National Birds of Prey Centre NEWSLETTER Number 6
December 1999 NOTE FROM JEMIMA
This half of the year has at least been more at home than away; my only trip was to Germany for the Taxon Advisory Group meetings for Falconiformes and Strigiformes, of which I am chair. The 5-day meeting, covering several other bird Tags' as well, was successful and we managed to do some collection planning for zoos in the UK and mainland Europe. It was held at Walsrode Vogel Park, a beautiful bird park in central Germany. The other trips that I had planned for the rest of this year were all postponed or cancelled for various reasons. Here at the Centre, the breeding season always takes up a fair amount of my time as we look after hordes of baby raptors hatching and growing. As I write we are already in the process of cleaning out the incubator room in preparation for the first eggs, which are already here. My new book, The Really Useful Owl Guide, has finally come out, and the illustrations are wonderful – done by the publishers’ artist, who very kindly gave me two originals from the book which are now up in the house. Both David and Charles and Dorling Kindersley have asked me to write a book on birds of prey of the world. Some proof pages went to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and I await the results to see who comes up with the best offer. I look forward to doing a book of birds of prey on their own, rather than the training books I have done previously.
The dogs are all well including Salix; he had me worried earlier this year but seems to have taken on a new lease of life and gives me enormous pleasure. The Zoo Forum has been hard work and I was nervous at the first meeting, but it seems to be working well now. My desk is getting under control and I am trying to clear it all, bar the new book, since I will be in South Carolina for most of January. Luckily with modern communication I can answer most of Sarah’s questions and deal with all my email from there instead of here. Training the seven birds for The South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey has been hard work, but very rewarding. It is interesting training birds that are destined to be flown by others in a different climate altogether. It has forced me to rethink some of my methods and that is always good. We now look forward to a few weeks’ respite, as well as some cleaning and tidying, before the start of the new season. RED KITE RELEASE This year has seen a number of more unusual birds brought in to us. Generally we have Tawny Owls, Little Owls, Kestrels, Sparrowhawks, Buzzards, with the occasional Peregrine. We had a phone call earlier in the year about an eagle in someone’s garden near Tetbury. Normally we do not go out to collect birds, as we really don’t have the staff or the time, but Philip was going over to the Vets in Stroud and so just continued on his journey to collect the ‘eagle’. We certainly didn’t expect it would be an eagle, but were still surprised to find it was a Red Kite, one of the released birds from the Chilterns in Buckingham shire. We were appalled when we found out that the bird had been shot. Red Kites are slow lumbering birds, harmless to any game birds or even rabbits unless they are dead already. And this particular bird had red patagial wing tags with the number 34 about 2 inches high on each wing; you would have had to have been blind to miss them and certainly not fit to have a gun! In any case, Philip caught up the bird and drove it straight to our vets where it was x-rayed and treated. We then contacted English Nature who are in charge of the Red Kite release programme and informed them of the situation. After a number of weeks of rehabilitation, the kite was fit to go. So we drove it up to Buckinghamshire where, in front of some of the press, the RSPB, and English Nature, we released the bird back to the wild. We wish it our best, and hope it finds better luck this time round.
UPDATE ON THE NEW CLINIC The new clinic is done. The work room is finished, and no longer resembles the old garage at all; it is light and airy, and everything is easily accessible. We covered all the walls with cabinets, then promptly filled most of them. We still need to sort out the plumbing, which should be simple; it will be outfitting the room with all the appropriate equipment that will take lots of time. The second room, which is destined to house the hospital cages, is incomplete. We are in the midst of writing a proposal to raise funds for these expensive items, but are hanging fire a little as we wait for the finalising of the charity, which should help us raise the necessary funds. This construction has been sorely needed for a long time and already is making a tremendous difference to the whole centre. Mark Parker has taken over the record keeping, all of which is done in the clinic. Dealing with the injured wild birds that we receive has certainly become much easier for us and for the Vet. The room is not open to the public, but members can certainly view it on our ‘behind the scenes’ day in May 2000.
