Interesting video on the European shag in Asturias with English subtitles. Found on the Naturaleza Cantabrica blog, which is well worth a visit.
Archive for the ‘birds’ Category
European shag in Asturias
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010EU may change dead livestock law
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
The Guardian reports here on a study by scientists that vultures should be allowed to return to their old jobs as nature’s waste managers. They say the birds are suffering as they increasingly depend on being fed by people. The law was changed in 2002 because of mad cow disease and outlawed the leaving of carcasses of dead cows, as well as sheep, goats and other livestock, in the open.
The upcoming decision by the EU on whether to change the law affecting dead livestock will have important repercusions for Spanish wildlife. The Spanish government has called on the European Union to alter the rules on the animal corpses and allow farmers to leave them where they fall.
Climate change in Catalonia
Friday, December 4th, 2009
ICO, the Catalan Ornithological Institute, have published a study on changes in the bird population in Catalonia. The climate of Barcelona is now similar to Castellon a hundred years ago, while Montpellier up in France is now like Barcelona used to be. This shift has meant birds such as hoopoes no longer leave Catalonia for the winter. Cetti’s warblers and Bee-eaters have been doing remarkably well, growing by 71% and 98%, respectively. Earlier springs and extended summers mean they have a longer breeding season. Butterflies, like the Monarch are now spotted as far north as the Delta del Ebro. A bird running out of cooler habitats in Catalunya is the Alpine Chough.The study also points out that birds are adapting to climate change by moving northwards and upwards, but at a slower rate than the actual changes taking place.
Adapted from Lucy’s post on the forum and orginally from El Periodico.
Storks back early
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Large numbers of storks have returned to Spain several months early from the Sahel driven not by global warming but by African drought and the promise of rich pickings on Iberian rubbish tips and ricefields. Some 30,000 don’t even bother making the journey anymore. La Crónica Verde
American Belted kingfisher in El Mar Menor
Friday, November 20th, 2009
It’s amazing the things which turn up: an American Belted kingfisher in the Mar Menor, Murcia. It was probably brought over by storms in the Atlantic. This is the first record for Spain and Southern Europe. Spotted and photo by Antonio Jesús Hernández. More from the most excellent Rarebirdspain.net
Flamenco chick count at Fuente de Piedra
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
The Guardian has this nice slideslow of images and text on this year’s flamingo chick count at the Fuente de Piedra lagoon, near Malaga. Around 600 of the 5,000 chicks born at the lagoon this year were ringed. Fuente de Piedra is the most important breeding ground for flamingos in the Iberian Peninsula.
And check out a post on this on the forum by Peter
“The ringing of Greater Flamingo chicks is a highly organised affair and run with military precision. The group of volunteers, numbering somewhere over 300, embark during cover of darkness slowly and silently encircling the nursery of young. As dawn arrives the nursery is slowly and safely encouraged towards a fence line and bell mouth shaped entrance to a holding corral. Read
Petition to stop parany hunting
Monday, July 13th, 2009
The illegal trapping of thousands of migrant birds in Valencia could become legal again as hunters try to get legislation changed. The bird are caught using the technique known as parany, which involves trapping birds using poles covered with sticky bird lime. Although illegal in Spain, its continuing practice is rarely prevented. Birders can help by supporting the campaign against it. Birdwatch
Beehives help wildlife
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
A scientific study by FAPAS has shown that the presence of beehives increases the production of wild bilberries by 80% on which bears and capercaillies feed. Fasas
Rufous Bush Robin display
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
I very much enjoyed these photos by Mark of a male Rufous Bush Robin (Cercotrichas galactotes) showing off to a female by Mark on the forum.
Read forum post
See all photos on his site
Osprey breeds in Spain
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Ospreys (águila pescadora in Spanish) have bred in mainland Spain for the first time in 80 years. Three chicks have been born in the Marismas del Odiel, in Huelva and two in Cadiz. Since 2003, 108 chicks have been released in Cádiz and Huelva from Germany (68 birds), Finland (20) and Scotland (20). The young ospreys released in Andalusia have shown normal migratory behaviour of birds raised in their own nests in the region, and have begun to fly south to areas typical osprey areas. Radio-tracking has detected them on the West African coast along the rivers in Senegal and Gambia .The presence of huge expanses of water in Andalusia in the form of reservoirs built since then bodes well for the species future. The osprey never became extinct in the Balearics where they have clung on with 20 pairs and the Canaries with 12 pairs.
