that things always should be good enough for an inspection any day of the year, but it is a hard task to achieve, however I aim to get there one day.
I would however like to thank Arthur Middleton, who’s article on the Harpy Eagle you may have read in the last newsletter. He was staying with me here at the Centre at the time and helped out with some of the species fact sheets – Thanks Arthur. Speaking of Arthur, he is well, has just come back from another trip to Panama helping with the Harpy’s, he is now in the throws of taking his falconry license in the US so he can practise falconry. One of my dogs – the short Labrador, Lily – is with him, now his dog. They got on well here and Lily was never happy when we were busy here. Now she leads the life of Riley in the US. Arthur had her in New York for a few days last week, he told me that even the hardened and disinterested city people of NY could not resist Lily and talked to him and spoke to and about Lily. I saw her about two weeks ago, the greeting left me with a very sore WHAT’S HAPPENED? •
Filming in London with a Peregrine
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JPJ speaker at the Police Wildlife Liaison Officers Conference in Scotland Foot and Mouth Disease next door!
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Charlotte travelled to Japan, to help Ben with demonstrations at NASU Good weather at Easter helped… thank you for your support
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New Guide Book published… on sale now £2.00
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Hospital visit and stay for JPJ, trip to South Carolina postponed
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New, temporary format for Falconry Experience Days
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Wall’s Ice Cream “Team” meeting held at the Centre
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Behind the Scenes Evening continued as planned
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Government Culture, Media and Sports Committee visit
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Filming with Red Kites in Suffolk… on an island!
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JPJ flying demonstration at the Falconers Fair and Beaufort Polo Club Gary celebrated his 21st Birthday with a dip in the pond!
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School visits cancelled due to FMD, on the increase at last
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Newent Rotary Club BBQ at the Centre
AN INFLUX OF LITTLE OWLS Almost since we started in the late ‘60’s, NBPC has accepted injured wild birds for treatment and rehabilitation. It is not something that we set out to do, but being open to the public and getting known, means that it is a fairly frequent occurrence. Customarily we just take in raptors, although other species do appear, I have reared baby pigeons, swifts and heaven knows what else. Sadly the very best phone call we had turned out (rather unsurprisingly) to be inaccurate and the baby Dodo was in fact a pigeon, shame really…….!! This year however appears to have been the year for Little Owls. In some ways we are pleased, because if we are getting in a lot of a particular species, it usually means it is doing pretty well in the wild. But this year was surprising because I anticipated that Little Owls would probably have a poor breeding year due to the awful rain we had during the winter and spring. But it seems to have stopped just in time for Little Owls to manage well. For the last three years they have not had good breeding seasons, at least around us here in Gloucestershire. One of the reasons we were handed more than normal was the unusual disturbance on farms, because of FMD. Where normally hay would stay untouched during the spring, it was either used because farmers could not move their stock, or in some sadder cases, everything on the farm was moved due to the disinfecting process, so nest sites were disturbed. We had at least three whole clutches of Little Owls brought in, plus a number of single birds. I think we ended up with about 12 babies in all, which is a high number for us over the last four years. Luckily we were able to foster them with various breeding owls here at the Centre. The Burrowing Owls took and reared some, so did the Collared Scops Owls and the Hawk Owls. All did a great job of making sure that the babies were not imprinted, particularly as some of them came in pretty young. However the next part of doing this particular aspect of work is getting young birds back to the wild. When adult birds come in injured, once they are recovered and fit again, release is pretty easy as they were experienced in surviving before they came to us. But young birds that get to us before they have fledged and learnt the intricacies of flying and hunting are much more difficult. They need to have the chance to learn as much as possible before they are released. As rehabilitation is only a part of what we do, and we are always stretched for aviary space, getting young birds ready for release is difficult for us. Consequently I was delighted when talking to the Director of the Hawk and Owl Trust, that she thought they could help with our Little Owl problem. In some ways Little Owls are easier to release than many other species. They feed on a lot of insects and if you build a decent sized pen, and check their pellets, you can see when they start to catch food for themselves. So Chris Sperrin who does superb work for the Hawk and Owl Trust, with various hard working friends and volunteers found a suitable release site, build a pen (which I hope they will use again) and came to collect the young owls. Almost all the babies were fledged at this point so they were easily able to cope without their foster parents in their new home. We caught up all the owls from the various pens and boxed them up ready to go, however one was missing, it was one from the Hawk Owl pen and after much searching we had to guess that it had probably got out somehow and done its own release programme. The rest went off to Somerset and over the next few weeks Chris reported to me by email on their progress. Then about a week ago Mark came into the office laughing his head off – they had found the missing Little Owl – still in with the Hawk Owls!! There was much teasing of the staff who had done the initial collecting of babies. The culprit owl was duly shipped down to join the rest of the bunch. As of today I have heard that the first batch have just been released and will be monitored. It is a good end to a busy spring of Little Owls.
