Black swan stolen from 14th Century manor house in latest avian tragedy to strike Yorkshire moat

Helena Horton 

25 APRIL 2019 • 5:00PM

A male black swan has been left to protect his unhatched eggs alone after his mate was stolen from her nest in the moat of a 14th century manor house, in the latest tragedy to hit the couple.

The sight of Sebastian breaks the heart of those who live at Markenfield Hall in Yorkshire, as he regularly goes back to the nest to check on his eggs.

Is is thought his partner Sylvia, who had been an attraction at the house for years, was stolen, as she disappeared without a trace.

This comes after Sylvia's previous mate was killed by an otter two years ago, and after a period of mourning she was introduced to Sebastian, and they quickly hit it off.

The pair had spent most of this month constructing a nest on the moat bank at the manor house so Sylvia could lay her eggs. Many in the area were excited to hear the cheeps of cygnets come late spring.

But owner of the manor Lady Deirdre Curteis and husband Ian Curteis began to grow concerned when they found Sebastian by himself last Saturday, sitting on the nest alone.

Lady Deirdre said: "I thought it was peculiar as Sebastian - the male - always swims across when he sees anyone coming, but there was just one swan and it was sitting on the nest.

"We searched for Sylvia for days but found no trace anywhere - not even a feather".

Swans are unusual in that both the parent birds help incubate any eggs, with one standing guard to warn off predators. If they hatch, Sebastian will have to be a single parent, protecting them until they are old enough to fly.

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Heathrow Airport hawk stolen outside hotel

By Alexandra Deabler | Fox News

A bird of prey who worked protecting the skies of Heathrow Airport was stolen from its owner’s van in the UK on Tuesday evening.

Police are actively looking into the incident after CCTV footage released shows three men smashing the window of the van while it was parked outside a hotel next to the airport, and grabbing the six-year-old hawk, Sky News reported.

The Harris hawk, Milo, was used to scare away other birds at the airport to prevent bird strikes from occurring.

Milo’s owner Layla Bennett was checking into the Mercure hotel when she left the hawk in the backseat. When she went back to retrieve him, he had been taken, Sky News reported.

According to the video footage, Bennett said Milo would not go with the men at first.

"He eventually did when they grabbed him forcefully, he was flapping and very distressed.

"Then they threw him into the car and drove off with him out of his box,” the told The Sun.

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New Zealand baffled after protected little blue penguins stolen from nests

Two men wielding a crowbar raid wild nests in Napier, possibly to sell the animals into the illegal wildlife trade

Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin

Thu 31 Jan 2019 00.48 GMTLast modified on Thu 31 Jan 2019 01.04 GMT

Two of the world’s smallest and most vulnerable penguins have been stolen in a brazen overnight raid on their nests in New Zealand.

Little blue penguins – or kororā – are native to New Zealand and are listed by the Department of Conservation (DoC) as an at-risk, declining population. Little blues are the world’s smallest penguin, and are threatened by common predators such as dogs and cats, urban development on their coastal environment and being hit by cars, boats or caught in nets.

Last week two men wielding a crowbar orchestrated a late-night raid on a little blue penguin burrow at Perfume Point in Napier, on the east coast of the North Island.

The DoC believes the thieves used the crowbar to prise heavy rocks off the penguins burrow, and then hooked the instrument around the birds’ necks to pull them from their sanctuary.

One penguin died in the attack, and two others were wrapped in towels and taken away in a vehicle, in what DoC staff worry may not be a one-off smuggling attempt, with the birds likely destined for the illegal wildlife trade.

Rod Hansen, a DoC officer at Hawkes Bay, described his team as “outraged and disturbed” by the incident.

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Police pick up penguins stolen from Nottingham zoo

Two missing Humboldts were found this week in Strelley Village after a tipoff

Press Association

Fri 18 Jan 2019 13.01 GMTLast modified on Fri 18 Jan 2019 16.20 GMT

Two penguins have been found by police officers two months after they were stolen.

The pair of Humboldt penguins were taken in November last year from a zoo in Nottinghamshire.

Police officers rescued them on Wednesday afternoon in Strelley Village, west Nottingham, after a tipoff, and returned them to the undisclosed zoo.

A 23-year-old-man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft. He has since been released under investigation.

Sgt Andrew Browning and PC Paul Toon of Nottinghamshire police worked together during the investigation.

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More than 40 rare and endangered birds stolen from outhouse in garden

DAVID ALLISON

Published: 18:55 Saturday 05 January 2019

More than 40 rare and endangered birds have been stolen from an outhouse inside a garden. The theft took place at about 7.40pm yesterday at an address in the Easington Village area. One of the birds which was stolen. Peterlee Police say the birds are of "great sentimental value" to the owner.

Anybody who has any information about the incident is asked to contact Durham Police on 101, quoting crime reference number CRI00171348.

