Raptor's Story

Being an animal lover and a vegetarian I am obviously opposed to any kind of hunting.  In particular I see no appeal in hunting for 'sport' although of course this is a widespread activity.  Certain kind of hunting are clearly wrong, for example trophy hunting for wild African animals (e.g. rhinos, elephants, big cats) is widely viewed as unacceptable, particularly as many of these animals are endangered.

Looking a bit closer to home, the opinions towards hunting of game birds are less firm.  After all, the species shot are common (e.g. grouse, pheasant) and often bred for this exact purpose.  This sport can be an important input into the economy, for instance on some estates people pay £175 for every 2 birds they shoot, as well as being ingrained into some societies.

Hen Harrier

However, a dangerous indirect threat arising from this sport in the persecution of raptors that occasionally prey on game birds.  Despite the majority of these raptors being legally protected from persecution, many a still poisoned and shot and this is a serious problem for species that are already suffering low population numbers.  Hen harriers are an example of one of these species as only 1% of their naturally occurring numbers are successfully breeding in grouse moors.  This species is one of the most threatened raptors in the UK with only 570 breeding pairs left.  Another critically endangered species suffering is the Golden eagle as only this month (19th December) another satellite-tagged bird was found poisoned on a moor that is intensively managed for grouse shooting.

Golden Eagle

Buzzards are a conservation success story in the UK as despite historical declines, they are now this country's most common raptor, with a population of 31,000 to 44, 000 breeding pairs.  They are still a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 2001 in order to maintain and perhaps even improve these numbers.  However, a shocking development occurred in May when Natural England issued its first license to destroy buzzard nests and move adults after requests from a pheasant shooting estate.  To make matters worse, research has indicated that buzzards play a minor role in pheasant losses as they only occasionally take young pheasants from breeding pens.  There are also alternative measures available to protect pheasant numbers such as providing more cover for young pheasants in release pens, visual deterrents to discourage buzzards and providing alternative food sources

I believe that this persecution of raptors is equally as unacceptable as ivory poaching of elephants and it needs the same level of attention to prevent further losses to our native birds.  All animals populations on this earth are precariously balanced due to their daily battles with human actions.  We cannot afford to abandon any of them, even if they are seemingly recovering as in the case of the buzzards, if we want to keep them in our world.

Buzzard

The vulture's story

As a conservationist I am often faced with shocking stories of species that are literally on the brink of extinction and I wanted to share one such story as I believe it needs all the recognition it can get.  This involves three species of Asian Vultures: oriental white- backed, slender billed and long billed vultures. All 3 are now critically endangered as their numbers have declined 97%, or 99.9% in the case of the oriental white-backed vulture in the last 10 years.  This is due to an unexpected culprit in the form of the drug diclofenac.  This is an anti-inflammatory drug used by farmers to treat their livestock and is unintentionally ingested by these vultures when they feed on the livestock carcasses.

White-backed vulture

Now, I understand that vultures do not inspire the most pleasant thoughts with many people as they are generally not the most aesthetically pleasing and their almost a symbol of death which is not exactly uplifting.  However, I personally disagree with this opinion as I believe it displays the dangerous concept of speciesism as seemingly more popular species are favoured even when their are others more desperately in need of our help.  Also, vultures contribute a very significant benefit to human societies and their decline is already beginning to have a negative impact.  For example, vultures are the natural caretakers of the environment and this prevents the spread of many diseases that would be a real threat to the poorer people in Asia.  One unprecedented example is there has now been a huge increase in the incidence of rabies, particularly in India.  This is because vultures compete with feral dogs for carcasses so without this source of competition populations of dogs have risen dramatically, along with the incidence of dog bites.

The economy is already taking a hit due to this decline in vultures, with the tanning and fertiliser industries being prime examples.  In a nutshell, more livestock carcasses have to be buried or incinerated as the vultures are not there to dispose of them naturally.  Therefore, less skins and bones are available for these industries.  A last note is that vultures draw tourists so the industry of ecotourism (sustainable tourism) will begin to suffer.

Thankfully, the campaign SAVE (Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction) is combing of the efforts of many organisations to help these vultures.  These efforts have led the governments of India, Nepal and Pakistan all banning the use of diclofenac and a safe drug meloxicam has been produced as a replacement.  

