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01 May Malta: CABS team and environmental police unit catch Ortolan Bunting trapper [Proact Campaigns ] 04 Apr DESTRUCTION OF CORMORANT COLONY ON LAKE CONSTANCE [Proact Campaigns ] 31 Mar DESTRUCTION OF CORMORANT COLONY ON LAKE CONSTANCE [Proact Campaigns ] 09 Mar Problematic Wader Bahrain [Howard King ] 09 Mar Problematic Wader Bahrain [Howard King ] 04 Mar Great Black-baked Gull in Istanbul [Emmanuel Cappe ] 14 Feb Strange Behaviour By Great-spotted Woodpecker ["Eddie Chapman" ] 4 Feb Little Grebes breeding in Malta ["Raymond Galea" ] 02 Feb RFI Turkey [Emmanuel Cappe ] 31 Jan Re: hybrid goose [Paul Irving ] 28 Jan Greek or Cypriot bird conservationist sought! [Proact Campaigns ] 26 Jan FW: Don't blame wild birds for H5N1 spread: expert ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 22 Jan Thanks [howard king ] 15 Jan Re: Grey Hypocolius [howard king ] 13 Jan Re: Grey Hypocolius - Good News [howard king ] 11 Jan Grey Hypocolius [howard king ] 9 Jan breeding range of Riparia diluta diluta ["John Murray Penhallurick" ] 2 Jan Re: An error in Clements 6th edition [Carl Clifford ] 22 Dec Re: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition [Carl Clifford ] 20 Dec Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition ["Andy Musgrove" ] 21 Dec Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition ["Richard Klim" ] 21 Dec Re: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition [Carl Clifford ] 20 Dec Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition ["Richard Klim" ] 17 Dec 100 million dead birds every year are too many -- please support the protest to the EU [Proact Campaigns ] 8 Dec Seabirds starve en masse in our waters ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 7 Dec Desert Wheatear in Malta ["Raymond Galea" ] 23 Nov Poss White-fronted Goose - 2nd record? Bahrain [howard king ] 10 Nov Seawatch result from Senegal in October 2007 ["Niklas Holmstrom" ] 09 Nov CABS Bird Protection Camp Brescia 2007 -- Final Report now available! [Proact Campaigns ] 09 Nov Defintion for WP [howard king ] 23 Oct Hunting and the Law in the EU - have your say! [Proact Campaigns ] 20 Oct Italy - Bow traps – a tradition dies out [Proact Campaigns ] 19 Oct CABS press statement - bird camp in N. Italy [Proact Campaigns ] 19 Oct EU final warning to Malta on spring hunting - mail campaign [Proact Campaigns ] 8 Oct Fw: [BirdsinRussia] yellow wagtails ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 07 Oct Malta press folder [Proact Campaigns ] 2 Oct Re: Shooting incident on Malta ["bo.beolens" ] 2 Oct Re: Shooting incident on Malta ["sylvia wallace" ] 30 Sep Malta - today's cartoon [Proact Campaigns ] 30 Sep Get the German Govt to put pressure on the Maltese to stop hunting [david camilleri ] 29 Sep Re: [BirdsinRussia] yellow wagtails ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 28 Sep Re: [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava hybridisation [Paul Tout ] 27 Sep Re: [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava hybridisation ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 15 Sep FW: Illegal Hunting Photos [david camilleri ] 6 Sep mass murder in Cairo ["Norman D.van Swelm" ] 24 Aug Southern Italy: Song birds, Kestrel and Caiman confiscated in Naples [Proact Campaigns - David Conlin ] 1 Jul Yellow-nosed Albatross and Sod's Law ["Brian Unwin" ] 23 Jun Re: 4 New Dead White-tailed Eagles making a total of 13birds ["sylvia wallace" ] 16 May Fw: Charter boat ["Brian Unwin" ] 12 May Re: Warbler ["Alfons Willemsen" ] 11 May Warbler [howardk ] 11 May Warbler [howardk ] Subject: Malta: CABS team and environmental police unit catch Ortolan Bunting trapper From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 21:40:44 +0200 David Conlin reports from the CABS operations centre on Malta: CABS operations on Malta resulted in a significant blow against illegal bird trapping on 1^st May 2008. In the early morning hours officers of the environmental unit A.L.E., following up information gained from a CABS stake-out of a trapping site, apprehended a poacher in the south of the island who had trapped a total of 18 endangered song bird species including Ortolan Buntings, Short-toed Larks and Red-throated Pipits. The birds were caught for the local song bird trade and had an estimated total value of some 3,000 Euros. Two clap nets were seized and the birds were subsequently released into the wild. You can read more about this spectacular operation from 03 May 2008 at www.komitee.de/en Although the Maltese Government has completely banned hunting this spring after coming under pressure from Brussels, CABS, International Animal Rescue and BirdLife Malta observers have registered more than 3,500 shots at migrant birds in only a fortnight, and found numerous dead or dying birds including Marsh Harriers, falcons, Turtle Doves and a Cuckoo. In addition 3 illegal active trapping sites and several electronic bird lures have been located and reported to the police. A comprehensive photographic documentation of the operation will appear online on the CABS website (see above) shortly. David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: DESTRUCTION OF CORMORANT COLONY ON LAKE CONSTANCE From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:40:54 +0200 Please add your support this weekend if you have not already done so: The Freiburg City Council, in southwest Germany, plans to destroy the only existing Cormorant colony on the German shores of Lake Constance. The operation will involve driving off the birds from their nests on an icy April night, leaving the eggs to grow cold and already hatched chicks to freeze to death. The colony is in a nature reserve which is part of a European Special Protected Area (SPA). The action will also affect other endangered species such as the Red-crested Pochard, Marsh Harrier and Black Kite. Please go to http://www.proact-campaigns.net/germany/cormorant_persecution_lake_constance.html and send a protest mail. Thank you, David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: DESTRUCTION OF CORMORANT COLONY ON LAKE CONSTANCE From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:42:53 +0200 Please action and pass to your lists and contacts: The Freiburg City Council, in southwest Germany, plans to destroy the only existing Cormorant colony on the German shores of Lake Constance. The operation will involve driving off the birds from their nests on an icy April night, leaving the eggs to grow cold and already hatched chicks to freeze to death. The colony is in a nature reserve which is part of a European Special Protected Area (SPA). The action will also affect other endangered species such as the Red-crested Pochard, Marsh Harrier and Black Kite. Please go to http://www.proact-campaigns.net/germany/cormorant_persecution_lake_constance.html and send a protest mail. Thank you, David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Problematic Wader Bahrain From: Howard King <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:00:00 +0000 Have a wader thats causing me some problems -- Seen near Dur on the eastern shore of Bahrain in a small wadi being used to dump semi treated water - (smells a lot but the birds like it) As always when you get a problematic bird its always too far away or badly placed in respect to the sun to get a good photo; this bird was both but still have some record shots - on viewing these they just didn't look right for the usual little stint as seen around such pools - have ruled out the bigger sandpiper and Temmicks which it certainly isn't. The camera can lie but looking at the pics am at odds to possitively identify the bird. have place the photos on the web pages (Images are bigger than screen display being 1024 wide use view image to enlarge) > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php Any suggestions would be appreciated Howard King Bahrain Subject: Problematic Wader Bahrain From: Howard King <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:00:00 +0000 Have a wader thats causing me some problems -- Seen near Dur on the eastern shore of Bahrain in a small wadi being used to dump semi treated water - (smells a lot but the birds like it) As always when you get a problematic bird its always too far away or badly placed in respect to the sun to get a good photo; this bird was both but still have some record shots - on viewing these they just didn't look right for the usual little stint as seen around such pools - have ruled out the bigger sandpiper and Temmicks which it certainly isn't. The camera can lie but looking at the pics am at odds to possitively identify the bird. have place the photos on the web pages (Images are bigger than screen display being 1024 wide use view image to enlarge) > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/id_stub.php Any suggestions would be appreciated Howard King Bahrain Subject: Great Black-baked Gull in Istanbul From: Emmanuel Cappe <cappe.em AT cegetel.net> Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:08:13 +0100 Dear all, A GBBG was in Istanbul in Kadikoÿ ferry terminal, on saturday march 1st . It's stand on the far end of the jety close to the arrival. A full adult. Yours -- ******************************************************** Emmanuel Cappe http://emmanuelcappe.net ******************************************************** --- Antivirus avast! : message Sortant sain. Base de donnees virale (VPS) : 080304-0, 04/03/2008 Analyse le : 04/03/2008 09:08:15 avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com Subject: Strange Behaviour By Great-spotted Woodpecker From: "Eddie Chapman" <echapman AT online.no> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:53:53 +0100 Hallo All, Yesterday I witnessed some strange behavior by a Great-spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major. It was pulling twigs out of a Magpies nest and flying away with them, only to return and find a new one. It did this several times. Unfortunately I had to leave due to other commitments, so it will be interesting to see the nest today. Why was it wrecking the nest? Didn't it want breeding Magpies in the area? The Magpies didn't seem to be bothering so I don't think that there were eggs in the nest. Anybody seen anything similar? Eddie Chapman, Voss, Norway. Birding Scandinavia Today's Photo: Common Buzzard http://www.birdwatchnorway.com/index-filer/Page403.htm _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Little Grebes breeding in Malta From: "Raymond Galea" <raygalea AT onvol.net> Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2008 11:25:24 +0100 Hi all A pair of Little Grebe is breeding for the 2nd time ever in Malta. A chick of about 5 days was noted first on 22nd January 2008 at Simar Nature Reserve. This is a very early breeding record. The pair must have started breeding in late December or early January, in the mid of Winter! Are there any other records from Europe of such an early breeding? You can watch a picture of the chick here http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery11 and a short video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-YEJt6k7n8 regards Raymond Galea [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: RFI Turkey From: Emmanuel Cappe <cappe.em AT cegetel.net> Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:38:45 +0100 dear all I'm looking for informations about western Turkey in end of february. (locations, target species and so...) Thanks for your answers Emmanuel -- ******************************************************** Emmanuel Cappe illustration ornithologique et naturaliste La Perrière F-38190 Sainte-Agnès http://emmanuelcappe.net +33(0)4.76.90.25.75 +33(0)6.16.87.26.07 ******************************************************** --- Antivirus avast! : message Sortant sain. Base de donnees virale (VPS) : 080201-1, 01/02/2008 Analyse le : 02/02/2008 11:38:46 avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com Subject: Re: hybrid goose From: Paul Irving <p.irving AT csl.gov.uk> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:35:08 +0000 Hi Norman, looks like a barnacle/ snow to me but of course that does not rule out Barnacle /Ross's. We have had birds for years here in North Yorkshire all from 1 brood of 6 in the early nineties, at least 2 of which are still with us. They were originally accompanied by both parents. Paul -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Irving Phone: +44 (0)1904 462064 Field Biologist/EBG1 GTN: 5129 Central Science Laboratory Fax: +44 (0)1904 462111 Sand Hutton Email: p.irving AT csl.gov.uk York YO41 1LZ Web: http://www.csl.gov.