NASU ANIMAL KINGDOM, JAPAN 2000 The contract with Japan has nearly run its course for this year. We had a few hiccups. Instead of getting work permits, the company decided to send our staff out of the country for a few days to Seoul and then get them back in. The first problem was that John had become such a public figure that he was recognised by one of the immigration officers, and subsequently spent seven unpleasant hours at the airport. The whole thing was eventually sorted out. The next problem was that although they finally managed to get work visas for Ben and John, they could not get one for Gary, so John and Ben have done the whole eight months. All the birds have done well out there and the aviaries have worked well. We trained three young replacement falcons that were sent out in October and the three older Lanners who will form the next batch of breeding stock are due back here in the next couple of weeks. We are delighted to say that after some negotiation we are going to be going back to Japan for a continuation of the contract next season. John and Ben, all things being equal, will return on April 1st to retrain the birds who will have spent the winter in the pens at Nasu. However we don’t want to lose John for the whole summer this year, so you will be delighted to hear that he returns to us in July and Gary will go over to take on the task with Ben. We then may have an extension to the contract from September to November. It has been a pleasure to have this contract, and in a year when the weather has let us down a little it has helped to make up for some financial shortfalls.
STAFF CHANGES And there have been a few of these this year! Helen, who was only temporary, left in July and has been replaced by Annie Miller, who we hope has come to join us for a very long time. She has an equine and teaching background and is as insane as the rest of us, and fits in very well because of it. We are pleased to say that Sven has a new job to go to back in Holland and we have trained a team of birds to go back with him. This was in exchange for a young Bald Eagle, who is here now, and a young Secretary Bird that will arrive next year. We are hoping to get two that we can rear together to replace Treasure, who is getting old and very difficult these days, like some others among us! Two other people came and went in the summer, giving us much needed help at the time. One found another job, and one has returned to college. Last but certainly not least is Arthur Middleton, who came as a short term volunteer and trainee from The South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey and has returned as a rather longer term volunteer and trainee. Having visited and enjoyed the Centre for a couple of weeks in the summer, he decided to take a year off university to work with birds of prey and learn falconry techniques, things that he has wanted to do for quite a while. We are absolutely delighted that he has joined us; he brings a new view to what we do here and has learnt to deal with our usual teasing pretty well.
INTERNATIONAL and NATIONAL NEWS Peregrine Down listing. This year saw the down listing of the Peregrine in the US. Like the Peregrine in Britain, the two subspecies of Peregrine in the US suffered badly from DDT contamination. For those of you who might not know, widespread use of this aggressive pesticide caused population crashes in Peregrine in many countries. Its worse effect was the cause Peregrines to fail in breeding attempts. Thanks to the banning of DDT in the US and a sustained captive breeding program, the Peregrine was down listed in August this year and so is not longer listed as an endangered species in the US. Javan Hawk-Eagle. Sadly the Javan Hawk Eagle is not in the same happy position as the Peregrine and it increasing decline has caused the authorities to put together a recovery plan for this bird. Monitoring the species and the habitat is a part of the plan. Also educational programs to teach people about their own native species and a protection program for the bird itself. Red Kites in the UK. The RSPB reported that the Red kite population in the UK has done extremely well this year, with over 90 young being produced in Buckinghamshire alone. The number of chicks fledged was three times greater than 1997. Pesticide Ban in Argentina. A very nasty pesticide that was responsible for killing thousands of wintering Swainsons Hawk, literally dying as they fed on the sprayed insects has now been banned. Moncrotophos has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of birds in Argentina over the last five years. Its ban is a triumph for those groups who campaigned for the ceasing of its use. Germ warfare kills raptors A particularly unpleasant virus introduced into Australia to reduce the rabbit population is having a fairly dire effect on the Australian raptors. Principally those which have evolved over the last 80 or so years to be reliant on rabbits, such as the Wedge-tailed Eagle. Now some would say that the eagles have increased because of the unnatural numbers of rabbits which are an introduced species that should not be there. And so now the eagles and other raptors will reduce down to the numbers that they should be prior to the rabbits. However 100 years ago there were probably less other pressures on wildlife, so in fact the decline in breeding may well have a more detrimental effect on the birds long term. We shall just have to wait and see.
