Eight young red kites have been found dead or dying in the Black Isle, near Inverness, after being poisoned.

RSPB Scotland said the chicks were thought to have eaten the remains of rats killed using pest control poisons on farms.

A spokesman for the charity said the birds had been due to leave their nests shortly.

He said they had represented nearly 10% of the total kite chick population produced in the Black Isle this year.

Kite conservation efforts on the Black Isle have been hit hard over the past few weeks.

In June, a red kite was found dead at a wind farm which RSPB Scotland had objected to because of concerns the turbines were a threat to rare birds.

The raptor was found at Fairburn wind farm, near Dingwall. Its injuries included fractures and bruising.

Two other kites from the Black Isle have also perished.

The Middle East's rarest bird now has a chance at surviving, thanks to a gift from Turkey.

Once revered by the Egyptian pharaohs, the northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) is now critically endangered. Only a few hundred birds remain: 100 breeding pairs in Morocco, another 100 or so semi-wild birds in Turkey and, until recently, four wild birds in Syria. But now the Syrian population—the only northern bald ibis population in the Middle East—has grown by six birds, thanks to a donation from the Turkish government.

The Syrian population has not had an easy decade. Previously thought to be extinct in the region, a single ibis population of seven adult birds was rediscovered in Syria in 2002. Those seven birds raised at least 24 chicks by 2008, but the population crashed that year, possibly due to predation, leaving just three adults and one juvenile bird in the wild.

Now six more northern bald ibis adults have made their way to Syria. Four birds will form the core of a captive breeding colony. Two adults, meanwhile, have been fitted with satellite tracking devices and introduced to the wild population in the hope that they will pair up and breed, according to a release from BirdLife International.

The bald ibis population in Turkey is only semi-wild—the birds fly free for five months of the year, during which time they breed on their natural nest sites and man-made nesting boxes. After their breeding season is complete, the birds are taken into captivity to prevent them from migrating.

The Syrian birds do, however, migrate, and now nearly a dozen government organizations and NGOs are collaborating to protect them as they travel. The birds are all monitored by satellite, and you can track their progress online as they begin their winter migration to Ethiopia.

We had breakfast with Frightful!

  Nice!

[The last pic is of one of the four chicks getting the medicated quail. The bird is definitely not sick. They were all quite healthy and active. Kathy Clark has been giving the medication early on for several years. She has had losses from the disease and wants to prevent it.]

Thanks EI. If you see Bonnie this week end could you ask her to tell me longer about that please.
Nicole

Hey Nic, this is Bonnie's post from a while ago:

The last pic is of one of the four chicks getting the medicated quail.  The bird is definitely not sick.  They were all quite healthy and active.  Kathy Clark has been giving the medication early on for several years.  She has had losses from the disease and wants to prevent it.

  is all I have to say!

Wow, that is one of the coolest things I've seen, (and I never ever saw this live, only still pics). Great find Aafke. I love it. THANK YOU! Amazing birds! 

How awful and how very sad. Poor Phoenix. 

[Here's hoping Jemison comes back soon!]

Spent week in 'rehab' after injury
July 14, 2010

Peregrine falcon Chedoke is soaring Hamilton’s skies again after recovering from a soft tissue injury two weeks ago.

Chedoke is one of four chicks hatched this spring from the nest atop the downtown Sheraton Hamilton Hotel where the endangered birds first started nesting in 1995.

The falcons and nests, captured by cameras above the ledge, have fascinated Hamiltonians and observers worldwide through the Internet.

Live camera screening and flying surveillance by the Hamilton Community Falcon Project was about to end but was extended when Chedoke, the youngest of the brood, suffered an injury June 30.

Observers believe she crashed into a window on the Stelco Tower downtown on King Street West.

Audrey Gamble, volunteer with the Hamilton Naturalist Club and lead monitor of the falcon project, said Chedoke underwent rehab at the Owl Foundation where she had a week of ‘bed rest.’

"She’s gaining strength and stamina,� Gamble said.

Falconwatch was reinstated when Chedoke was injured and has gone on longer than the norm because of it, but should wrap up in the next day or two, depending on Chedoke’s continued progress, Gamble said.