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer The information contained in this message may include privileged, proprietary or confidential information. Please treat it with the same respect that you would expect for your own information. If you have received it in error, we apologise, and ask that you contact the CSL sender immediately and erase it from your computer. Thank you for your co-operation. Further information on confidentiality of our communications, can be found at http://www.csl.gov.uk/email.htm _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Greek or Cypriot bird conservationist sought! From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:40:55 +0100 The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) will be running a pilot bird camp on Cyprus from 19 - 27 April 2008. We are seeking a Greek, or even better a Cypriot bird lover to work with us on special tasks (I will go into more detail when contacted). The Greek-speaking team, hopefully of 2 persons, will be provided with a hire car and will work independently within the Greek-Cypriot South of the island. Apart from a modicum of personal courage, and preferably but not essentially basic knowledge of bird conservation principles, only a commitment to the stopping of illegal bird hunting and trapping is required. Participation in the operation is on a honorary (unpaid) basis, but reasonable travel costs to and from Cyprus within Europe will be met, and accommodation and transport provided . Those interested should contact me, David Conlin, at proact-campaigns at online.de (at= AT ) -- David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: FW: Don't blame wild birds for H5N1 spread: expert From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:53:30 +0100 FYI http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKBKK31965920080123?pageNumber=2> com/article/scienceNews/idUKBKK31965920080123?pageNumber=2 &virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true> Don't blame wild birds for H5N1 spread: expert Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:29pm GMT BANGKOK (Reuters) - There is no solid evidence that wild birds are to blame for the apparent spread of the H5N1 virus from Asia to parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, an animal disease expert said on Wednesday.There was also no proof that wild birds were a reservoir for the H5N1 virus, Scott Newman, international wildlife coordinator for avian influenza at the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, said at a bird flu conference in Bangkok. After H5N1 was found in 2005 in a huge lake in central China where it killed over 10,000 wild birds, it turned up in parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, leading some experts to believe migratory birds may be to blame. But Newman said there was no good reason for thinking so. "We know that some wild birds have probably moved short distances carrying viruses and then they died, but we have not been able to identify carriage of H5N1 across large scale spatial distances and then resulting in spread to other birds and mortality in poultry flocks," Newman told Reuters. He said fecal tests on some 350,000 healthy birds worldwide had to date only yielded "a few" positive H5N1 results. Furthermore, in instances and places where wild birds were found with the disease, there were no concurrent outbreaks of the virus in poultry. "So we don't have at this point in time a wildlife reservoir for H5N1 ... so they can't be a main spreader of the disease," Newman said. He stressed the need to focus attention on the poultry trade, and particularly smuggling, adding that these factors may instead be spreading and sustaining the deadly disease. "We recognize that poultry production, trade, both legal and illegal, and other bio-security issues are probably more important as far as being a mechanism that promotes the sustaining and spread of H5N1," he said. Experts have warned for years that a flu pandemic was long overdue and they stressed at the three-day Bangkok conference that the H5N1 bird flu virus remained a key candidate. The virus has killed millions of chickens and ducks and despite the slaughter of millions more and vaccination campaigns, it remains entrenched in many poultry populations. Although the virus has infected only 351 people around the world since 2003, it has killed 219 of them, according to the World Health Organization. (Editing by Darren Schuettler) _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Thanks From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:23:24 +0000 Morning All Many thanks to all that took the time to reply and aid in our idebtification of the Musophaga violacea - Violet Turaco It is much appreciated - From all Bahrain's Birders - all 4 of us Brendan, Abdulla, AJ and Howard http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Grey Hypocolius From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:54:45 +0000 Jasra Update The new location for viewing the Grey Hypocolius in Bahrain is proving very interesting - this morning I spent but a hour there and despite the continuing bad light managed to get a camera full of pictures. I have put over twenty of these on my web page at the following http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/9_stub.php I suppose over the years I have seen thousands of Hypocolius however I have never myself seen before the birds in this situation - have a look and enjoy. We have no way of knowing how long the birds will continue to feed in the day time at this location so if anybody needs to tick one of a hundred now is the time to visit Bahrain. Howard King [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Grey Hypocolius - Good News From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:13:25 +0000 An update on the new location to view Grey Hypocolius in Bahrain has been added to our web pages see the following over 300 birds counted this morning > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/9_stub.php Howard King Bahrain Subject: Grey Hypocolius From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:08:45 +0000 Evening All A new morning collecting area has been discovered near Jasra Village in western Bahrain for the Grey Hypocolius with over 100 birds were seen this weekend - I will add as further details come to light this new information to my web pages along with a goggle earth image once the integrity of this new site has been established. http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/9_stub.php Brendan has observed small flocks collecting in this area for several months now as he drove to our ringing station at Badaan Farm early in the morning , this weekend however Adrian observed numerous flocks again moving into the same area having flown in from the SE - so we will now try and determine the area the birds use as their evening roost based on these observations. The Saar Roost is still used by a few birds but is no longer a place were observations of this species can be guaranteed. Howard King Bahrain Subject: breeding range of Riparia diluta diluta From: "John Murray Penhallurick" <jpenhall AT bigpond.net.au> Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 17:48:53 +1100 Dear Friends, Mayr & Greenway,1960,Checklist of Birds of the World,9,p.99 includes in the breeding range of nominate diluta “western Mongolia,south to Eastern Iran,possibly Baluchistan,Buchara,Ferghana,the Tien Shan and Dzungaria.” Etchecopar & Hüe,1983,Les Oiseaux de Chine…passereaux say on page 55:” Nidifcatrice:Dzoungarie.Ouest de Mongolie.La Sinking(Astin Tagh) et le Tsinghai.Probablement jusqu’au Kansou et au nordouest de la Chine et au sud de l’Oussuri. Vers le sud jusqu’au Sikang,Le Setchouan,le bassin de Yangtse,Houpei,Foukien.” But Dickinson,2003,p.532 gives the range of nominate diluta as only S and SE Kazakhstan, as does Turner in Handbook of the Birds of the World,9,p.648. Cn anyone explain the discrepancy? Thanks, John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: An error in Clements 6th edition From: Carl Clifford <carlsclifford AT mac.com> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 19:54:08 +1100 John, Perhaps the site you were told of is http://members.aol.com/sbsp/ clements5thto6th.htm It does not really give much in the way of reasons for the splits and lumps though. Cheers, Carl Clifford I think someone told me that the explanation for the splits and lumps between the 5th and sixth editions of Clements could be found on some website. I went onto the website of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, but couldn’t find anything. Thanks, John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net ==============================www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au ============================== ==============================www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au ============================== Subject: Re: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition From: Carl Clifford <carlsclifford AT mac.com> Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:39:45 +1100 Richard, I had an email from Edward Dickinson explaining the status of the H&M site. The full operation of the site is a way of yet, but when it fully comes on line, it will be a very useful resource. I suppose in the mean while we will all have to hurry up and wait. Carl. On 21/12/2007, at 7:12 PM, Richard Klim wrote: Carl, It is clear that the H&M site is not yet operational - that's why I used the words "perhaps soon". But the site's statement of intent suggests that efforts are underway to make the work being done for the 4th edition available to all via the internet. If/when this happens it will surely be a very useful resource. Richard =============================== www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au =============================== Subject: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition From: "Andy Musgrove" <andy AT stokeholycross.freeserve.co.uk> Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:21:53 -0000 Hi all I'm interested to hear this discussion about perceptions of different world list authorities. Many of you may already be aware of the website BUBO Listing we set up this year to enable