ZARQA GOVERNORATE, Jordan; ERBIL, Iraq; QAMISHLI, Syria — In the darkness of a small, windowless room, half a dozen falcons were perched on low wooden stools, their eyes covered with leather hoods. Crouching on the sand-covered floor, their caretaker gently unhooded some of the birds, which stretched their wings cautiously. For most of them, free […]
Tag: peregrine
Britain’s birds of prey – many of which were once hunted to extinction – are having a golden summer this year
I watch in awe as an osprey settles on a Scots pine and returns with a large fish for its hungry chicks. Moments later, I’m up close and personal with a red kite, its nest waving in the breeze. Finally, I see a baby peregrine falcon take its first flight – the world’s fastest living […]
Why did a murmuration of yellow-headed blackbirds crash from the sky?
A flock of hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds crashed on a Chihuahua neighborhood on February 7th. Hundreds of bird carcasses littered the streets, and security camera footage of the collision quickly went viral. The world, on the other hand, now has more questions than answers. The internet has been inundated with hypotheses about what caused the […]
Vanished hen harriers prompt RSPB call for local community vigils
People in Cumbria are being urged to watch over a pair of hen harriers who have begun nesting on a nature reserve as police investigate the disappearance of two other of the endangered raptors. Two male hen harriers vanished from RSPB Geltsdale last week in what the police described as “suspicious circumstances”, just when both […]
Call for grouse shooting to be licensed amid rise in bird of prey deaths
Labour has called for grouse shooting to be licensed after a big increase in illegal killings of birds of prey during the coronavirus lockdown, the majority of which, investigators say, are linked to the sport. As the grouse shooting season, known as the Glorious 12th, officially began on Wednesday, the shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, […]
87 bird crime incidents last year and just one conviction, says RSPB
Birds of prey were shot, poisoned, trapped or illegally killed in 87 confirmed incidents in 2018 that led to just one successful conviction, according to the RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report. This persecution of raptors including peregrines, buzzards, red kites and owls is the tip of the iceberg, with many more birds vanishing in mysterious circumstances, […]
The North Cornwall Coast
A spring day out on a North Cornwall headland when the sun is shining and the birds are starting their breeding cycle, I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
Starting the New Year
The New Year was spent in England with birding definitely not on the menu – I was on holiday. Back in Norway I started my 2017 birding with a much needed walking and public transport tour of Oslo yesterday where highlights were the Shag (which hadn’t been reported since 14 Nov although I don’t think […]