The chicks usually leave the area around the end of August after they have learned to fly and hunt on their own. This year’s four chicks bring the total number of falcons hatched at the Sheraton to 50.

 Chedoke the falcon chick injured its left wing during its first flight recently. the injury is plainly visible in this photo.

Here's hoping Jemison comes back soon!  

[WanderingFalcon (Carol P.):]

WanderingFalcon (Carol P.): Kathy O reports an adult Peregrine on the KP research bldg at 9 pm on the antenna. Left at 935 when it too dark. Pefa was still there. F ...

Link:

http://twitter.com/WanderingFalcon/statuses/18565471391

Darn Tweets. 

Kathy O reports an adult Peregrine on the KP research bldg at 9 pm on the northern antenna. Kathy left at 9:35 pm when it was too dark and the bugs were thick. The Peregrine was still there when she left. Based on size, Kathy believes this was a female and if it's the same one I saw this weekend, I have to agree.  We both also agree that the coloring of this bird is very much like Mariah's coloring.  Hopefully we'll get a positive ID on this Peregrine soon, whether it's Mariah or not.  We'll keep watching!

  one can only hope and pray it's Mariah.

Love the Potter's...Thanks Sage.

That was a great video Paul. Obviously, peregrines adapt to noise.  Thanks

Nice pics, thanks cm.

[!!! Jack Makes an Appearance!July 13, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life CentreKathy Reports:]

!!! Jack Makes an Appearance!
July 13, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

As of 7:20 am this morning, our ever elusive Jack is on the nestbox looking quite pleased with himself.

One of the boys caught his own breakfast this morning and was happily flying around with it in his talons screaming his head off with pride.  Mom just continued preening as he flew in under where she is perched and landed on one of the ledges to enjoy his prize!

One Big Happy Family
July 13, 2010 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:

That is the only way I can describe our family of 5 Peregrine Falcons, Freddie & Voltaire, the Dad and Mom and then the three chicks Bridgette, Windsor and Lancer. Sunday around 6 P.M. we saw Freddie sitting on the pipe resting and then Bridgette came screaming in and basically booted him off as if saying “I’m hungry so go and get me something to eat�. It was funny to see that action! Then she sat on the pipe just screaming to her hearts content. A few minutes later we saw Voltaire fly in with a food package along with Windsor and Lancer. She dropped it on the side of the abutment and then flew of to sit on the Church Steeple. Windsor and Lancer flew off but then came back with Freddie and a smaller bird. Everything was happening so fast it’s hard to say who got the bird. All I know it was so great to see the whole family together. Pigeons seem to be few and far between all the 5 Pegrine Falcons. As you can tell we are both lovers of those amazing creatures. It’s a dream come true for us to see 5 Peregrines flying around here in Windsor. One of our Members emailed us to say that she was driving over the bridge and she saw one of the chicks sitting on the railing. Thanks Vivi. Keep looking up because you never know what you’re going to see.

 3 In Sight
July 13, 2010 - Toronto - Uptown Yonge and Eglinton
Frank Butson Reports:

Lyn Reports:  Had a brief sighting of the juveniles today.
I had been sitting at the table in my living room,when I heard lots of loud
squawks,so I went onto the balcony and saw a juvie flying and fluttering as
it squawked way over to Redpath Ave,which is several roads east of Yonge at Eglinton. Eventually it disappeared.
I went outside a little later and found all three juveniles on the nest
building !!! One was on the nest ledge north of where the nest was/is. A second one was on the level below that,underneath the other one and I think these two were the females. The third one, which I think was the male was squawking where he sat on the antenna on the nest building. He never stopped! The first to fly was the female on the ledge below the nest ledge. She is a very big bird,likely Cyclone.  She flew across Eglinton Avenue, across the *glass building* and north up Duplex Ave and out of sight.

 The second to fly, about ten minutes later, was the other female,probably Tara. She flew around the building to Yonge street and I could not follow in time to see where she went. When both the females took off they squawked madly but once they were nicely airborne they stopped their noise and put all their energy into the flight. And Typhoon just sat on the antenna he was on and squawked!
Cheers
Lyn

[What a great nest they make!]

http://php.democratandchronicle.com/blog/birds/?p=3163

What a great nest they make!