birders to record, share and compare their lists, for free. Whilst originally set up very much in a British context, we've recently expanded to the Western Palearctic and now also to the World. We've launched our world listing (this week) initially based on Clements 6th edition (plus Cornell's updates) but are considering introducing other world authorities in due course. If anyone out there would like to have a look at www.bubo.org/listing and try entering a world (or other region) list, we'd be very pleased to get any comments. Best wishes Andy Musgrove Home: Shotesham, Norfolk andy AT bubo.org Check out BUBO Listing at www.bubo.org/listing ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Klim" To: Cc: ; Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 9:16 AM Subject: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition John, I fully agree with your observations. Here is a comment I made in July during a discussion of Clements 6th Edition on BirdForum's Taxonomy & Nomenclature forum: "At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, I question why Clements is still considered to be the checklist of choice by the ABA and so many other birders. Although of similar size & weight, Dickinson (Howard & Moore) (2003) is far more rigorous and contains significantly more information, including a justification of the sequence of families adopted, author/date down to subspecies level, and almost 3000 specific bibliographical references. By contrast, Clements provides absolutely no justification for its taxonomic stance and includes only a minimal introduction and a very short (7 page) and unreferenced bibliography - the reader is simply expected to take everything on trust. Although I admit that I have obtained a copy of Clements 6th edition (mainly out of curiosity), I look forward to the 4th edition of Howard & Moore (2009?)." It is unfortunate that Dickinson is not updated between editions (except for the annual corrigenda issued on the web). But perhaps this will soon change? See http://birds-howardandmoore.org Richard Klim Somerset, UK ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Murray Penhallurick" To: Cc: ; "'Birding Aus'" ; "'Bulletin Board for Ornithologists working with Neotropical Birds'" Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 5:58 AM Subject: [EBN] Clements 6th edition Dear Friends, I recently received the 6th edition of the Clements Checklist. While I appreciate the updating of species and subspecies, I still consider this volume inferior to Dickinson's 3rd edition of the Howard and Moore Checklist, at least in two ways. 1) It does not list the authors and dates of species or subspecies. I consider this essential for any checklist for any readers interested in taxonomy and nomenclature. 2) It does not refer to the sources in which one can find the basis of decisions. For example, if we look at the 6th ediiton, we find that Lava Heron Butorides sundevalli has been lumped with Striated Heron B.striatus. Where is the basis for this decision? I have been unable to find it. I went to the SACC Checklist proposals page, and found that the proposal from Van Remsen to split B.sundevalli for B.striatus did not pass, despite the fact that five members of the Committee voted for the proposal and four against. In contrast, Dickinson cites author's names and years, and in footnotes refers one to where the basis of decisions can be found. I'm interested in any comments. John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net =============================== www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au =============================== Subject: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition From: "Richard Klim" <richard AT klim.co.uk> Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:12:08 -0000 Carl, It is clear that the H&M site is not yet operational - that's why I used the words "perhaps soon". But the site's statement of intent suggests that efforts are underway to make the work being done for the 4th edition available to all via the internet. If/when this happens it will surely be a very useful resource. Richard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Clifford" To: "Richard Klim" Cc: ; ; Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 12:08 AM Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition Richard, I have tried to use the Howard & Moore site at http://birds- howardandmoore.org/, but there does not appear to be anything much on it. When the various menus are clicked, the results are either that there is nothing on that page or a dialogue that says that one must be registered to access the information. When one clicks on the 'Register' links one is told that the server can not be found or that access is denied, depending on which 'Register" link is used! Is access to this site by invitation only or are they just having a bad hair day? I was thinking of buying Howard and Moore, but my experience with the H&M site has put me off. Interesting that the sites logo is a Dodo. Cheers, Carl Clifford On 20/12/2007, at 8:16 PM, Richard Klim wrote: John, I fully agree with your observations. Here is a comment I made in July during a discussion of Clements 6th Edition on BirdForum's Taxonomy & Nomenclature forum: "At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, I question why Clements is still considered to be the checklist of choice by the ABA and so many other birders. Although of similar size & weight, Dickinson (Howard & Moore) (2003) is far more rigorous and contains significantly more information, including a justification of the sequence of families adopted, author/ date down to subspecies level, and almost 3000 specific bibliographical references. By contrast, Clements provides absolutely no justification for its taxonomic stance and includes only a minimal introduction and a very short (7 page) and unreferenced bibliography - the reader is simply expected to take everything on trust. Although I admit that I have obtained a copy of Clements 6th edition (mainly out of curiosity), I look forward to the 4th edition of Howard & Moore (2009?)." It is unfortunate that Dickinson is not updated between editions (except for the annual corrigenda issued on the web). But perhaps this will soon change? See http://birds-howardandmoore.org Richard Klim Somerset, UK ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Murray Penhallurick" To: Cc: ; "'Birding Aus'" ; "'Bulletin Board for Ornithologists working with Neotropical Birds'" Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 5:58 AM Subject: [EBN] Clements 6th edition Dear Friends, I recently received the 6th edition of the Clements Checklist. While I appreciate the updating of species and subspecies, I still consider this volume inferior to Dickinson's 3rd edition of the Howard and Moore Checklist, at least in two ways. 1) It does not list the authors and dates of species or subspecies. I consider this essential for any checklist for any readers interested in taxonomy and nomenclature. 2) It does not refer to the sources in which one can find the basis of decisions. For example, if we look at the 6th ediiton, we find that Lava Heron Butorides sundevalli has been lumped with Striated Heron B.striatus. Where is the basis for this decision? I have been unable to find it. I went to the SACC Checklist proposals page, and found that the proposal from Van Remsen to split B.sundevalli for B.striatus did not pass, despite the fact that five members of the Committee voted for the proposal and four against. In contrast, Dickinson cites author's names and years, and in footnotes refers one to where the basis of decisions can be found. I'm interested in any comments. John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net =============================== www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au =============================== Subject: Re: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition From: Carl Clifford <carlsclifford AT mac.com> Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:08:19 +1100 Richard, I have tried to use the Howard & Moore site at http://birds- howardandmoore.org/, but there does not appear to be anything much on it. When the various menus are clicked, the results are either that there is nothing on that page or a dialogue that says that one must be registered to access the information. When one clicks on the 'Register' links one is told that the server can not be found or that access is denied, depending on which 'Register" link is used! Is access to this site by invitation only or are they just having a bad hair day? I was thinking of buying Howard and Moore, but my experience with the H&M site has put me off. Interesting that the sites logo is a Dodo. Cheers, Carl Clifford On 20/12/2007, at 8:16 PM, Richard Klim wrote: John, I fully agree with your observations. Here is a comment I made in July during a discussion of Clements 6th Edition on BirdForum's Taxonomy & Nomenclature forum: "At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, I question why Clements is still considered to be the checklist of choice by the ABA and so many other birders. Although of similar size & weight, Dickinson (Howard & Moore) (2003) is far more rigorous and contains significantly more information, including a justification of the sequence of families adopted, author/ date down to subspecies level, and almost 3000 specific bibliographical references. By contrast, Clements provides absolutely no justification for its taxonomic stance and includes only a minimal introduction and a very short (7 page) and unreferenced bibliography - the reader is simply expected to take everything on trust. Although I admit that I have obtained a copy of Clements 6th edition (mainly out of curiosity), I look forward to the 4th edition of Howard & Moore (2009?)." It is unfortunate that Dickinson is not updated between editions (except for the annual corrigenda issued on the web). But perhaps this will soon change? See http://birds-howardandmoore.org Richard Klim Somerset, UK ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Murray Penhallurick" To: Cc: ; "'Birding Aus'" ; "'Bulletin Board for Ornithologists working with Neotropical Birds'" Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 5:58 AM Subject: [EBN] Clements 6th edition Dear Friends, I recently received the 6th edition of the Clements Checklist. While I appreciate the updating of species and subspecies, I still consider this volume inferior to Dickinson's 3rd edition of the Howard and Moore Checklist, at least in two ways. 1) It does not list the authors and dates of species or subspecies. I consider this essential for any checklist for any readers interested in taxonomy and nomenclature. 