CHARITY NEWS As some of you may know we have been working on charitable status for some considerable time. In many ways I am personally glad that it has taken so long as I would probably have made some hideous mistakes had we done it earlier. In any case, we are now going to add a charitable arm to The National Birds of Prey Centre. This will take some of the financial burden off the Centre. We are hoping that it will cover the costs of the injured wild birds that come in and the time and travel that they add to the budget. We would like to see a new schools pack in colour and professionally printed, hopefully available free to all visiting schools. We would also like to be able to support some of the existing groups that we are involved with such as the Philippine Eagle Foundation which does such sterling work under difficult conditions. There are many aspects where the charity and the Centre can have dual involvement and we hope that you, our members, will be able to support the charity. Don’t forget any donations that you give will be tax deductible. We are hoping that we will have a charity number even before this newsletter goes to press.
BROWN TOURIST SIGNS One of the commonest complaints by visitors is the lack of road signs to get here. Believe me when I say that we have been trying to get better signs for an awful long time. Finally this year, after some help from Diana Organ, who is our MP, and much persuasion, we got permission to have brown tourist signs from both the M50 and the A40. Because the centre is the National collection of birds of prey we are granted this permission. However there is a sting in the tail, a catch in what was otherwise an exciting break through for us: the Highways Agency has given us an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 for the signs. We think this is absolutely iniquitous, apart from being half our profits last year! We bring prosperity to the area. People visit Newent and the other tourist attractions that have sprung up in our wake. They spend money locally as they pass through. We also employ 13 people and several more part-time in the summer, and always try to use and encourage local suppliers. The signs would need to be solid gold to cost that much. Needless to say we are going to fight this problem, but whether or not we will win is another matter. It may take us another 30 years to get the signs!
Mr ELLIOTT’S VISIT TO THE CENTRE We have mentioned our partnership The South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey in other newsletters. Our ongoing relationship has progressed further this year. Nedra Hecker came in March and spent a week here working with the birds and the bird staff. Then in August, Arthur Middleton came ostensibly for a week, and seems to be back for a longer period of time. Also in August, Simone came for a week and then Jim Elliott, the Executive Director, arrived to work with a team of birds that we will be lending to SCCBP. The birds are a Tawny Eagle, three falcons, a Harris’ Hawk, and two owls. During Jim’s stay, which he extended to 10 days (and even that was not enough), he worked with all seven birds, practised his lure swinging with some of the experienced Centre birds such as Hoggar, and then flew his own team of young falcons. Jim is a bit of perfectionist in all that he does and so he was not satisfied with his work as he left. But for our part, although he has a long way to go, the birds are fine and he will cope with them, particularly as I will be there for their first month in South Carolina
AN OSPREY VISITS THE CENTRE One evening in late October I took several of our birds for a visit at the Vets, and while I was there they had a phone call from someone who claimed to have an Osprey in their garden, and would bringing it in shortly. Ron, who was looking at our birds, pointed out the irony of the situation and was glad to have with him just the right person to look after the bird! None of us believed it would be an Osprey, but when the box arrived, on looking inside, there crouched a very beautiful juvenile bird. After checking it over, we reckoned that apart from being very thin, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it. Perhaps it simply ran out of petrol as it began its migration. Now although we had never handled an Osprey before, we knew from our reading, and from SCCBP’s extensive work with Ospreys, that they are notoriously difficult to get to feed. On returning home with the birds, we contacted Grace Gasper, who gave some good advice. For two days we had to force feed the bird, and they are quite different from other birds of prey to force feed. On the third day, however, we placed the bird in a larger room with perches, a large bath and a couple of dead fish. We were delighted when she started to feed within 20 minutes of the food going in. Ospreys are migratory birds and most breeding in the UK are in West Africa in the wintering grounds by the time this bird was found. So after conferring with English Nature we decided to try and get this young bird flown back to Africa. Although this meant that the first migration would be interrupted, Ospreys don’t return to the UK until they are coming up to two years old and the urge to breed drives them northwards. So we are fairly confident that this drive and 3 million years of evolution will kick in at the right time and she will come back to breed if all goes well. We believe that her chances of survival are much greater if we can get her safely to Africa. The plan at the moment is to fly her to The Gambia on November 27th where some of the people who have been working on the Osprey release at Rutland water are going on a trip. She will be released soon after her arrival and we will keep everything crossed for her. As a note to all who might read this………….we will pay her airfare of £250 and get her to Birmingham by about 4am in the morning!