If I had to grow up in a nest dangling over the gorge at Letchworth State Park, I would definitely want to be a Baltimore Oriole.
These birds construct one of the sturdiest nests of any songbird, weaving a intricate deep pouch of plant fibers, hair, yarn, string, and grapevine bark, and lined with hair, wool, fine grasses and cottony material, according to Hal Harrison in his Peterson Guide to Birds’ Nests.
The nest hangs down like a gourd, and I have often seen them still hanging well into the following year. (cont)

Local officials are concerned about a "hot spot" in Lancaster Township where in recent weeks mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have apparently caused the death or sickness of at least five hawks.

Rain prevented officials Monday night from spraying a 400-square-foot intermittent pond and the surrounding area in a populated area near the intersection of Millersville Pike and Schoolhouse Road.

They planned to try again Tuesday night.

Twice in recent weeks, adult mosquitoes near the wet spot tested positive for West Nile virus.

No human cases of the occasionally fatal West Nile virus have been found so far in Pennsylvania, but a high number of mosquitoes carrying the virus this early in the summer has officials here and in southeastern Pennsylvania on alert.

Lancaster, along with Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia, are so far the only counties in Pennsylvania where mosquitoes infected with the virus have been found.

"The variables are lining up," said Matt Mercer, Lancaster County's West Nile virus coordinator. "We had large amounts of standing water in May and June. A good spell of hot weather increases activity. The (mosquito) population has just ballooned. The population has exploded."

Mercer said his office could not spray traditional hot spots in the county before larva hatched.

Hampering those efforts was a 26 percent cut in the local West Nile virus program this year by the state.

Also troubling are the five hawks found dead or acting oddly in the area.

A red-tailed hawk was found July 4 on the Bean Hill Road property of Daniel and Laura Knarr. It died the next day.

Laura Knarr, aware that West Nile virus had been found in the area, contacted officials who retrieved the bird. A state Department of Agriculture lab confirmed the juvenile hawk died of West Nile virus after it had been bitten by an infected mosquito.

A dead red-tailed hawk found by a resident near the intersection of Betz Farm Road and Gable Park Road was too decomposed to test.

Another resident approached within 10 feet of a hawk sitting on a gazebo in the Hershey Heritage apartment complex off Wabank Road on July 8.

And the local Organization for the Responsible Care of Animals recently removed two sick hawks from the Wabank Road area. One died and the other was still alive as of last Friday while being cared for by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in York County.

A dead crow also was recently found in the area.

Birds of prey, along with crows and blue jays, are particularly susceptible to West Nile virus. They get the disease after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Anyone finding a dead bird belonging to one of those species — it needs to have been dead for no more than 48 hours — is asked to call Mercer at 394-6851.

When the Lancaster Township hot spot was identified, perimeter traps were set for mosquitoes within a one-mile radius to try to determine if infected mosquitoes had spread to a larger area.

Traps set in Lancaster city at Buchanan Park, St. Joseph's Cemetery and Christ Lutheran Church on West King Street did not turn up adult mosquitoes with the virus.

Mercer hopes that means infected mosquitoes are in a relatively confined area.

"The whole thing boils down to spraying that generation and trying to nip the activity in the bud," Mercer said.

Other infected mosquitoes were found in Manheim and East Hempfield townships. Both of those areas have been sprayed with a low-impact insecticide.

Only certain species of mosquitoes carry the virus. The chances of a person being bitten by an infected mosquito is relatively small. Even then, most people will not be affected by the virus or develop flu-like symptoms.

But in the elderly and other people with weakened immune systems the virus can turn into encephalitis, an infection that swells the brain. The virus can kill horses and mules that are not vaccinated.

No humans or livestock were known to have contracted the virus in Lancaster County in 2009. But the number of samples with infected mosquitoes rose from 10 in 2009 to 33 last year. They were found in 17 different municipalities.

The worst year for West Nile in Lancaster County was in 2003, when 37 people here contracted the disease and two people died. At least 167 horses and mules died.

For more on West Nile virus in Pennsylvania, go to www.westnile.state.pa.us.

acrable@lnpnews.com



This juvenile red-tailed hawk was photographed in a shallow pond off Bean Hill Road on July 4. It died a day later, and a state lab confirmed it died from West Nile virus.