2) It does not refer to the sources in which one can find the basis of decisions. For example, if we look at the 6th ediiton, we find that Lava Heron Butorides sundevalli has been lumped with Striated Heron B.striatus. Where is the basis for this decision? I have been unable to find it. I went to the SACC Checklist proposals page, and found that the proposal from Van Remsen to split B.sundevalli for B.striatus did not pass, despite the fact that five members of the Committee voted for the proposal and four against. In contrast, Dickinson cites author's names and years, and in footnotes refers one to where the basis of decisions can be found. I'm interested in any comments. John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net =============================== www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au =============================== ==============================www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au ============================== Subject: Re: [EBN] Clements 6th edition From: "Richard Klim" <richard AT klim.co.uk> Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:16:15 -0000 John, I fully agree with your observations. Here is a comment I made in July during a discussion of Clements 6th Edition on BirdForum's Taxonomy & Nomenclature forum: "At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, I question why Clements is still considered to be the checklist of choice by the ABA and so many other birders. Although of similar size & weight, Dickinson (Howard & Moore) (2003) is far more rigorous and contains significantly more information, including a justification of the sequence of families adopted, author/date down to subspecies level, and almost 3000 specific bibliographical references. By contrast, Clements provides absolutely no justification for its taxonomic stance and includes only a minimal introduction and a very short (7 page) and unreferenced bibliography - the reader is simply expected to take everything on trust. Although I admit that I have obtained a copy of Clements 6th edition (mainly out of curiosity), I look forward to the 4th edition of Howard & Moore (2009?)." It is unfortunate that Dickinson is not updated between editions (except for the annual corrigenda issued on the web). But perhaps this will soon change? See http://birds-howardandmoore.org Richard Klim Somerset, UK ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Murray Penhallurick" To: Cc: ; "'Birding Aus'" ; "'Bulletin Board for Ornithologists working with Neotropical Birds'" Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 5:58 AM Subject: [EBN] Clements 6th edition Dear Friends, I recently received the 6th edition of the Clements Checklist. While I appreciate the updating of species and subspecies, I still consider this volume inferior to Dickinson's 3rd edition of the Howard and Moore Checklist, at least in two ways. 1) It does not list the authors and dates of species or subspecies. I consider this essential for any checklist for any readers interested in taxonomy and nomenclature. 2) It does not refer to the sources in which one can find the basis of decisions. For example, if we look at the 6th ediiton, we find that Lava Heron Butorides sundevalli has been lumped with Striated Heron B.striatus. Where is the basis for this decision? I have been unable to find it. I went to the SACC Checklist proposals page, and found that the proposal from Van Remsen to split B.sundevalli for B.striatus did not pass, despite the fact that five members of the Committee voted for the proposal and four against. In contrast, Dickinson cites author's names and years, and in footnotes refers one to where the basis of decisions can be found. I'm interested in any comments. John Penhallurick 86 Bingley Crescent FRASER, A.C.T. 2615 AUSTRALIA S 35° 11' 40.2" E 149° 03' 26.2" Home Telephone: (61 2) 6258 5428 Mobile 0408 585428 Please visit my website http://worldbirdinfo.net =============================== www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au =============================== Subject: 100 million dead birds every year are too many -- please support the protest to the EU From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:29:20 +0100 Please action now and pass to your lists and contacts < ..... > 100 million dead wild birds are too many, Mr. Dimas! In the past years massive declines in the populations of numerous bird species have been registered -- in some cases to the point of regional extinction. Despite this threat, the European Union still permits hunting of endangered species such as Lapwing, Skylark or Turtle Dove. The numbers of birds shot annually in all 25 EU member states amounts to over 100 million! By sending this protest mail, you call upon the European Commission to subject the hunting of birds to close scrutiny and to put an immediate stop to the hunting of endangered species. You can read more about the background, including details of the hunting bag statistics, here: http://www.komitee.de/index.php?protest_dimas_en or you can go direct to the protest mail in English and German at: http://www.komitee.de/online/index.php?protestmail&protest=europe_en Thank you! David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Seabirds starve en masse in our waters From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 16:09:57 +0100 colonies are deserted one by one and what do scientists ask for: more research! As if we don't know what causes our seabirds to die out? Stop the bloody Sandeel fishing now! Why do we allow this irresponsible plundering of the fundament of the marine food chain to carry on a minute longer? Norman http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/07/eabirds107.xml _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Desert Wheatear in Malta From: "Raymond Galea" <raygalea AT onvol.net> Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 19:30:18 +0100 Hi all At the moment an immature male Desert Wheatear is present in Malta. This is only the 11th record. You can watch a short video of the bird here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2TjTeQGvKM regards Raymond Galea Malta raygalea AT onvol.net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Poss White-fronted Goose - 2nd record? Bahrain From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:28:21 +0000 Today at Badaan Farm Bahrain I found along with Adrian Drummond-Hill a juvenile Goose. We both managed to get some resonable photos in the fading light. I have identified it as a juvenile White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons, however I would be grateful if anybody familiar with the species could cast an eye over the photographs as this will be if accepted only the second record for Bahrain. Photographs of the bird can be found on our web page as usual under ID- problems > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/home_stub.php Howard King Bahrain [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Seawatch result from Senegal in October 2007 From: "Niklas Holmstrom" <mail AT seawatching.net> Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:56:33 +0100 Dear all, The winter have invaded Sweden, but I had have a nice seawatch holiday in Senegal (e.g. N'Gor/Calao north-west of Dakar). Today, I have launched the results and totals from our successful seawatch trip tp the area. What about nearly 10.000 skuas in all!? Between 5 and 28 October we recorded in total slightly more than 120.000 seabirds passing south. On the main page you'll find three links, which concerns our trip. Within a few weeks the trip report as well as several moore photo galleries will be launched to the website. The trip report will also include a full report of the landbirds as well as the cetaceans observations (we saw breaching Orcas and Humpback Whales!). Located at a great seawatch site, lovely, scanning the sea for passing seabirds, not only sea turtles and cetaceans do appear, but many unexpected birds do too. For example we recorded a single American Golden Plover, Garganey, two Northern Shoveler, Merlin, Short-eared Owl, White-faced Whistling Ducks. The trip report will be launched within a few weeks as well as several new seabird galleries. Feel free to visit the website "Seawatching in Senegal" and enjoy the photos: http://senegal.seawatching.net All the best and enjoy your weekend! With love /Niklas ********************************************************* Niklas Holmström Riktargatan 65 D S-644 33 Torshälla, Sweden Mobile: +46 (0)708 231058 Website: http://www.seawatching.net ********************************************************* Subject: CABS Bird Protection Camp Brescia 2007 -- Final Report now available! From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:59:22 +0100 The CABS 4 week bird protection camp in the mountains of the North Italian province of Brescia came to an end on 04 November 2007. Some 70 activists from Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Israel and Germany assisted in the location of illegal traps and nets in the Southern Alpy since 6 October 2007 and helped to bring poachers to justice. Altogether the teams found and dismantled a total of 1,280 bow traps, 359 snap traps, 91 wire snares and lime sticks and 140 bird trapping nets. The final report is at http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?camp2007 David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Defintion for WP From: howard king <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:07:18 +0000 I received the following as part of this week's BirdGuides newsletter: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================ Bird of the Week ================ Little doubt that the stars of the week were the fourth and fifth Mourning Doves for the Western Palearctic. The bird discovered on North Uist (Western Isles) was found close to the site of a previous British Mourning Dove, and both were discovered by the same observer! http://www.birdguides.com/birdoftheweek ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- out of interest it I would like to know for sure the definition of Western Palearctic and have the question answered! - are parts of the Middle East in that region. Mourning Dove or Palm Dove as we call it locally are a resident breeder and quite common around here. Howard King Bahrain [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Hunting and the Law in the EU - have your say! From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:25:44 +0200 Stavros Dimas, EC Commissioner for the Environment has just opened up a discussion on hunting and the law on his blog page at http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/dimas/hunting-and-the-law/ Let's have plenty of contributions! Grab your 5 minutes of fame now! David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Italy - Bow traps – a tradition dies out From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:24:58 +0200 Brutal trapping methods Bow traps - in Italian "archetti"- are one of the most archaic types of bird trap in European cultural history. The mechanism of the at first sight simple trap is incredible and extremely brutal. A small stick and a piece of cord keep the bow – made traditionally out of a hazel branch – under tension. Birds are attracted by rowan berries and thereby lured to perch on the horizontally positioned stick. At the slightest touch the bow flies apart. Within a fraction of a second the bird is hanging upside down with its legs crushed in the trap. In the warm autumn sun they stay fresh –and alive – until the trapper releases them after a death struggle lasting for hours. Some also die from a blood clot in the brain, general circulation collapse or simply bleed to death. Some 90 % of the birds caught in these traps are Robins. Although insectivores, in autumn they feed on the vitamin rich berries and so are the majority of bow trap victims. The other 10 % consist of above all Song Thrushes, Wrens and Goldcrests; less often Chaffinches, Bramblings, Tits and larger birds such as Long-eared Owls or Jays. The Fat Dormouse and Hazel Mouse often suffer so-called collateral damage. The effectiveness of the bow