Long-billed vulture

In addition, captive breeding centres have been set up and resulted in 30 chicks fledging to date. However, these chicks cannot be released into the wild as diclofenac is still very present despite all this work.  The main issues this campaign faces is that people in Asia are either unaware of the effects diclofenac can have or they decided not to care.  Therefore, even though as always money is an important factor in recovery of species (such as in supporting captive breeding programmes), this case has highlighted the need for education.  This education needs to encompass a wide range of people in Asia including farmers, children, conservation students etc so that so that the importance of these vultures is understood and these species can begin to recover. Beyond this, these vulture's story should become a worldwide message of equality and the fact that every species deserves to be saved.

Happy Ending

I was warned at the beginning of this placement that I would be dreaming of yellow flowers by the end of it, and now I can understand why as ragwort pulling has definitely been a significant feature of this week!  Luckily I didn’t have to undergo whole days of this task as they wouldn’t be that cruel (incidentally the team here are lovely) so it was broken up with different tasks.  There were many standard volunteer tasks amongst these, such as clearing out an old building, collecting debris from fields, cutting back brambles etc.  However, there were also some seemingly unusual tasks such as getting dropped off in a field to count sheep.  The reason for this task was to check that the graziers that rent the land off the RSPB were abiding to the agreed numbers of livestock grazing.  The proposed number of livestock on these fields has been calculated to ensure that these fields are not overgrazed or, conversely, under grazed as if there are not enough livestock then they will concentrate on small areas where there is the most palatable vegetation.  This will result in other areas becoming overgrown which will have a negative impact on certain species, such as lapwings that require short grass in which to breed.

Another unusual task took place at Loch Insh which is partly owned by the RSPB but the rest is owned by a water sports centre.  There is an obvious conflict here between water sports and wildlife so the RSPB have tried to minimise this by asking staff at the centre to instruct customers to refrain from disturbance.  One of the most vulnerable species to disturbance is a pair of ospreys that nest on an island in the middle of the loch.  This island is off limits to the general public during the bird’s breeding season, and it is particularly important not to disturb them when they are incubating eggs or trying to feed young chicks as the negative impacts of the public scaring the adults away will be more severe at these critical stages.  Therefore, our task involved monitoring the activity of the loch such as what activities were going on, where, for how long and did anyone approach the island (which thankfully nobody did whilst we were there).  Not exactly a strenuous afternoon although it did feel slightly odd to be using my binoculars to follow people in boats! 

Loch Insh

As this week draws to a close, so does my summer of volunteering, a total of 8 weeks altogether.  I feel a great sense of achievement to have accomplished this as it has definitely been hard work at times.  Saying that, more than anything it has been a joy learning how this world of conservation works alongside some wonderful people who I’ve met along the way.  Most importantly, I have reconfirmed that I have made the right choice pursuing a career in conservation and I look forward to many an exciting adventure in the future.  I will of course keep this blog updated with future stories I will no doubt encounter along the way. 

Insh stories

The weather has begun to turn and there is now a definite sense of autumn in the air as I forge on with my final volunteering placement of the summer at Insh Marshes for a week.  There is a definite change in pace in duties again from the ‘working holiday’ atmosphere of Loch Garten to what only be classified as ‘work’ which I must admit to do prefer as I have always enjoyed a challenge.  Monday morning started with an induction with the site manager here and it was the most through and more importantly interesting one I had undergone as she took the time to really explain the management of the reserve.  One of the key management techniques of the reserve renting their land to graziers to graze a variety of stock, including sheep, cattle (e.g. highland and Aberdeen angus) and ponies, as these all produce a slightly different habitat.  Much of the reserve is managed naturally, as their isn’t any significant manual interference with the water table, although it is monitored daily.

The original focus of the reserve was to enhance the habitat for waders such as common sandpipers and lapwings etc.  However, other species are now being focused on including the rare dark-bordered beauty moth and the aspen hoverfly which requires 4 year old bark in which to breed.  The RSPB is also trying to promote the ecosystem functions of the reserve to the public in order to increase support for its protection, such as the fact that it is a natural floodplain.

Once this induction was finished, the first task was to locate goldeneye nest boxes so I and my fellow volunteer were sent out into the marsh/scrub woodland armed with a GPS and a ladder, quite an introduction to the reserve!  Goldeneye ducks are different in the fact that they nest in trees and as this is a rare species in the UK (200 breeding pairs) these nest boxes are provided in hopes of increasing their numbers.  These ducks are known to readily accept these boxes as there seems to be a lack of suitable nest sites in Scottish forests, perhaps because of the lack of mature trees, or the lack of black-woodpecker nest holes that are used by these birds in Europe.