AN OSPREY VISITS THE CENTRE One evening in late October I took several of our birds for a visit at the Vets, and while I was there they had a phone call from someone who claimed to have an Osprey in their garden, and would bringing it in shortly. Ron, who was looking at our birds, pointed out the irony of the situation and was glad to have with him just the right person to look after the bird! None of us believed it would be an Osprey, but when the box arrived, on looking inside, there crouched a very beautiful juvenile bird. After checking it over, we reckoned that apart from being very thin, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it. Perhaps it simply ran out of petrol as it began its migration. 1999 – THE SECOND HALF… •
JPJ gave an illustrated talk for the first time at Ludlow Literary Festival. This was well received and Shovel the Burrowing Owl came along and gave a first class demonstration.
•
The Vintage Sports Car Club held their 65th Anniversary meet at the Centre.
•
JPJ did the Flying Demonstrations at Holkham Country Fair in Norfolk.
•
Another illustrated talk locally, at Ross-on-Wye Library, this time for children, Shovel participated again as did Oyster, a Harris Hawk.
•
An unusual event, the Reptile Weekend at the end of July went very well with thanks to Midland Reptile Rescue.
•
Arthur Middleton arrived from South Carolina to do some Voluntary Work at the Centre, and then came back again a few weeks later to stay until July 2000.
•
A Japanese Film Company visited the Centre to do a programme called “let’s play English” with a man-size pink tiger!
•
We celebrated the Eclipse by flying all the trained owls at 11.00am on the 11th August. None of the birds seemed particularly affected during the eclipse. Two other Owls appeared on “The Big Breakfast” at Glastonbury Tour.
•
Our wonderful and impressive Migration Map in the Education Room was finally put together and completed, thank to a lot of hard work done by Ian McKie – thank you!
•
Some of the many injured wild birds taken in at the Centre were transported to the RSPB Hospital in Taunton, ready for release back to the wild.
•
3 Juvenile Bald Eagles arrived from Holland for quarantining prior to the start of their handling and training.
•
JPJ attended a much dryer Chatsworth Country Fair, with six birds and all six Labradors – it was chaos!!!!!!!!! Sarah came to help!
•
We have a new Walled Garden outside the Owl Courtyard, built by David Chart, a Volunteer all the way from Ireland – thank you!
•
The new “plastic” Owls placed around the Centre for donations raised over £600 for the new Clinic during the Summer Holidays. Keep filling them up please people.
•
Jasper Winn, Freelance Journalist, joined one of our Falconry Experience Days and the result was a full page feature in the Sunday Independent Newspaper. Grateful thanks goes to him too.
•
Philip, Gary and Macon flew by Hercules to the Channel Islands to represent the Royal Air Forces
Association, at Jersey Air-show. •
The BBC filmed at the Centre for the new “Predator” series, due to be shown on TV early next year, the Great Grey Owl Brunel behaved very well.
•
Flying Demonstration at Whitehall Garden Centre near Chippenham, Wiltshire and a Static Display. JPJ did a Flying Demonstration at NAC, the same day.
•
John and Ben came back to the UK for a short visit and a break from Japan – they will both be home again before Christmas.
•
One of many chaotic days: John and two teams of birds going to Heathrow to travel to Japan and Croatia, a film job in Shepperton, Simone from South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey arrived at Birmingham Airport to spend a week at the Centre, two school visits and JPJ did an Illustrated Talk in Wales!
•
Gwent Caravan Club visited and stayed all weekend in the overflow car park, which fortunately had dried out a little after the 12 inches of rain we received at the end of September.
•
The Shooting Times Magazine came to the Centre to interview Mark, and Country Walking Magazine went on a Falconry Experience Day… keep an eye open for these features over the next couple of months.
•
JPJ and Mozart went shopping at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol to advertise late night shopping for Christmas.
•
JPJ attended the Countryside Alliance Forum in October to represent Falconry, and stand up against the anti hunting lobby to protect the flying of all Birds of Prey in the UK.