traps is astonishing. Statistically one bird is caught for every 7 traps per day. If a poacher has trap lines consisting of say 70 traps, he catches 10 Robins per day. With a trapping `season' lasting from mid-September to mid-December 900 and more birds - per trapper - can end up in the cooking pot! "Withdrawal" to North Italy Bow traps date back as far as the Bronze Age and could be found in all European countries into modern times. In Germany, called "Sprenkel", they were banned in the 19th Century and were last found in use during the years immediately preceding WW I. Since that time they have vanished from Europe's forests with 3 exceptions. In the Friaul region of North Italy isolated cases of their use have been recorded, and a single case was reported from the west of the Basque country in the French Pyrenees in the past few decades. The bow trap is however only used on a large scale in a hardly 1,500 square kilometre area in the northern Italian province of Brescia in Lombardy, in the mountains between Lakes Garda and Iseo. In the middle of the last century bow traps could be seen by passers-by in the front gardens of houses in the mountain villages of Brescia. They could also be seen along hedgerows, and on grassland and meadows from bordering tracks and paths even though they had been banned in Italy since the 1950s. Experts estimate that at the beginning of the 1990s there were still some 150,000 bow traps in use in the Brescia Mountains. (Nearly) The end of a tradition During the first CABS bird protection camp in 1985, 6 activists collected 3,266 bow traps within just 2 days. Since then the duration of the camps have been extended and the initial spontaneous collection of traps has, in the course of 15 years, become a well-organised mass operation against poaching – with hundreds of participants. The number of bow traps found during operations grew steadily until 2001 in step with the more thoroughly planned operations. In 2001 some 71 activists took part in the CABS camp which had a total duration of over 2 ½ weeks – some 189 personnel days in all. The result: 12,104 bow traps. In the following year the close cooperation with the forest police, which had been practised since 1999, appeared to be paying off. We had then begun to report trap line locations to the police so that they could set an ambush and catch poachers red-handed. After the first such operations in 1999 and 2000, in 2001 the police total arrest figures of poachers exceeded 50 for the first time. This had an effect on the poachers and the fear of arrest was reflected in the number of bow traps found in 2002 – 9,500 – although we had more people on the ground (a total of 198 personnel days). The number of bow traps found has declined dramatically up until the present day although the duration of the camps has been longer. In autumn 2006, during 4 weeks of operations with a total of 108 participants (301 personnel days) we found only 1,436 traps, hardly 12 % of the total found in 2001! Not only the number of traps in use has declined dramatically but also the length of the `season'. Because of the constant fear of being caught, the poacher now restrict their activities to the core time of bird migration. Traps are now only set from the beginning of October to the beginning of November and not, as previously, for a full 3 months in autumn. We await with great interest the final result of the CABS bird protection camp in autumn 2007! David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: CABS press statement - bird camp in N. Italy From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:03:50 +0200 PRESS STATEMENT ++ 19.10.2007 ++ Raid against illegal bird trappers at Lake Garda Robins end up on the skewer in Italy Bonn/Tremosine. On Thursday 18 October, officers of the Italian forest police dismantled a huge net trapping site for migrant dong birds in the middle of a popular holiday region and arrested two poachers. According to CABS, whose teams discovered the trapping site, more than 100 dead and living song birds, including finches, robins and dunnocks, were seized in the raid in the Tremosine district. The poachers had erected 10 fine mist nets, with a total length of some 200 m, as well as lime sticks in their gardens. The traps were surrounded by 26 live bird decoys in cages. "This facility has probably been responsible for the death of hundreds of song birds in the past few weeks, which are then sold" commented CABS spokesman Axel Hirschfeld. Both poachers, one of whom has a hunting licence, will be prosecuted. Song birds, grilled on skewers and served up with polenta, are still regarded by many Italians as delicacies and, despite strict laws banning their trapping, are still caught and sold in large numbers. The main hot spot for illegal trapping is in the Southern Alps, where hundreds of thousands of birds meet their death every year in nets and traps. At the present time more than 30 CABS members are active in the area around Lake Garda on operations conducted to prevent the illegal trapping. CABS teams, together with their Italian partner organisations, search daily for trapping sites which are then reported to the forest police. Since the start of operations at the beginning of October some 820 bow and other traps and 44 nets set out for illegal trapping have been located and dismantled. 20 poachers have been caught red-handed and 37 live decoy birds have been set free. Details and results of our operations are published online daily in our camp blog at www.komitee.de/en. Distributed on behalf of CABS by: David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: EU final warning to Malta on spring hunting - mail campaign From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:42:49 +0200 Please action and pass to your contacts and lists: <...> THE EU HAS SENT ITS FINAL WARNING TO THE MALTESE GOVERNMENT BirdLife Malta have now initiated an email campaign on this matter To make life easier fo all of you, I have now prepared a draft text and email link to Prime Minister Gonzi at: http://www.proact-campaigns.net/malta/ban_spring_hunting_now.html I urge you to send an email to the Maltese Prime Minister as soon as you can, asking him to respond to the European Commission's warning and to declare the end to spring hunting in Malta once and for all. David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Fw: [BirdsinRussia] yellow wagtails From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 20:50:18 +0200 Dear Marko, Thank you for your interesting response. Yes, finding out more facts on wagtail hybridisation may take many, many years. As to the picture of tschutschensis on radioactive robins as it is so strikingly similar to what we see portrayed in Field Guides as tschutschensis there really is no need to use another name. Imagine it is a hybrid. How can we tell it apart from true tschutschensis? You say by call perhaps but what if the individual one sees doesn't call and what if you find one dead? I really should not worry too much. There are plenty vagrants reaching Europe which come all the way from the area where tschutschensis is supposed to occur so why should tschutschensis not be able come here on it's own steam? Besides our knowledge about the areas where the respective races occur is still evolving. May be tschutschensis occurs much more westerly than we think. Here lies an interesting challenge for our Russian friends! However if it will ever be proven that tschutschensis look-alikes are in fact hybrids then we are in real trouble! As to your question about leucism, our expert in these matters of the Natural History Museum in Leiden, Hein van Grouw, says: "I have come across more cases of leucism among both White as well as Yellow Wagtails. Indeed leucism is one of the commonest mutations among birds and evidently this heridiatery quality is well eastablished in the Serbian yellow wagtail population!" Norman Marko Sciban wrote: >I have to say that I strongly agree with Peter. There is a lot problems with females, as they are even more variable then males. This August I caught one female feldegg, so I will soon send them to you. Also, better time to do research on yellow wagtails is spring while autumn is very hard because of moult and juveniles. But on the other hand it is more easy to catch birds in August and September when birds can be caught in their roosts in reedbeds. Spring is very rapid and birds are not present in big flocks, so you are not able to catch bigger numbers of birds which would be better for comparision. In any case, here in Serbia spring ringings are very needed if we want to make a good research. Especially direct capture of breeding pairs with callers would be more productive for your question. But since we still do not have possibilities and time for such research, in any case this is a subject for a several year study. As for the photo of "tschutschensis" on your website, I must say that it is looking strikingly similar to the birds from Siberia, but I could never dare to say something like that since I know that we have such, nearly identical, birds here in northern Serbia actually breeding. Yes, they are rare, but you can find all kinds of them if you search enough. If the call recordings are indeed a good way to separate these subspecies then only then you can say that it is tschutschensis. Head patterns are not enough to say that bird is from east Siberia although it look identically to the subspecies. In the following e-mail I am sending you photos of some birds which we managed to collect until now. If anyone else is interested I can forward to them also. And now, I have one question. This autumn we menaged to catch and ring about 150 yellow wagtails, from which 5 were leucistic. As this is the high % of the captured birds, I wonder is this normal to have so much leucistic cases or we just had a lot of luck? > Öèòàò íà ïèñìî îò "Norman D.van Swelm" > : > Dear Norman, > We catch also females, not less than males. But it is much > more diffucult to orientate among them.In most of the > cases(approx. 