Speculation around bird of prey deaths has become more hysterical

Monday 27 October 2014

The announcement by Police Scotland that the 20 raptors found poisoned in March near Conon Bridge were "not deliberately targeted" raises number of serious matters.

Despite the trend of crimes against birds of prey having gone down in the last 3-5 years, particularly by poisoning, the speculation around each case has become more hysterical; the RSPB even tried to link the Conon Bridge incident to grouse moor management. There are now websites and bloggers and organisations involved in police investigations who are not slow to feed information to the media and promote speculation.

This speculation is having a corrosive knock-on effect on many other aspects of land management, severely straining the relationship between land managers and conservation bodies.

Continued ...

RSPB offers £5K reward to catch raptor poisoner

The number of birds of prey illegally poisoned in Scotland doubled last year

by ALISTAIR MUNRO

Published on the 01 April 2014 

A £5,000 reward has been offered to help find those responsible for a spate of raptor poisonings in the Highlands.

Nine red kites and four buzzards have been found in a small two-mile area of land near Conon Bridge, Ross-shire, in just 10 days.

Tests on the first seven raptors have so far revealed that six of them were illegally poisoned.

The figure equals the total number of raptors known to have been poisoned in Scotland last year.

The latest discoveries are thought to be the worst bird of prey poisonings in Scottish history.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, of RSPB Scotland, said the charity was now offering a “substantial” reward for information leading to a successful conviction.

He said: ”This appalling incident highlights the very real threat illegal poisoning poses to fantastic species like red kites. The vulnerable Black Isle population in particular has been repeatedly hit by deaths due to illegal poison use.

Continued

Wildlife Advocate Pressure Cuts Altamont Wind Bird Kills In Half

by Chris Clarke

on January 30, 2013 2:03 PM

A years-long campaign to reduce bird mortality at the Altamont Pass wind turbine area has cut deaths of eagles and three other bird of prey species by about 50 percent since 2005, according to a study completed in November that's just starting to attract some notice. A combination of junking obsolete turbines and paying closer attention to siting seems to have reduced the number of bird deaths at the site.

The study, conducted by the consulting firm ICF International for the Alameda County Community Development Agency, was delivered to the county in November.

According to a recent blog post on the website of the Golden Gate chapter of the National Audubon Society, deaths of four key raptor species dropped significantly from 2005 to 2010:

The estimated number of Golden Eagles killed by turbines each year fell from 58 to 33, Burrowing Owls from 543 to 233, American Kestrels from 415 to 268, and Red-tailed Hawks from 196 to 85.

Golden Gate Audubon's Mike Lynes offers some caveats about the data:

These figures are rough estimates: It's exceedingly difficult to track exact numbers of bird deaths on the sprawling Altamont Pass. And while the data indicate a decline in risks to birds, we know bird injuries and deaths are likely to always result from wind turbine operations.

Read on:  http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/wind/wildlife-advocate-pressure-cuts-altamont-wind-bird-kills-in-half.html