Bearded vultures in Cazorla
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
The programme to reintrodce the lammergeyer (bearded vulture) in the Sierra de Cazorla is continuing with the release last week of three more females. 12 birds have now been released through the technique of hacking in the range since 2006. Five chicks were also born in captivity in Cazorla this February.
The recovery of the Imperial eagle
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
The Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) has recovered “spectacularly” over the past 30 years, and is one of the success stories of conservation in Spain, increasing from 38 pairs in 1974 to 253 in 2008. The latest figures are from a study published recently in the journal Oryx and in this interview from Science Daily.
“This study shows that the species has recovered and has responded well to conservation initiatives. Although it has been known for a long time, the study shows once again that this species is highly affected by changes in adult survival rates”, Santi Mañosa, one of the authors of the study and a researcher at the University of Barcelona, tells SINC. Some of the most important reasons behind the failure of the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) to increase its numbers have been premature adult deaths resulting from electrocution on electricity lines and the consumption of poisons used to control predators.lthough the major threat to the birds differs from region to region in Spain, Mañosa says that habitat conservation is essential in order for the bird to be able to nest and hunt. For this reason “it is essential to manage the rabbit population well, because this is what makes up its diet during the breeding season in all areas”, adds the researcher.
However,
“Things have gone well over these past decades, but this could all be lost within five or ten years if things start to go wrong. It is a question of making improvements – electricity lines continue to pose a serious threat to this species, and efforts to resolve this problem are going very slowly,”
Read complete story in Science Daily
See also: Una red para proteger al águila imperial (El Mundo). “Una hembra de águila imperial ibérica (‘Aquila adalberti’) ya está incubando en el nido que puede verse, en directo en Internet, gracias a una cámara instalada por SEO/Birdlife en el Parque Nacional de Cabañeros. El macho está buscando la comida. Es una de las 253 parejas reproductoras contabilizadas en la Península Ibérica, un número que se quiere aumentar ahora con una Red de Custodia para que esta majestuosa ave deje de estar en la Lista Roja de especies vulnerables.”
- Photo above from SEO/Birdlife
Rise in stork population
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
The population of storks in Spain is continuing to rise, rising from 6,700 pairs in the mid-1980s to 35,000 pairs today. Specifically in Catalonia numbers have risen from just 8 pairs in 1974 to 358. The reasons for their recovery lie in a greater respect for their nests, more nature reserves, availability of food from rubbish tips and the change in their habits due to warmer temperatures. This latter point has meant that some 10,000 storks no longer undertake the arduous migration to Africa, but instead migrate to sites in southern Spain. It appears that the old Castilian adage Por san Blas la cigüeña verás in reference to the arrival of storks in early February (San Blas is on 3rd February) no longer applies.
- La Vanguardia
- White storks in Spain (Iberianature)
Last imperial eagle shot in Portugal
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Portuguese environmentalists have denounced the deliberate shooting of the country’s only nesting male Iberian Imperial eagle.The incident took place in February in the Vale do Guadiana natural park, close to the country’s southeastern border with Spain.
Miguel Rodrigues, spokesperson for SOS Lynx, said, “Irrational attitudes constitute one of the main barriers to predator conservation in Spain and Portugal. If predator persecution cannot be adequately controlled, the future recovery of many important predator species will be in doubt.” The species was once widespread across the Iberian Peninsula, but is now confined to small parts of central and southern Spain, and areas close to the Spanish border in Portugal.
Dan Ward on his new lynxblog comments on this shooting that:
“Irrational attitudes constitute one of the main barriers to predator conservation in Spain and Portugal, and if predator persecution cannot be adequately controlled, the future recovery of many important predator species will be in doubt”.
The Spanish (or Iberian) imperial eagle is one of the three rarest birds of prey in the world. Spain currently (2007) is home to all 234 pairs of imperial eagles, with a slight rise in recent years (see news archive on iberianature.
Reed Bunting named bird of the year by SEO
Friday, February 27th, 2009
The reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) has been named bird of the year by SEO. There are just 400 breeding pair of the species in Spain. Two sub-species are present: Emberiza schoeniclus lusitanica, an endemic of the Iberian Peninsula and clasified as in critical danger and Emberiza schoeniclus witherbyi which only breeds in Spain, soutrhern France and northern Morocco which is considered as endangered.
SEO
List of previous birds of the year