80%) M.f.flava females can be distinguished > from M.f.feldegg females if the bird is in your hands.But > there are some "intermediate" 20% ....so , probably I have > to work 1-2 more springs to study them. And on the field it > is more difficult to see the differences. So if somebody > will study the pairs in the contact zones to prove the > hybridisation he must catch the birds and he must have big > experience with catching breeding females in spring from the > "core distribution" of each studied subspecies. > Peter_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Malta press folder From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:12:48 +0200 Please distribute widely: I have put all the press reports in connection with recent bird protection operations and their aftermath online at: http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/press_maltacamp_2007.html The cartoons http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/cartoons.html are excellent and show how much publicity we received. As Mae West once said: "The only bad publicity is NO publicity!". In an interesting development the Catholic Church, once a firm bastion of the hunting community, has now come down unambiguously on the side of the environment. This is no doubt allied to recent Vatican policy on this subject: See http://proaction.tripod.com/cabsmalta/church_on_hunting.html I hope we have shaken things up a little. Our next aim will to campaign against a renewed opening of the spring hunting season. David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: Shooting incident on Malta From: "bo.beolens" <bo.beolens AT btinternet.com> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 15:52:04 +0100 I just put the full report on front page of Fatbirder bo www.fatbirder.com ----- Original Message ----- From: sylvia wallace To: proact-campaigns AT online.de Cc: ebn AT physis.pnw.fi ; UKBN Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 2:49 PM Subject: Re: [UKbirdnet] Shooting incident on Malta This is outrageous. His trees were ripped down and damaged by hunters. This sounds to me as if he has been targetted not once, but twice or perhaps more? Can anyone tell me the name and address of the Head of the Police and Tourist Board in Malta? Please pass on my regards to Ray for a speedy recovery. He has picked his spirits up once and he can do it again, but this is serious. Once I am able to ascertain the above contact addresses, rest assured, I will be sending a swift letter to express my disgust and concerns. This is intimidation and the police need to act before someone is killed. Sylvia. On 02/10/2007, Proact Campaigns wrote: Update: The Foresta ranger shot in the face was Ray Vella - a PROACT member - who has often contributed to our forum and other mailing lists. I will write to him on behalf of us all. Anyone wishing to send a personal message can ask me for his mail address or - as Proact members - mail him online via the Proact team list: Europe South -Malta (restricted access). Ray was the initiator and warden of the Foresta 200 project which was destroyed by vandals this year: "On the night of 8-9 May 2007 a group of criminals entered Foresta 2000 and destroyed 3000 trees. They uprooted, broke or sawed them off one by one, methodically." There is an appeal by BirdLife Malta for donations to repair the damage and regain at least the lost work and the lost trees as fast as possible. I am sure that, if any of you can help, this would make Ray feel much better. See http://www.birdlifemalta.org/join/foresta2000appeal/ and scroll down to donate online. My donation is on its way. Thanks, David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet -- The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism -- ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies", April 29, 1938 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: Shooting incident on Malta From: "sylvia wallace" <sylvia.wallace AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 14:49:40 +0100 This is outrageous. His trees were ripped down and damaged by hunters. This sounds to me as if he has been targetted not once, but twice or perhaps more? Can anyone tell me the name and address of the Head of the Police and Tourist Board in Malta? Please pass on my regards to Ray for a speedy recovery. He has picked his spirits up once and he can do it again, but this is serious. Once I am able to ascertain the above contact addresses, rest assured, I will be sending a swift letter to express my disgust and concerns. This is intimidation and the police need to act before someone is killed. Sylvia. On 02/10/2007, Proact Campaigns wrote: > > Update: > > The Foresta ranger shot in the face was Ray Vella - a PROACT member - > who has often contributed to our forum and other mailing lists. > > I will write to him on behalf of us all. Anyone wishing to send a > personal message can ask me for his mail address or - as Proact members > - mail him online via the Proact team list: Europe South -Malta > (restricted access). > > Ray was the initiator and warden of the Foresta 200 project which was > destroyed by vandals this year: > > "On the night of 8-9 May 2007 a group of criminals entered Foresta 2000 > and destroyed 3000 trees. They uprooted, broke or sawed them off one by > one, methodically." > > There is an appeal by BirdLife Malta for donations to repair the > damage and regain at least the lost work and the lost trees as fast as > possible. I am sure that, if any of you can help, this would make Ray > feel much better. > > See http://www.birdlifemalta.org/join/foresta2000appeal/ and scroll > down to donate online. My donation is on its way. > > Thanks, > > > David > -- > David Conlin > Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing > ..... doing nothing costs birds > Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/ .... > actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe > Skype: david_conlin > _______________________________________________ > UKbirdnet mailing list > ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk > http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet > -- The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism -- ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies", April 29, 1938_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Malta - today's cartoon From: Proact Campaigns <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:58:41 +0200 I hope most of you can take British-Maltese humour ..... in the Times of Malta today: http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=275908 David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?index .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe Skype: david_conlin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Get the German Govt to put pressure on the Maltese to stop hunting From: david camilleri <ghawdex40 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:23:27 -0400 Please take action: The Lesser Spotted Eagle shot down over Malta was (subsequently) named after the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel - in order to provide a lever to encourage him to put direct pressure on the Maltese Government to put a stop to illegal hunting. It is relatively easy to mail him using the contact form in English here: http://www.bmu.de/english/contact/content/4126.php In case anyone wants a crib - try to include the following points: I have been concerned for a long time about this needless annual killing of protected European bird species on Malta. I was appalled to read in the press recently of the arrogance and aggression of the hunters. German and other international conservationists were pushed, spat on and called Nazi spies. There were reports of many magnificent birds of prey being shot down - a tragedy. I hope the Lesser Spotted Eagle "Sigmar" survives. Thanks to his sad fate, efforts by European conservationists and their supporters worldwide, and the illegal hunting problem, are being brought to a larger public. I hope also that you and your ministry will use the publicity to put pressure on the Maltese Government to give the problem more priority and provide the police with more personnel and resources. I look forward to your reply. Sincerely," --------------- Here as well on the Berlin-Brandenburg evening regional news: http://www.rbb-online.de/_/brandenburgaktuell/beitrag_jsp/key=rbb_beitrag_mini_6484020.html (Click on video - requires RealPlayer) David -- David Conlin Proact International www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ..... doing nothing costs birds Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?index .... actively operating against illegal hunting across Europe _________________________________________________________________ Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.aspx&mkt=en-us Subject: Re: [BirdsinRussia] yellow wagtails From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:39:51 +0200 Dear Magnus, Thank you for sharing your pictures with us. Thank God the internet prevents the kind of censorship you propose. Now not only can we claim whatever we want but we can also show the world what we claim! Wagtails dear Magnus are long distance migrants, they are excellent flyers. Birds like that can and do turn up in weird places all the time. They are the spices in the birders soup! If you want to spoil the party and keep saying that my 'claim' of tschutschensis is false than start doing what I requested you to do: proof me wrong! You can do that by showing us 1) definite proof that thunbergi and flava hybridise and 2) that their offspring look like tschutschensis. When you have done that Magnus tell us how to separate tschutschensis from a hybrid tschutschensis look-alike! For those who have no idea what this is all about please have a look here: http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/ then click Wagtails and choose Yellow Wagtails. Have fun, good night, cheers, Norman Magnus Hellström:>I believe that a claim of tschutschensis in W Europe without good notes (recordings?) of the call should be left outside every publication. The intergradation zone between flava and thunbergi is wide and the phenotypic claim expression of the offspring is highly variable. The chances that a tschutschensis-like bird in W Europe origin from this zone should be far, far, greater than the occurrence of a true tschutschensis from E Siberia. Some photos can be viewed here - mostly from breeding ground (or close to). M. f. tschutschensis: http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#5115334178115699970 M. f. taivana: http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#5115334517418116402 http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#5115333997727073506 M. f. beema: http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#5115327538096259986 M. f. beema X leucocephala: http://picasaweb.google.com/stenura/Wagtails/photo#5115330175206179826 _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava hybridisation From: Paul Tout <paul_tout AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:01:04 +0200 Hi Norman, Sorry I was too busy to read your first message and reply earlier. I cannot hear any difference in the flight calls of flava and flavissima but flava and cinereocapilla flight calls are dramatically different with cinereocapilla sounding much reedier and throaty. You can pick out the flava-type birds on call as they fly over on migration in mixed flocks. Re. hybridisation. Feldegg males have been recorded feeding young in the nest in NE Italy (cinereocapilla area), the difficulty is assigning the female birds to a subspecies with any degree of certainty. Regards, Paul Tout, Duino (TS) ITALIA From: Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl To: BirdsinRussia AT yahoogroups.com Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:36:51 +0200 CC: EUROBIRDNET AT listserv.funet.fi; ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk Subject: Re: [UKbirdnet] [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava hybridisation Dear Christoph, thank you for your response, my impression is that if we were to decide on the races of Yellow Wagtails on the basis of calls life would be a lot easier, I have not been able to hear any difference between the calls of the various races in Western Europe! Dear Magnus the aim of my message is to find out whether hybridisation among Yellow Wagtails is still taking place or that it simply based on interpretation of plumage characters perhaps originating from ancient times. So when you say that flava and thunbergi interbreed in C.Sweden please tell us on the basis of which facts you base your vieuw that indeed they hybridise. Norman Christoph Zöckler wrote:> I have sound recordings of M.f. plexa from Siberia https://www.birdsounds.nl/index.php?pg=newarticlesitem&id=684, but I did not pick up any differences in the calls with the European spp. Some of the birds might interbreed with tschutschensis, but I have no recordings clearly pointing to this subspecies from the breeding range. Magnus Hellström You cannot expect to receive a serious response to your questions when you jump your conclusions they way you do in your photos. With birds out of defined breeding ranges (e.g. birds on migration in the Netherlands) you will (and should!) have a hard time to prove them as tschutschensis, beema, iberiae etc. You can't just say "Well, it sure looked like one..."