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More swans are 'stolen' from Radipole Lake bird reserve in Weymouth

14th September

More swans have gone missing from a Weymouth bird reserve.

A week after the Dorset Echo reported the sad news that a family of mute swans were feared dead after being taken from the RSPB Radipole Lake reserve, it has been revealed that more of the protected birds have been targeted.

Swan warden at Radipole Lake Derek Davey claims a further nine birds, including some cygnets, have been stolen by thieves. This is on top of the seven which were taken previously and reported to police.

Police have said there is nothing to suggest the original family of swans were stolen.

The RSPB has also suggested an animal could be responsible, but that it was a 'mystery'.

Mr Davey is adamant that human thieves are at work.

He would not speculate on why the swans are being removed and by whom but said it was possible the birds were being targeted for food.

He has again asked people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour.

Swans are protected under the 1981 Wildlife Countryside Act which makes it illegal to keep or kill them.

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What a flap: SIM swiped from slain stork's GPS tracker used to rack up $2,700 phone bill

Bio-boffins' feathers ruffled after miscreants flip 'em the bird, costing charity a lotta złoty

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco 3 Jul 2018 at 18:44

A Polish charity is on the hook for 10,000 złoty (£2,010, $2,648) after a tracking device it put on a white stork was stolen in Africa – and its SIM card used to make a ton of expensive phone calls.

The nature group Grupa EkoLogiczna attached the GPS device to the back of the bird, named Kajtka, in April 2017 while it spent the spring in Poland. The gizmo was supposed to track the stork's progress as it migrated south to Africa. Kajtka made the trip safe and sound, and on February 1 this year, it started north again for a European summer vacation.

Ten days later, Kajtka reached the Blue Nile valley in Sudan, and suddenly came to a stop. One could assume was a dead stop, since the bird didn’t move again until April 26, when things got odd for the scientists monitoring Kajtka’s GPS feed.

That day the signal took a circuitous 25 kilometre (16 mile) trip, and then went dead. Then on June 7, the charity’s mobile phone company handed it a massive bill from Kajtka. The group said earlier last month someone took the tracker apart, and used the SIM card for 20-hours of eye-watering phone calls.

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Stone-curlew eggs stolen

17/05/2018

Suffolk police are appealing for information following the theft of four Eurasian Stone-curlew eggs from Cavenham Heath NNR in Suffolk. Offenders took the eggs from the nesting site at some point between 4 and 9 May.

The species was almost lost as a breeding bird in Britain, with numbers declining from around 2,000 pairs in the 1920s to just 168 pairs in 1991. A successful recovery programme in the east of England has increased this number to 400 pairs. However, Eurasian Stone-curlew remains Amber listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern in the UK.

Sergeant Brian Calver of Suffolk Constabulary commented: “These are a Schedule One bird, which receive a high level of protection, to include their nesting sites.

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'Extremely rare' bird of prey Teala is stolen from falconer's garden

'The bird’s quite aggressive so it has to be someone with experience of handling birds of prey'

Kit Sandeman

18:19, 5 JAN 2018

An ‘extremely rare’ bird has been stolen from the garden of a keen falconry expert who has been working with birds of prey for 30 years.

Believed to be one of only around 20 in the UK, three-year-old Teala was taken from her home in Newthorpe yesterday afternoon, Thursday, January 4.

She is a cross between a Harris hawk and a red-tail hawk, and had been taken out of her shed to get some sunlight before her owner, Jamie Alexander, took her for her daily flight.

He went back inside the shed just 20 yards away, and moments later she was taken, along with the perch she was tied to.

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Rustler fear over missing rhea

The owner of an "aggressive" ostrich-like bird which has been hunted by armed police since it was reported missing two days ago fears he has been stolen.

Last updated: 25 June 2015, 14:30 BST

The owner of an "aggressive" ostrich-like bird which has been hunted by armed police since it was reported missing two days ago fears he has been stolen.

People living near Carlton-in-Lindrick, in north Nottinghamshire, have been warned to stay clear of the 6ft tall male rhea and told to call 999 immediately with any sightings.

But owner Alex Macdonald said that despite police officers turning out earlier this week with shotguns and rifles to look for the unnamed bird, he thinks it must have been stolen.

Mr Macdonald said that even though the missing rhea is a male, he is sitting on eggs at the moment and it is unlikely he would stray far.

Today, the bird's female partner was pacing the field they share looking for her mate.

"They used to play a lot running around the fields and stuff and she's not doing that at the minute. She's just getting over the fact she's on her own now," Mr Macdonald said.

"It's speculation but I think it's been taken. Nobody's reported it and it's something you would report if you saw it."

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Harris hawks stolen from Loch Lomond bird sanctuary

5 March 2015 Last updated at 09:45

Police are continuing the hunt for two birds of prey stolen from a bird sanctuary in Balloch.