Goldeneye duck

It is now after the goldeneye breeding season so there was no risk in disturbing the birds.  The purpose of this task was to determine whether these nest boxes had been used to checking whether there was any down or shell fragments present.  In some cases there would be eggs which are likely to have been laid by immature females that don’t incubate them as they are infertile and this is called ‘egg-dumping’. 

The second task was one that I was familiar with after volunteering at Forsinard Flows last year, and that was one of ragwort pulling.  This is a legal requirement of landowners as it is classified as a weed and also benefits horses as they are allergic as this plant’s toxins build up overtime until it reaches a lethal level.  It is not the most interesting task but, similarly to bracken cutting on Eigg, there is a sense of satisfaction on achieving it.  The fact that we were sharing the field we were clearing with 9 horses, all eager to make friends, also helped boost motivational levels as well as providing entertainment (i.e. bending down to pull ragwort while a horse nibbles your back pocket in search for food).

A day full on satisfaction and interest then, which really is all you could wish for as a volunteer.

Loch Garten stories

(Note - uploading the next 3 posts after my placements due to lack of wifi!)

My newest adventure has been volunteering at the RSPB nature reserve Loch Garten in Abernethy for the last week.  The focus of this reserve is protecting and monitoring an osprey pair that have been returning to this same area to breed for the last few years.

Loch Garten

Ospreys are on the Amber list (endangered but not critically so) with the RSPB as they were once relatively common in the UK but they were exterminated by 1916.  Since then their numbers have increased to 160 pairs but they are still threatened by egg-robbers so they require constant protection which is often where volunteers come into play.  My duties here involve monitoring the ospreys in a hide where any notable behaviour is recorded such as the parents bring in fish/nest material, the chicks flying, where and when they are doing so etc.  This monitoring is on a rotation system with the other volunteers so that the ospreys are constantly under surveillance, we even sleep there!

This year, the ospreys  have successfully managed to raise 2 chicks (Breagh and Oighrig), although the beginning of this season did not run entirely smoothly as there were originally 4 eggs but the male discarded  2 out of the nest.  The reason for this was that the female had not been entirely faithful as she mated with another male before her partner returned and therefore the male realised that these first 2 chicks were not his. 

Adult male

However, the season is ending on a high note as these surviving chicks are well developed enough to be flying now and they are spending more and more time away from the nest.  The parents are still bring them fish (primarily brown trout) although they are decreasing the amount of fish they provide (1-3 a day on average) and the purpose of this is thought to be to encourage the chicks to find their own food.  These chicks will have to be fully independent within the next week or so as this species heads south in mid-August to their wintering grounds in Africa which they will reach in late September.  
I know that everyone at the centre will be crossing their fingers for a safe journey for these chicks and a hope that these ospreys will return for yet another year.

Osprey chicks, waiting for parents to arrive with fish!

This week has been very different from Eigg as there are actual shifts organised whereas the work on Eigg was a lot more laid back in terms of timings.  However, the work here was more straightforward and definitely less strenuous than Eigg and I would describe this week as a working holiday.  All of my volunteering placements are different from one another but each one is similar in the fact that they provide my with yet more experience to help fuel my future career, as well of giving me the privilege of helping such special species find their way in this human-dominated world.

Seals and speed boats

After a relatively quiet week last week due to bad weather for most of it friday definitely made up for it as we made the most of the good weather and were out for 10 hours.  At least 9 hours of this was spent walking/hiking in the heat (yes, it does actually get hot up here!) so we were all exhausted by the end of it but well worth the effort.

At the beginning of the day I felt like a character out of the famous five as we made our way to 'castle island' which is a very small island just off the coast of eigg.  The purpose of this trip was to check on the seabirds, mainly the gull colonies to determine if they have had any breeding success.  We got their via a speed boat which I have never done before, cue change of character from the famous five to James Bond.  There was a common seal colony basking on one of the rocks we past so we managed to pause to get a few photos, with some of them coming right up to the boat to check us out.  They have very curious natures and not the most subtle although they think they are being when they sneak closer, until they realize we have spotted them!