! Are there, for instance, any recordings of vocalizations of these birds? Have they been properly assessed by your records committee? Your tschutschensis looks a lot like birds commonly seen in C Sweden where flava and thunbergi meets (and interbreed).< 2007/9/26, Norman D.van Swelm Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl: > > The Yellow Wagtail races hybridise frequently. That at least is the > explanation given for the existence of individuals which differ in > appearance from birds considered typical of their kind. This hybridisation > > is said to occur in border areas where two races occur. So f.i. the forms > superciliaris and dombrowski are said to be the product of Black-headed > Wagtails M.f.feldegg and M.f.beema and the nominate race flava > respectively. > More recently Dubois has described hybrids between M.f.flava and > M.f.flavissima in NW France. The latter two also breed in The Netherlands > where hybridisation has not been seen. I have followed Blue-headed and > Yellow Wagtails for more than ten years and also never seen any attempt of > > hybridisation. It does not mean that is does not happen but in any case it > > would be very hard to prove as 1) the wagtails are very wary while > breeding > and 2) the females of flava and flavissima do not differ so much as f.i. > females of feldegg, lutea and flava. So I wonder if anyone has > photographic > evidence of interbreeding between Yellow Wagtail races. If there is no > proof > of recent interbreeding than perhaps intermediate forms are just the > result > of ancient interbreeding and can now best be considered to be a variety of > > the race where they occur. > I have selected a number of pictures of both breeding and migrant Yellow > Wagtails taken in the SW Netherlands. I have designated each portrayed > bird > to a race as best as I can.The pictures can be found here: > > http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/ > > then click Wagtails > > and choose Yellow Wagtails. > > Norman _________________________________________________________________ Explore the seven wonders of the world http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=7+wonders+world&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: [BirdsinRussia] Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava hybridisation From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:36:51 +0200 Dear Christoph, thank you for your response, my impression is that if we were to decide on the races of Yellow Wagtails on the basis of calls life would be a lot easier, I have not been able to hear any difference between the calls of the various races in Western Europe! Dear Magnus the aim of my message is to find out whether hybridisation among Yellow Wagtails is still taking place or that it simply based on interpretation of plumage characters perhaps originating from ancient times. So when you say that flava and thunbergi interbreed in C.Sweden please tell us on the basis of which facts you base your vieuw that indeed they hybridise. Norman Christoph Zöckler wrote:> I have sound recordings of M.f. plexa from Siberia https://www.birdsounds.nl/index.php?pg=newarticlesitem&id=684, but I did not pick up any differences in the calls with the European spp. Some of the birds might interbreed with tschutschensis, but I have no recordings clearly pointing to this subspecies from the breeding range. Magnus Hellström You cannot expect to receive a serious response to your questions when you jump your conclusions they way you do in your photos. With birds out of defined breeding ranges (e.g. birds on migration in the Netherlands) you will (and should!) have a hard time to prove them as tschutschensis, beema, iberiae etc. You can't just say "Well, it sure looked like one..."! Are there, for instance, any recordings of vocalizations of these birds? Have they been properly assessed by your records committee? Your tschutschensis looks a lot like birds commonly seen in C Sweden where flava and thunbergi meets (and interbreed).< 2007/9/26, Norman D.van Swelm Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl: > > The Yellow Wagtail races hybridise frequently. That at least is the > explanation given for the existence of individuals which differ in > appearance from birds considered typical of their kind. This hybridisation > > is said to occur in border areas where two races occur. So f.i. the forms > superciliaris and dombrowski are said to be the product of Black-headed > Wagtails M.f.feldegg and M.f.beema and the nominate race flava > respectively. > More recently Dubois has described hybrids between M.f.flava and > M.f.flavissima in NW France. The latter two also breed in The Netherlands > where hybridisation has not been seen. I have followed Blue-headed and > Yellow Wagtails for more than ten years and also never seen any attempt of > > hybridisation. It does not mean that is does not happen but in any case it > > would be very hard to prove as 1) the wagtails are very wary while > breeding > and 2) the females of flava and flavissima do not differ so much as f.i. > females of feldegg, lutea and flava. So I wonder if anyone has > photographic > evidence of interbreeding between Yellow Wagtail races. If there is no > proof > of recent interbreeding than perhaps intermediate forms are just the > result > of ancient interbreeding and can now best be considered to be a variety of > > the race where they occur. > I have selected a number of pictures of both breeding and migrant Yellow > Wagtails taken in the SW Netherlands. I have designated each portrayed > bird > to a race as best as I can.The pictures can be found here: > > http://members.lycos.nl/radioactiverobins/ > > then click Wagtails > > and choose Yellow Wagtails. > > Norman_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: FW: Illegal Hunting Photos From: david camilleri <ghawdex40 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:39:30 -0400 < Unacceptable hunting contraventions> by Fiona Darmanin Tedesco, Xemxija. I would like to draw the urgent attention of the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) to the continual indiscriminate gunning down of protected species in the Pwales and Mizieb area (near Xemxija), to the fact that hunters shoot birds from the immediate vicinity of the Xemxija Simar nature reserve (a supposedly protected area), to regular hunting out of season and on Sunday afternoons, and to the regular use of guns firing five automatic consecutive shots. The other evening (September 4) for example a hunter was shooting down any bird that dared fly from the back fence of the Simar nature reserve at 7.30 p.m. When once again reporting illegal hunting last Sunday afternoon, the ALE person contacted replied that they were assigned beach patrol and did not have any vehicles to look into illegal hunting reports, while courteously thanking me for my interest to report. I challenge the hunters' federation to show some spine, patrol the countryside and turn in any members that blatantly contravene hunting regulations. To the best of my knowledge not one member has been turned in to date. Evidence of internal enforcement within the hunters federation might serve to gain the federation some credibility with the public, as well as finally shed some light on the "conservationists" part of their name. One last point. Why does the whole island belong to hunters or trappers during their seasons, at the expense of the rest of the population that might want to enjoy a safe quiet walk or picnic in the countryside? The authorities must seriously consider allocating designated hunting/trapping grounds, which will result in both law abiding hunters/trappers and the public separately enjoying their free time safely outdoors. I seriously hope that this letter together with my numerous telephone calls will not fall on deaf ears. ___________________________________________ This article may also be viewed at http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=274341 _________________________________________________________________ Capture your memories in an online journal! http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: mass murder in Cairo From: "Norman D.van Swelm" <Norman.vanswelm AT wxs.nl> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 20:14:48 +0200 FYI >From: "Sherif Baha El Din" >To: >Subject: massacre on the nile >Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 00:38:28 +0300 > >Dear all > >Over the past few days, un-noticed by most perhaps, one of the largest >heron colonies in the Cairo area (and Egypt perhaps) has been decimated. >This colony was located at the southern tip of Dahab Island (just south of >the Pharaonic village and visible from Muneib Bridge). The nice dense reed >beds have been home to one of Egypt's largest and most diverse heron >breeding colonies right in the middle of Cairo (containing Cattle Egret, >Little Egret, Night Heron, Squacoo Heron and some Little Bitterns). I think >it is one of the largest colonies of Night Herons in Egypt .. perhaps North >Africa?? or even the Med. basin (the source of all those Night Herons one >sees up and down the Nile at dusk in Cairo and they go all the way to the >southern Delta to feed!!.). Other water birds include Purple Gallinule and >Spur-winged Plover. A bright spot in Cairo's grim concrete skyline. > >On Monday 3 September I noticed several large cranes placed on floating >barges dredging on the outskirts of the colony but by Wednesday (today), it >was all flattened with thousands of birds (fledglings and god knows how >many nests and eggs ) scattered and scrambling in the open. When I stopped >to take pictures and examine the spot more closely a military man >approached me saying (no photo mister!!) and told me that the army >operation??. There were some military barges with rocks in them and I think >they intend to cement in the edges of the island (so called shore >protection), which is one of the worst practices that reduce the >biodiversity value of the Nile River by turning it into a virtual desert >for fauna and flora (including fish as well). > >These islands are protected areas (in theory).. , couldn't this have >happened outside the breeding season? When will such destruction caused by >a bunch on un-informed (i.e. ignorant) people be controlled .. as you can >see the damage can happen so fast .. we do not unfortunately have the >mechanisms or capacity to follow up and react to every incident. But our >role and responsibility as NGOs and individuals is to be vigilant and to >complain, make noise when we see a disaster (especially one that not too >many would notice such as this) to inform and raise the awareness of every >one concerned of such disasters that no one seems to notice or care about. > >Please go take pictures.. it is easy right on the cornish of Giza, write