* DIARY DATES * DIARY DATES * DIARY DATES *DIARY DATE * DIARY DATES * DIARY DATES FLYING DEMONSTRATIONS BOOKED CLA GAME FAIR 27th – 29th July 2001 WARWICKSHIRE & WEST MIDLANDS GAME FAIR 18th – 19th August 2001-08-08 SHROPSHIRE GAME FAIR 26th – 7th August 2001 (Bank Holiday Weekend) CHATSWORTH COUNTRY FAIR 1st – 2nd September 2001 For more information on Diary Dates, please call 0870 990 1992 during office hours.
CHS
Tickets on sale now DECEMBER 2001 1st, 8th, 15th 22nd… Guided Tours of the Owls by Torchlight Hog Roast & Mulled Wine Flying Demonstrations In the Dark!
A SAD LOSS Those of you who visit us regularly, will have seen me fly two hybrid falcons that you would probably, and quite rightly, have placed on my short list of favourite birds here. Kilbreck is twelve and Laertes ten. They are brothers, bred by a friend of mine. Their mother was a Saker called Paperweight whom I bred and owned, their father a Peregrine called Junior. I flew about five brothers from this family, all were good, some started hunting and so went to other people, Laertes and Kilbreck stayed and were a big part of the team of birds that I personally fly. Very sadly Laertes has just died. As I write he lies quietly on my desk. We had no clue that he was ill, I flew him yesterday and he was as normal as ever. He has had a back problem, which we were on top of so I was not really worried about him, and he gave a couple of very high flights at the Game Fair. He has over the ten years that I have had the pleasure and joy of flying him, given me some stunning flights, some of which will remain with me and many others for as long as I have a decent memory. He had a great nature, was a charming bird to be with – much nicer in personality than Kilbreck who is much more temperamental. He was – and still is even in death – very beautiful. It is hard to lose the birds that have been here a long period, particularly the flying birds with whom a fairly intense relationship is built up over time. I know he had a good life and enjoyed everything he did. He ate a whole small rat after flying yesterday and was his normal cheerful self, and then must have quietly died in the night. After a PM so that we can learn from how he died, he will be buried in the wood, with the other special birds that have been here with us. We shall all miss him. MORE NEW ARRIVALS About nine months ago we were contacted by Dr Tom Bailey, who works at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital of the National Avian Research Center. He had been the recipient of a large number of illegally imported birds from Africa, some sadly did not survive the ordeal. They had been confiscated at the airport and he was caring for them. There is a mistaken idea held by many people that the Arabs fly any birds of prey, and pay a fortune for them. This is absolutely not true. However to make a quick buck all sorts of raptors – all totally useless in terms of Arab falconry are occasionally sent there or trapped by people trying to make vast sums of money. These birds are Chanting Goshawks which although very pretty – are not falconry birds and certainly of no interest to the Arabs. There was also one Grass- hopper Buzzard Eagle, which sounds impressive, but is not! Tom wrote to me asking if I could re-home these birds as there was little chance of them being returned safely to the wild. I said that I thought we could find good homes for them and so in June the first batch of ten arrived. Tom has done a great job with them and they are all in good condition which considering they arrived in the UAE with their legs tried together and stuffed in a paper bag, they are very lucky. We are only allowed to quarantine ten birds at a time, so these went through quarantine and some have gone to new homes, two pairs remain here and are settling in on view to the public. The rest are hopefully arriving in the next couple of weeks and one will be used on demonstration, the others will be homed after their quarantine period. I have no idea what I am going to do with the Grass-hopper Buzzard-eagle. But whatever, I am extremely grateful to BA who has flown the birds over on conservation grounds, to Tom for taking inordinate time and care of the birds and the people who have taken the birds on to give a home for the rest of their lives. Coming over very soon we also have three young captive bred Black Kites and a new species of Caracara, so I hope you will come and see these new members of the family in the not too distant future. Chanting Goshawks in Quarantine Quarters (below)
NEWS FROM THE WILD Many of you must have seen in the news that finally Ospreys have bred in the wild in England. For about four years now, young Ospreys have been translocated from nests in Scotland to an excellent site on Rutland Water. The release site has been successful and this year two adult birds took up residence and produced young. This is wonderful news for all who are bird lovers. And remember too that not only have these birds survived being moved, they have also learnt to hunt without the assistance of parent birds, managed a migration to Africa, survived there for two years and made the trip back. It really is an amazing feat. If they were humans their story would be written in a book and made into a film. As it is we are pleased and delighted, but only when you understand what they have really achieved do you stand back in amazement at them, and indeed other wildlife that survives in this world that we are rapidly spoiling. Sadly some people do not appreciate birds in the wild quite so much. Particularly birds of prey. Both in Yorkshire and in Scotland the Red Kites are being poisoned. The sort of people who do this deserve everything they get if they get caught, and I hope they do. It is especially sad because landowners and game keepers should be some of the most informed people about nature. If they only bothered to look in a book, or even ask known experts, they could easily learn that Red Kites mainly feed on carrion and are certainly not taking any game birds. It is not exactly rocket science to find out these things. In my book, anyone purporting to own or take care of the countryside has a responsibility to understand nature and wildlife and how it works and all fits in. The people doing this poisoning do not know, have not bothered to find out, are extremely ignorant and should not be allowed to have such positions of responsibility. It is a privilege and an honour to be lucky enough to own land and that should never be forgotten. I only own 12.5 acres, but they are very important to me and every morning of my life I am proud to be able to walk round it with the dogs and see the wildlife thriving and boy does it thrive here. INTERNATIONAL NEWS The Peregrine Fund has been doing some research on the Cape Verde Islands which are off the coast of Africa if you have a good atlas to check them out. They have a number of rare and declining birds, including some Albatrosses which are being killed for food whilst nesting. However of specific interest to us is the Cape Verde Kite. Long thought to be a sub-species of the Red Kite, it seems that now, it make in fact be a species in its own right. But unless it is very very lucky, not for long.