Although Castle Island is very small, it still took us a good hour or 2 to walk around it, partly due to the fact that we kept stopping to look at the fabulous views/wildlife.  The first colony we came across was arctic terns and there were also some common terns among them, some with chicks which is a huge success as they have not successfully bred here for about 10 years.  On the other side of the island we observed that shags and black guillemots also had fledged chicks as did the gulls.  However, there were only around 30 gull chicks counted, which was not a huge amount as there were about 90 breeding pairs so this either suggests that a lot of chicks didn't make it, or more likely not all the pairs were able to breed this year.

After a much needed lunch break at the tea room when we returned to Eigg, we started the long trek up to the lochs again to check on the red-throated diver chicks.  Away from the sea breeze it did get very warm up amongst the heather and I'm sure I wasn't the only one eyeing up the lochs which were looking very tempting for a quick dip (see photo).  We located the first two chicks in the first loch which were still going strong and perhaps a couple of weeks off fledging where they will head to the sea so the parents can teach them the art of catching fish.  We didn't hold much hope for the other chick as the loch it was on is popular with otters and it was a lot smaller than the other chicks.  However, we were all delighted to see it not only still alive but much larger so its chances of survival have now increased significantly.

A day of success stories then and ended with happy thoughts of a lazy weekend in the sun...

Thrilling jobs of a conservationist

This week started with a task that is not exactly thrilling but definitely required which is bracken cutting.  It is not a complicated job, we were given some slightly menacing looking tools and basically told to let rip!  We weren't trying to clear all the bracken as that would be near on impossible so instead we focused on clearing that around young trees that had been planted, particularly oak as this is slow growing and easily overcrowded by ferns.  These trees have been planted to replace the conifer plantations in order to increase the diversity of animals that can use this area as a habitat, a task that is becoming more common throughout Scotland.  Although it felt like we were trekking through a jungle most of the time, constantly getting caught, bitten, cut, sun burnt and lost there was some strange satisfaction in this task.  Not only is it a fantastic from of stress release, when you give these trees space it almost feels like your rescuing I child from a caved in building and giving it room to breathe.  At least that's what it felt like to me, must be the heat!

Yesterday focused on a red-throated diver survey which involved hiking up to the lochs where they breed.  This species has suffered a slight decline in recent years and it now on the amber status with the RSPB so it was worth checking on breeding pairs to see if they have had any success.  It turned out that this was the case, with one pair rearing two almost full grown chicks and another rearing one young chick although there was none in the third loch we checked.

Although these lochs were beautiful, they did seem a more lonely place with a lower diversity of wildlife than I've seen elsewhere.  The main reason for this is that these lochs are not the best food source, not even these red-throated divers find food here as one adult has to fly out to sea that bring back food (mostly sand-eels).  The only other bird species that can apparently occasionally breed in these lochs are mallard ducks and common sandpipers if there is gravel nearby.  Still a habitat worth preserving nonetheless, not least for their beauty!

The weather this week continues to be surprisingly warm and I made the most of it this afternoon (after finishing more bracken cutting this morning) so begin conducting some survey work for my dissertation.  I'm interested in looking at the differences in the abundance and diversity of coastal bird species that are found on the Arran and Eigg.  On paper, they are similar, both being islands off the west of Scotland.  However, Arran is larger and I believe more significantly, has a higher density of people than Eigg which may impact the type of species that are found on these islands.  For example, ground-nesting birds that are easily disturbed may not be able to breed on Arran and so far my surveying has hinted that this may be the case with the Arctic terns as these cause quite a commotion when disturbed here and this species is not found on Arran.  All very interesting (or at least I think so!)  and I will of course write on here if I have any ground-breaking results!

Longest day yet

Although I am not a morning person, I was very willing to get up slightly earlier yesterday in order to see the golden eagles that I was promised.  The purpose of this survey was to locate the nest (John luckily had a good idea of where it was) and determine if there were any chicks and how many.  This early start was necessary as it was quite a hike to this nest following a fairly precarious path along a cliff, one that apparently is prone to rock slides which was not the most reassuring of thoughts! We eventually arrived at a site that was close enough to the nest to see it through the use of a telescope and this was the start of our vigil.  This can be a tedious part of conservation work as during surveys the majority of time is spent watching nothing and it takes a certain level of willpower to stick it out.  This is particularly the case in Scotland as the weather was not in our side as we were bombarded with icy cold winds and rain, despite the fact that this is July!

