Finnish-ringed osprey found in Kenya

25/01/2020

A Western Osprey, ringed in Finland, has been refound some 4,300 miles away in Kenya.

The bird was discovered trapped in fishing net and struggling to free itself beside Lake Kanyaboli, in Siaya country in western Kenya, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service. A resident of the village spotted the raptor, noted the rings and reported the sighting.

The bird's origin was established from the ring on its leg, with the details confirming it was ringed near Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Paul Odoto, Kenya Wildlife Service Communications Director, said: "It has some bruises on the legs but it appears healthy, though it has lost some weight, and is dehydrated."

The bird was later delivered to the KWS Veterinary Department, with a statement reading: "It will be stabilised by administering IV fluids and provided with proper diet, then monitored for a few days before being released back to the wild."

Western Osprey is a regular winter visitor to Kenya, but ringing recoveries such as this one are very rare. Dr David Ndeereh, KWS Head of Veterinary Services, said the agency will share the information with the East Africa Bird Ringing Association to obtain further details on the bird.

Source

Rare bird spotted in Finland for the first time

The Pallas's reed bunting has been sighted fewer than 10 times in Europe.

A bird species previously unseen in Finland was spotted in the Kirkkonummi archipelago, according to Birdlife Finland, the local chapter of an international bird conservation organisation. The Pallas’s reed bunting was spotted at the Rönnskär bird station off the southern municipality's Porkkala peninsula.

The bird's last sighting in the Nordic countries was in October 2016 when it was seen in Sweden, the organisation stated in a release.

Pallas’s reed buntings breed across northeast Europe and northeast Asia. The European side of the species has spread to only a small region of the Urals in the northern part of the tundra. The bird has been sighted in Europe, outside of Russia, fewer than ten times.

The Pallas’s reed bunting resembles the Common reed bunting, but is smaller than the Great tit.

A new bird species was last spotted in the country in 2017, when an Oriental Pratincole made an appearance in Joroinen, a southern Finnish municipality.

Source

As climate warms, more bird nests are destroyed in farmlands

A new study shows that birds have shifted the time of their breeding much more quickly than Finnish farmers are anticipating their sowing times. This means that more birds are laying their eggs on fields that are still to be sown, a mismatch in timing that is most likely fatal for the bird nests.

"As the eggs of Curlew and Lapwings are placed on unsown fields, they are likely to be run over by farming machinery during sowing operations even if farmers were willing to avoid nest destructions," says researcher Andrea Santangeli from Finnish Museum of Natural History, part of the University of Helsinki.

Modern agriculture is catastrophic for farmland wildlife

The rush to produce more food to feed an ever-increasing society has led to unprecedented transformations in farmland over the past 50 years. The challenge of increasing crop yields was met by making extensive use of chemicals, like pesticides and herbicides to remove pests and weeds, and by making fields larger and homogeneous.

Continued  

As climate is warming up, more bird nests are destroyed in Finnish farmland

Date:  January 11, 2018

Source:  University of Helsinki

Summary:

Finnish farmers are adapting to the warming climate by anticipating the time when they sow their fields in the spring. At the same time, birds have also advanced the time of breeding as the spring temperatures are becoming milder in response to climate change.

A new study shows that birds have shifted the time of their breeding much faster than the farmers are anticipating their sowing times in Finnish farmland. This means that more birds are nowadays laying their eggs on fields that are still to be sown, a mismatch in timing that is most likely fatal for the bird nests.

"As the eggs of curlew and lapwings are placed on unsown fields, they are likely to be run over by farming machinery during sowing operations even if farmers were willing to avoid nest destructions," says researcher Andrea Santangeli from Finnish Museum of Natural History, which is part of University of Helsinki.

Readon  

A million bird observations confirm that northern species are rapidly retreating northward: Finnish study

Date:

April 23, 2014

Source:

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Summary:

Bird populations in Finland have shifted northward by an average of 45 km between the 1970s and the 2010s due, in particular, to climate change. Before this, the effects of climate change have been studied through changes in the distribution of species. A new study method also takes into account regional shifts in population density.

read on

Exhausted owl takes a break on a canoe deck

This little guy had one hoot of a day after being rescued from a freezing cold lake in Finland before deciding to take a break on the edge of a canoe deck.

The exhausted and soaking northern hawk owl was found stranded in Lake Tuusula, north of Helsinki by local adventurer Pentti Taskinen.

The owl was taken safely back ashore and dried off before it was able to fly to the forest.

Unlike many other owls, the northern hawk owls are active during the day, but also feed on small rodents, mammals as well as other birds.

They are often found in north America, Serbia and northern Scandinavia.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/09/cute-alert-exhausted-owl-takes-a-break-on-a-canoe-deck-4180336/