A Wild Osprey
This bird has decreased in numbers to the point where it was thought that it could well already have joined the increasing rank of extinct birds. In a research programme on the islands, looking for the bird, the research team failed to find any and were just at the point of announcing them extinct. However on receiving a report on an un-investigated island of some buzzard like birds. They went over to check them out. So far it appears that there are four Cape Verde Kites left.
A team of scientists are over on the islands as I write and will be trapping the birds. The first thing to ascertain what sex the four birds are. If they are all one sex, then I guess the birds will be released and assisted with supplementary feeding to live out the rest of their lives. However if it turns out that one, or preferably two of the birds are different sexes, then a captive breeding programme will be instigated. We are hoping, with the co-operation of the UK authorities that the birds will come here and will be put into pens for captive breeding. We have bred Red Kites and Yellow-billed Kites and so will do our best for these Cape Verde Kites as well. It is a hell of a responsibility, but really we could not in all conscience have said no to the request. Cross your fingers for the Kites and a happy ending to their plight a decade down the road. About a month after Tom Bailey contacted use on the Chanting Goshawks, Rupert Griffiths who runs a raptor rehabilitation centre in Hong Kong contacted us. A shipment of 14 illegal Saker Falcons had been intercepted, probably on their way to the Middle East. He wanted some advice. One of the nice things about knowing as many people across the world as I do, means that although sometimes I can’t help easily – I often ‘know a man who can’! Continued on Page 8.
I was able to put Rupert in touch with Dr Nick Fox. Between them they were able to sort out the birds but I got an email from Rupert recently and I will put in a part of it here.
Thank you for your help with this case and passing on the request for help to Nick Fox. I managed to get 10 of the 14 Sakers flown up to Beijing and released at a reserve 90km north of Beijing the following day. I went with the birds of course and they all went off very well. Not only was it a second chance for the falcons but it turned out to be a great exercise in collaboration between the Hong Kong Government, the Beijing CITES authority, the Administration of Forestry of China and my organisation, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden. It was also a good chance to educate as it was a high profile release with large numbers of press. The officials involved in the event were interested to learn that feather condition was important, and that the birds were best not released out of the hand, all at once like pigeons. They commented that our birds looked strong and flew high as birds they had previously released had only made it to nearby trees to sit. Rupert Griffiths So from all us here and I am sure I can speak for Nick as well. Well Done Rupert – good job.
NEW WOODLAND WALK Next time you visit don’t forget to take a stroll through the new Woodland Walk. Staff and volunteers have worked very hard over the past few months to make Danny’s Wood a place for visitors to enjoy. Previously inaccessible… Welcome to the Woodland Walk As you follow the path around the Woodland Walk you will see a mixture of our woodland, which includes, Oak, Ash, Cherry, Willow, Silver Birch and Conifer. On your way around look out for bird boxes that we have placed in the trees for the small birds that live here, for example, Robins, Wrens, Blue Tits, Blackbirds. Also take a look at the wild plants we have growing. If you carry on following the path you will come to the pond where you may be able to see Koi Carp and Goldfish, then when you make your way to the Bog Garden have a look for the toads and frogs that appear here at certain times of the
Sante the Red Kite (One of the babies bred in 2000) WHAT’S HAPPENED, continued… Gary flew to Japan for July and August New faces… Charlotte Hill, Gareth Tonen and Ben Sillince join the Bird Staff for the Summer Saturday Telegraph Magazine article Welsh Hawking Club BBQ at the Centre JPJ visit to South Carolina in July Carlton TV Live Broadcast from the Centre Trip to Scotland for new Falconry Experience Days Country House & Home Magazine article The Field Magazine article with JPJ HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAYS… AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THIS YEAR!