Although these weren't the most comfortable of conditions, it did not make the moment when we first got the glimpse of the chick any less magical.  This chick was obviously as unimpressed with the weather as we were so didn't venture to the edge of nest for long but it allowed us to see that it is maturing well with much of its head covered with its adult black feathers and only a small amount of down feathers around its beak.  Now that this chick has got to this stage of maturity its chances of survival are much higher which of course made us all very happy.  We didn't see any signs of a second chick which is a shame as eagles often have two but the rearing of one healthy chick is defiantly a success considering the fact that there is only around 400 breeding pairs left in the wild.

The next challenge for me will be to get a closer look at the adult birds as the closest I got was only a far away silhouette but this requires even more intense rock climbing so I may have to work on my fitness before that happens!

The next survey of the day included a bat count that we conducted at about 10 in the evening as it began to get dark.  The most common species of bat here is the pipistrelle bat and there are 2 areas on the island that they are known to colonise, although the are prone to changing the roost sites frequently which can make keeping track of numbers more difficult.  This survey was straightforward as it began after the first bat was sighted and then it was just a matter of counting any bats seen coming out of the roost site after that.  This took about an hour and ended when no new bats had been sighted for about 10 minutes.  There was defiantly a contrast in bat numbers between the roosts, with my team counting around 150 compared to the 6 the other team observed which they were not overly impressed about!  The most bats that have been counted at one site on Eigg so far has been over 250, I can imagine that was a long night!

My day ended therefore with a midnight walk across the island to a very welcome bed and the comforting thought that I will now get a couple of days off.  However, I'm already excited about next week's adventures...

Overwhelmed...

My first day of 'work' yesterday involved joining John (the warden) on his guided walk that he takes visitors on every Wednesday.  This is probably the best way to start my time here as I managed to see a fair bit of the island considering we were walking for about 6 hours, quite an achievement for such a small island.  One of our stops along the way was just outside John's house conveniently as this allowed him to get his telescope to view a variety of wildlife.  These included a pair of cormorants perching on a rock and a few common seals lying in the sun on the rocks just offshore, some with pups.  These seals don't congregate in large colonies like the grey seals that breed during the autumn and their breeding season seems less aggressive in a way due to this as there is less competition between the males.  We had a lovely half hour when we paused for lunch as the sun came out, followed by the seals venturing off the rocks into the sea to play, truly idyllic.

One of my highlights from this walk was seeing the Arctic terns, a species of bird I have never encountered before.  They really are amazing birds in the fact that they travel the furthest out of any animal, including trips ranging from the Arctic all the way to Australia. They were nesting on a group of rocks on the shore and were not best pleased at us disturbing their nests with some adults attempting to dive bomb our heads.  We didn't want to disturb them too long so didn't linger, although right at the last minute we managed to spot a chick that was hiding its head from us in the rocks, a strategy many species use as predators often locate chicks through their eyes.

I think my ultimate highlight of this day however was after the walk when John led us into an area of forestry, not informing us of his intention originally when the visitors were around.  It turned out that he wanted to check on a hen harrier's nest which is a protected species so he didn't want to reveal its location.  On approach of the nest we made a large amount of noise in order to scare the female away and we were able to check on the chicks (see photo).  Unfortunately there were only 2 chicks where 4 had been previously recorded.  They did seem a good size and weight however so fingers crossed they will survive particularly as the weather looks like it is going to improve which will give them a better chance.  Being within touching distance of this chicks was pretty amazing!

The main task of today was a lapwing survey on the moorland which is a red list species as its numbers have decreased by 80% since 1960.  This is a similar trend to many farmland birds that used to be common, including skylarks and yellowhammers as agricultural methods have become more  intensive.  This has resulted in autumn grown crops meaning there is less stubble available which can be an important food source for birds.  The drainage of land and application of agrochemicals has also led to the lapwing's decline as this is a wading bird so requires water.

The result of this survey was promising though, with around 30 individuals counted in total, 12 of which were fledged young hinting at a successful breeding season.  An unexpected bonus of this survey was the location of 2 very cute snipe chicks which we noticed due to an adult feigning injury which a number of species do to lead predators away from a nest.  One of these chicks decided to try and follow its mother's example and stumble after her but John managed to catch it and return it safely to the nest, after allowing me to take a quick photo as seen below.

