Rare hobby falcons sighted in Northern Ireland

23 August 2018

A pair of birds usually only seen in southern Europe have been spotted in Northern Ireland.

The hobbies - birds of prey that belongs to the falcon family - were photographed close to the County Londonderry town of Dungiven.

Jim Wells, chairman of the NI Raptor Study Group, said the sighting is the "most exciting thing I have witnessed in 29 years of birdwatching".

A hobby sighting in Northern Ireland is considered extremely rare.

"They are an absolutely wonderful little bird," Mr Wells told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show.

"The fact they have been discovered near Dungiven is quite remarkable."

Read on  

The bird that nurtured its mortal enemy

Presented by

Ben Aviss

Raising young is a stressful, disorientating time for any parent but one bird appears to have been so confused it was seen attempting to brood the chicks in a nearby nest of a hobby falcon – one of its known predators.

Filmmakers for BBC Two series Autumnwatch recorded a female woodpigeon repeatedly trying to brood hobby hatchlings but being pushed off the nest by the chicks’ parent.

The incredible sequence was filmed using a remote camera set up in a farm in Gloucestershire.

“I suspect the bird just became a bit confused,” said Dave Leech, senior research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

“It may have lost a brood of its own nearby and, still full of hormones associated with that stage of the nesting cycle, decided to brood the nearest available alternative.”

Continued ...

Teenaged pigeon-racer in tears after Gravesham Council bird shed ruling

Tuesday 14th January 2014 in News By Heloise Wood

A 13-YEAR-OLD pigeon enthusiast was reduced to tears after Gravesham Council told him he must tear down his bird shed.

Reece Stone, of Bourne Road, Gravesend, has learning difficulties but became passionate about pigeons four years ago, a hobby which has also helped boost his grades at school.

However the heartbroken teenager has been forced to keep his birds in baskets after the council said his family didn’t have permission for the 24-foot garden shed they built last December.

Dad Keith Stone, 51, told News Shopper: "He doesn’t know what to do with himself.

Continued