The two Harris hawks were stolen during a break-in at the Loch Lomond Shores in Ben Lomond Way.

Police said the theft took place sometime between 17:00 on Monday and 09:30 on Tuesday.

Officers have appealed for witnesses and said they were checking CCTV footage as well as carrying out inquiries in the local area.

Staff at the Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre discovered the break-in when they were checking the birds as part of their normal routine on Tuesday morning.

Harris hawks are medium to large birds of prey with dark brown and chestnut plumage and a white-tipped tail.

There's growing concern about the wellbeing of the birds, which are a four-and-a-half-year-old female called Camay and a two-and-a half-year-old male named Terco.

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Barn owl boxes in Suffolk 'stolen and vandalised'

Five barn owl boxes which are part of a Suffolk community project have been stolen or vandalised, with the animals taken to "spend their lives in cages".

The boxes were erected in an attempt to halt a decline in barn owl numbers.

They are made by a group of disabled people and Hollesley Bay prisoners, and monitored by volunteers.

Kathy Piotrowski, of the Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project, said it was sad that a "few mindless people" were undoing people's hard work.

About 1,700 boxes have been put up around the county and they have been credited with helping to turn around the birds' fortunes locally.

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Barn owl chicks stolen from Haddiscoe Island mill

22 May 2014 Last updated at 15:58

The wooden door of the mill was damaged and the barn owls taken

Six young barn owls have been stolen from a nest inside a mill in Norfolk.

The door of Toft Monks Mill on Haddiscoe Island was "completely smashed apart" as thieves went into the building and took the birds, believed to be about three weeks old.

Paul Newton, who had been monitoring the eggs, said: "This is such a hideous, pointless crime."

Norfolk Police said it was investigating and wanted to speak to five teenagers seen near the mill.

They were spotted nearby on Sunday, the day before the break-in was noticed.

Mr Newton said the barn owls' mother, which has been seen in the mill since the theft, laid the eggs last month.

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Former owner of National Birds of Prey Centre charged with selling birds illegally

Owner charged with fraud, theft & illegal sales

May 2013. The former owner of the National Birds of Prey Centre, Keith Beaven, is appearing in court accused of a number of wildlife, theft and fraud offences, all related to protected birds. 

Keith Beaven, 67, was charged with a total of 13 offences, including; Five counts of fraud by misrepresentation; Six counts of theft; One count of the prohibited sale of a specimen of an endangered species, contrary to the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (enforcement) regulations 1997; One count of knowingly making a false statement for a certificate, contrary to the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (enforcement) regulations 1997.

The charges are as a result of an investigation led by Gloucestershire Police, in conjunction with the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), following on from a police led search warrant in June 2011.

Beaven owned the National Birds of Prey Centre, situated near Newent, from 2004 - 2008. He is suspected of selling rare birds illegally, and also of selling birds that had been ‘loaned' to the centre.

Now known as The International Centre for Birds of Prey Centre, the centre is now run by its former owner who is not connected to this case in any way. Go to their website. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/birds-of-prey-sales.html

RSPB Loch of Strathbeg collection box thieves criticised

Thieves who destroyed a robin-shaped donation box at the RSPB's Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve have been criticised.

Staff realised the donation box was missing on Tuesday, and found it sawn in half in a ditch.

Volunteer Catherine Wilkinson said: "They've probably taken just a few pounds but destroyed a brand new robin which could cost us £250 to replace.

"We know how important people's donations are."

She added: "It's incredibly disappointing that someone would do something like this."

Visitor centre officer Diana Spencer explained: "This is the latest incident in a spate of petty vandalism.

"We empty all our donation boxes every day so there's never any significant amount of cash in them.

"If this continues, we'll have to look at closing the centre earlier or opening later, which will affect all of our visitors."

Loch of Strathbeg is Britain's largest sand dune loch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19988871

Black market in rare birds suspected in northern district

A BLACK market for rare and expensive birds is operating in the northern district, warns Eastwood resident Ian Sheffield president of the Parrot Society of Australia (NSW).

Ten of his exotic birds were stolen from the aviary in the backyard of his Eastwood home while he slept about a month ago.

A pair of breeding Alexandrines, their three baby Alexandrines, one immature male Alexandrine and two breeding pairs of Plum head parrots went missing,

"I was just devastated when I walked outside and they were missing," he said. "The value of the birds varied, but to me they were priceless."

The estimated value could exceed $60,000 in the bird's breeding lifetime," he said. "The big thing is the dollar value is there because we can't import them anymore. So we have got to breed good ones from what we have."

Police are investigating the theft of birds from residential aviaries or cages over the past six months.

Continued:  http://northern-district-times.whereilive.com.au/news/story/black-market-in-rare-birds-suspected-in-northern-district/