I'm already overwhelmed at the variety of wildlife I have seen and with a chance of seeing golden eagles tomorrow my excitement continues to grow!

First Impressions

After 2 days of travelling I have finally arrived to the Isle of Eigg (little island off Scotland) where I will be volunteering for a month.  Although the train ride was long at 6 hours between Glasgow and Mallaig (where the ferry is to Eigg) I was thoroughly entertained just looking out the window as the scenery was beautiful, unbelievably so at times.  Once I arrived at Mallaig, which was about 6 in the evening, I was booked into a hostel and had a slight moment of worry when getting off the train as I realised I had no idea where it was.  I need not have worried however as it turned out the hostel was right next door, as was the ferry port and pretty much everything else!

My night at the hostel was nice enough, nothing remarkable (well, despite one of my roommate's snoring which was remarkably loud!) and I was on the 10.15 ferry this morning.  There was another moment of panic once I boarded the ferry as after consulting the timetable I convinced myself that the ferry was not stopping at Eigg and I would end up on another island, the most likely one being Muck.  I had of course read the timetable wrong (which is a common occurrence) and the ferry did manage to make it to Eigg, despite gale force winds and torrential rain.

Unfortunately, this weather means that I haven't been able to really see the island clearly under all this cloud cover.  What I have seen however has been pretty spectacular, which is pretty much all rolling hills and coast with barely any buildings in sight.  I have already begun to be introduced into the community, one of which I have never encountered before.  As I live on the Isle of Arran I'm used to most people knowing each other, but Arran has about 5000 people compared to the 100 that live here so this level of intimacy is at a different level.  The attitudes of these people also seem so much more friendly and relaxed than most you encounter these days, this was demonstrated by a man offering me his car to put my luggage in whilst I went into the shop to get food.  I would never have considered doing this in the middle of Glasgow but didn't think twice about it here, it seemed the natural thing to do.  The overall impression I get is that the people here are truly in sync with this island which shines through in their attitudes and pace of life.  I'm hoping to experience this myself in my time here as I'm already beginning to appreciate what I special place this is.

(View from my window)

The animal's stories

As my duties moved more to outside work I got to experience a wider range of animals and meet a whole set of new characters.  One of my favourite duties is feeding the fox cubs, the obvious reason being that they are extremely cute.  However, it's not quite as fun as it sounds as these cubs cannot be tamed if they are to be released into the wild so we need to keep them afraid of humans by not interacting with them too much and even making loud noises etc to scare them if they get too curious.  Making an adorable fox cub scared is defiantly a very difficult task but luckily not really necessary as most of them our cautious already and some even show some aggression such as growling (see photo below).

However, there is a certain fox cub that does not abide by these rules and will approach you no matter how much noise you make.  In fact, your the one ending up looking foolish as the fox cub just sits there watching you whilst you stupidly bang a bucket, as it to ask 'are you finished yet'?  I'm only human and couldn't help getting attached to this fox cub and have even named him Rooney, a name that seems to have spread throughout the whole centre!  I have given up trying to scare Rooney as he is fearless although I do still refrain from encouraging him with any contact, as much as I'd love to stroke a fox cub!

Rooney

One animal that I am allowed to stroke and be as affectionate as I wish with is with Terrance the pig.  I was slightly confused when I came across Terrance outside, as this is a wildlife rescue centre after all.  His story is that his mother died when he was only a day old and the centre was contacted to see if they could take him as the farm could not provide the care he needed.  Now, who could turn down a cute piglet?  Terrance had to be bottle fed for the first few weeks and through this he has created a bond with humans and is always happy to see you, especially if you've brought food.  One of my favourite ways to end the day is to sit with him whilst he eats his dinner and take out all my stroking and cuddling frustrations out on him!

Some of these animals I do get too much contact with, not always intentionally.  The corvids (i.e. jackdaws, crows and magpies) are an example of this.  When they are moved out of the hospital they are put into a larger outdoor aviary although some of them still need hand feeding.  This means we still need to go in every couple of hours to feed them and this can be a challenging as there are now so many in there, all wanting to be fed first.  I took my life into my hands the other day by going in by myself, an act I will not be repeating as as soon as I stepped through the door I was covered in them.  Without anyone else to help me remove them I had to stay covered in them until I fed them enough so they flew off, a difficult task when your arms are covered in crows.  I learnt very early on not to bend down in the aviary as there is no way that you will be able to stand up again as apparently corvids view your back as a very desirable perch.

A very hungry bird

Although I am often covered in poo, hair, feathers and scratches from these animals, I do appreciate how lucky I am to get such close contact with them and this is definitely and experience I will never forget.

Open day mania

After my hurried introduction on my first day, it was much the same the following day although my duties were completely different.  As pretty much everyone has managed to tell me so far I managed to time my arrival on the busiest weekend of the year as today was their open day (phote below).  This brings in thousands of people and it is the centre’s main fund raising event so of course this means a lot of stress and people running around clutching pile’s of brick and brack.  I have worked on stalls in the past and also been working in retail since I was 14 so I did feel more in my comfort zone when it came to dealing with the public.  Again I did feel slightly that I was thrown into the deep end though when I was told that I would be managing the lucky dip alone.  This wasn’t just any lucky dip either as it involved a tent that was filled with sawdust that the children had to root around in to find the prizes.  This of course meant that I was in there as often as the children to bury new prizes so did end the day covered in sawdust!  It was worth it at the end of the day though as I personally made £275 (overall amount was over £11,000)  and many of the families said that they would come back again.  The children in particular were interested not just in the lucky dip but learning about the animals.  One little girl was very passionate about hedgehogs and was devastated when we told her that we only had one in the hospital that wasn’t open to the public.  However, we managed to get her in to see it in the end and I’m sure it was worth the minimal disturbance to fuel an inspiration that may lead to a potential career in conservation, perhaps even focused on hedgehogs which of course needing as much help as they can get as they are critically endangered.

I did manage to get a break from the lucky dip at one point to look over the stalls from other charities.  I firstly made a beeline for the RSPB as I’m striving to get as much information and contacts with them as it is an organisation that I hope to work with in the future.  I did manage to have an interesting talk with one of the wardens who gave me some helpful advice on my dissertation and suggested reserves that I should visit.

Another charity there was ‘Leage Against Cruel Sports’ which involved phasing out activities that harmed wildlife.  One of the ways in which they do this is by creating petitions, examples being one to reinforce the hunting law which has lately been under debate and one preventing the badger cull which is of course very topical at the moment.  As a passionate animal lover I find it difficult to consider culling as ever a good option although I know that in conservation it does occur, often to save more vulnerable species.  However, in the case of the badger cull, it is to preserve the spread of TB to cattle so the main motivation for the cull is economical reasons rather than environmental ones.  I am against this cull due to this reason, plus the fact that after 9 years of scientific research, it was concluded that “no practicable method of badger culling can reduce the incidence of cattle TB to any meaningful extent” (ISG report).

Despite this evidence, this cull is still being discussed and whilst it is in a state of flux, it was been reported that many farmers are taking matters into their own hands and killing any badgers on their land, even though they are still a protected species.   I think the most effective way of combating this is by educating these farmers on the real risk that these badgers pose and reinforcing the fact that this action is still against the law and they therefore will face repercussions. 

This is just another example of the constant battle between farmers and conservationists.  However, in more recent years these areas are becoming more integrated (e.g. through the environmental stewardship scheme that rewards farmers financially for managing their land in an environmentally friendly way) so hopefully a stage will be reached where both farmers and wildlife can live in harmony.  

Hessilhead stories

My summer of adventures has begun as I am volunteering at Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust for 2 weeks.  You never know quite what to expect on these placements and in this case I had just arrived and within 10 minutes I’m told to push something that looks like dog food (which it turns out it was) down a jackdaw’s chicks throat.  Although this was slightly intimidating start seeing as I’d never even seen a jackdaw chick before I was glad to be put straight to work.  

I am now 3 days into this placement and my main duties so far have involved feeding a variety of species of birds in the hospital, including great tits, blue tits, pidgeons, common gulls, oystercatchers and many more. As the majority of the birds at this time of year are chicks then they all need hand feeding as none of them can take food for themselves.  This is a more difficult task for some chicks that are unwilling to take the food.  This was the case with a certain great tit chick which was brought into the centre after flying into a window and has subsequently received injuries which means that it cannot hold its head straight so needs help with this whilst being fed.  I was originally unsure about how long it would survive as its injuries seemed so severe but it does seem to want to feed if it has the correct help.  The fact that this chick seems so full of life does make the situation sadder though as if this is a permanent injury then it won't be able to make it in the wild and is likely to be put down.  Of course this is the worst part of the job and the most difficult decision to make.  This is always the case for any animal but when it comes to wildlife it is even more tricky as you have to be able to judge if it will survive adequately in the wild so even problems that could be treated in captivity and seem relatively minor do sometimes result in the animal being put down.

This is the case with a jackdaw chick which has a serious calcium deficiency which is indicated by the fact that at least half its feathers are coloured white.  On a supplemented diet, this bird may be able to survive but in the wild it's chances will be incredibly slim so the workers here have decided that it should be put down to avoid this potential suffering.  I was slightly shocked when I heard this news as my first instinct is always to try everything before resorting to this.  After all, if it cannot be released then it is only one more bird to be looked after so shouldn't it be given that chance?  However, I have only been doing this job 3 days so realise that I have to respect the decisions of the people here, many of which have been working with wildlife all their lives.  Even in the short time I've been here I've realised how much effort it takes just to keep these animals alive and unfortunately it is not possible to save them all.

However, the success stories defiantly prove that all this effort is worth while.  One of my favourites is a whole swan family (including 2 parents and 5 signets, photo below)  that arrived today which had to be removed from their habitat as it was no longer available.  They now seem perfectly at home in their enclosure and the parents are able to rear their chicks in safety before all being released together.

I'm sure I will be posting more about these success stories and I'm just hoping that I will be a part of saving these animals lives.

           

Stories from the beach...

I love the feel of this time of year, after a sleepy start everything is finally coming to life.  I'm back home from University for the summer (home being the Isle of Arran, Scotland) but I'm not here for that long so I'm making the most of this weather by taking extensive walks on the beach, always accompanied by one of our three dogs of course.  Another reason why I've been taking these walks is that I'm beginning to collect data for my dissertation (more on this later I'm sure) and this has led me to focus my observations on birds along the coast.  There is a lot of activity with all the different species of birds at the moment as they are all busy on their own missions, whether that be collecting nesting material, setting up nests, protecting their territories or hunting down food to feed their hungry chicks.  Each day I venture to the beach a different species catches my eye.  This may be because this is the first time I have seen this species, such as today where I was joined by a common

ringer plover whilst I was sitting counting gulls (see photo).  Alternatively, I focus on a species that I see regularly but I just take time to notice it more and perhaps begin to view it in a different light.

Today, my focus was  jackdaws on the beach.  I have always thought these birds have a certain sense of beauty with their jet-black plumage and loads of character that came even more apparent after my observations today.  They seem to have a proud and perhaps even arrogant nature as all their movements are very calculated and calm, as if they have nothing to fear.  This image was slightly tainted by the fact that as I was watching a certain jackdaw looking for nesting material, a pair of nearby oystercatchers had obviously been doing the same and one finally decided that this jackdaw was getting too close to their territory and aggressively flew at the jackdaw, forcing it to hurriedly fly away. Undeterred, the jackdaw continued with its search, although it did give these oystercatchers a wide berth from then on.

This is only my interpretation of the jackdaw's character and I am of course vulnerable to anthropomorphism (attribution of human characteristics to animals) like most people.  I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as if people can relate to animals, they are more likely to want to protect them.  However, this can become dangerous as animals are often viewed in a negative light and this can seriously harm the protection of these species.  The jackdaw can be considered as one of these species, along with the whole crow family due to their prevalence in horror films etc.  Beyond this, the ecological role of these species can often offend people, e.g. taking other bird's chicks.

This is an example of speciesism, a concept that conservationists need to work to abolish in order to give all animals a fair chance of receiving the help they need.  After all, conservation programmes rely on public support but it is much harder to get this for species that are perhaps less popular, often due to appearance.  I think that one of the only ways to combat this is to allow people to really enter these animal's worlds, whether this be through additional information on the species or, if possible, actually meeting these species so people can understand better their way of life and want to help them.  At a personal level, although I am susceptible to noticing the cute animals first like everyone else, I believe that all animals are equal and should be treated so and this is the message that I want to live by and work towards propagating in my future career.

As for the jackdaw, I will defiantly be taking more time to observe it on my beach walks.  Who knows what species will be my focus tomorrow?