to >the Minister of Environment mseaoffice AT eeaa.gov.eg, Cairo Governor, etc. We >might be too late to save the birds in the colony now but we could save the >colony on the long run and prevent it from being cemented in and help >preserve it as a landmark for Cairo. > >Best to all > >Sherif Baha El Din _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Southern Italy: Song birds, Kestrel and Caiman confiscated in Naples From: Proact Campaigns - David Conlin <proact-campaigns AT online.de> Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:27:05 +0200 Committee against Bird Slaughter (CABS) -- News August 2007 (Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. -- www.komitee.de) Naples is not only famous as the home town of the Camorra, but also for poaching and illegal animal trade. On the slopes of Vesuvius finches are traditionally trapped in nets and cage traps; to spend the rest of their lives in tiny, cramped cages. The trade in stuffed birds and animals or in exotic reptiles also flourishes in the metropolis. On 10 August wildlife wardens from our partner organisation LIPU Naples, in cooperation with the forest police, found and confiscated 4 Goldfinches, 3 Greenfinches, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Kestrel and a South American Caiman in a house in the middle of the historical old town of Naples. More information (at present in German only) at http://www.komitee.de/index.php?napoli (Most of the CABS website will be available in English later this year) www.komitee.de www.artenschutzbrief.de Translated and distributed on behalf of CABS by David Conlin Proact Campaigns www.proact-campaigns.net/team joining costs nothing ... doing nothing costs birds _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://rhea.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Yellow-nosed Albatross and Sod's Law From: "Brian Unwin" <brianunwin AT waitrose.com> Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2007 14:27:45 +0100 An immature Yellow-nosed Albatross was picked-up exhausted on an English beach, taken into care and released the following day without being seen by a single birder - a potential "first" for Britain that won't be on anyone's list (unless sea watchers manage to catch sight of it now it's back to ocean-wandering). Sounds to me like a classic case of Sod's Law! Details of how the bird came to be taken into care - including pictures and even a video sequence - can be seen by clicking on: http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/ Brian Unwin _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: 4 New Dead White-tailed Eagles making a total of 13birds From: "sylvia wallace" <sylvia.wallace AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:45:05 +0100 It is time for the bird societies to prove that they have the interests of these eagles at heart instead of wind power. Is this another PR release to co-incide with bad news? Sylvia On 23/06/07, Brian Unwin wrote: > > After Eddie Chapman raised this issue and wondered whether the RSPB knew > about the further deaths and whether they could comment about it, I set > about producing a news story for UK papers. The answer to his query was > that > the they had not, at that time, been notified, but they are now aware of > Eddie's alert and certainly have commented. Meanwhile they are also > assisting NOF-BirdLife in the preparation of a new case against the Smola > windfarm to be considered by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention > in November. > > Unfortunately the news story I produced coincided with the arrival from > Norway of 15 White-tailed Eagle chicks for the new re-introduction scheme > in > eastern Scotland. As a result I angled it on the irony of eagles that > clearly don't get on well with windfarms being restored to a landscape > that > could well have a lot more turbines in future. As I anticipated, no paper > seems to have published anything about the potential conflict between > turbines and eagles, preferring to go for "Hooray, the eagles have > landed-type stories." > > I won't bore subscribers with the full news story I circulated but below > is > the extract the feature the RSPB comments. > > Brian Unwin (extract follows) > > ******************************************** > (extract from news story sent to newspapers on June 22 but not published) > > The conflict between turbines and eagles is not disputed by Statkraft, the > Norwegian state-owned enterprise aiming to be "a European leader in > environment-friendly energy", which went ahead with the Smola scheme > despite > environmental groups warning of this danger > > > > Last October the company admitted: "Since start-up of Phase 2 of Smola > Wind > Farm in August 2005, a total of ten sea eagles have collided with rotor > blades on the turbines and died. This is a serious problem and Statkraft > is > doing everything in its power to find a solution to this situation." > > > > Dr Rowena Langston, senior research biologist with Britain's Royal Society > for the Protection of Birds, which strongly opposed the Smola project, > said > there was evidence that the eagles faced particular risks during their > breeding season. > > > > The birds killed so far had been both adults and juveniles. "Smola had the > world's highest concentrations of breeding sea eagles and their fortunes > have been hit hard in the two years since the turbines started turning. > > > > "Just as significant is the disappearance of other sea eagles, seemingly > unwilling to return to their traditional breeding site. Before the wind > farm > was built, there were at least 16 nesting pairs where the wind farm > stands. > We think as many as nine of those territories could have been abandoned > with > no evidence that the displaced birds are nesting elsewhere on Smola." > > > > Birds that have moved away may well face similar problems in future as > more > windfarms are planned in the growing international drive to produce clean > power in a bid to counter global warming by reducing carbon emissions. > > > > Now the RSPB, which is much involved in the Scottish sea eagle > re-introduction scheme, is anxious that the Smola "mistake" is not be > repeated in the UK. > > > > Particularly in mind is the controversial proposal to build 181 turbines, > each towering 462ft over huge area of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer > Hebrides. The RSPB fears not only dangers to eagles but also to migrating > swans and geese, nesting wading birds and the peatland habitat generally. > > > > Dr Mark Avery, RSPB Conservation Director, said: "The fate of sea eagles > on > Smola shows just how much harm poorly sited wind farms can do. It is a > timely reminder for those now deciding whether to allow a much bigger wind > farm on the Isle of Lewis. > > > > "Wind energy can make a hugely significant contribution to tackling > climate > change and many in the renewables industry have been working with us and > others to ensure that turbines are built where damage to wildlife is > minimised." > > > ******************************************************** > > _______________________________________________ > UKbirdnet mailing list > ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk > http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet >_______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Fw: Charter boat From: "Brian Unwin" <brianunwin AT waitrose.com> Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 13:55:19 +0100 Apologies if anyone regards this as blatant advertising but subscribers wiswhing to see the Sula Sgeir Black-browed Albatross and wondering how to reach the site 50 miles out into the Atlantic might be interested in seeing this email that has just been sent to me. Brian Unwin ******************************************** An experienced and reliable local skipper has just been on the phone to me. His name is Angus Smith and he runs a charter boat service from Lewis. Details on: http://www.58degreesnorth.co.uk/latest/58-degrees-north-sails-in-stornoway.html He can be contacted on 0781 0466384 or via the contact details on the website. At the end of next week he is sailing to North Rona and Sula Sgeir and has 5 spaces. Cost is likely to be around £200 per head. It is a two day trip with an overnight on the boat anchored off the islands (weather permitting) Clearly a chance to try for the Black browed Albatross that is out there this summer and see two of Britain's most remote nature reserves. If you could pass this onto anyone you know who may be interested that would be great Martin Scott RSPB Conservation Officer (Western Isles) Office 2 Clintons Yard Rigs Road Stornoway Isle of Lewis Western Isles HS1 2RF Tel: 01851 703296 Mobile: 07775 502799 _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Re: Warbler From: "Alfons Willemsen" <a.willemsen AT skynet.be> Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 13:13:31 +0200 look like a Cetti's but i dont see ; - good dark eye strip from lores to back eyes - no long supercilium smal above lores and broad after eyes - and i think for cetti's to long tail - and not real to see short 2 and 3 primaries so i vote for Savis warbler greets Alfons ( °)> /( )\ / \/ \ Dagelijks vogelsringen van 06.00 tot 13.00 u. in de periode 20 juni/20 november. Ringplaats;Prov.Domein Broek Denaeyer, 51.04N-04.22E, Willebroek, Antwerpen, België KBIN - Ringers ID : 1395 http://www.trektellen.nl/ http://proaction.tripod.com/team/ http://www.birdingpal.org www.vogelopvangcentrum-malderen.be www.ooievaars.vlaanderen.be/ www.planckendael.be www.birdlife.net/ < Vivat, crescat, floreat Ornithologia > Wij moeten streven naar het behoud van de ons omringende natuur. Wij zijn het aan onszelf verplicht. Om haar ongeschonden door te geven aan de komende generaties. "We have the choise to use the gift of our lives to make the world a better place for all living things" Jane Goodall ----- Original Message ----- From: "howardk" To: ; "'UKBIRDNET'" ; Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 4:04 AM Subject: [UKbirdnet] Warbler > Morning all, > Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of > Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a > warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought > himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am > also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are > Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site > under O&B with AJ to view please see the following > >> http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php > > comments as usual are most welcome. > > Howard King > Bahrain > > _______________________________________________ > UKbirdnet mailing list > ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk > http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet > _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Warbler From: howardk <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 05:04:03 +0300 Morning all, Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site under O&B with AJ to view please see the following > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php comments as usual are most welcome. Howard King Bahrain _______________________________________________ UKbirdnet mailing list ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet Subject: Warbler From: howardk <howardk AT batelco.com.bh> Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 05:04:03 +0300 Morning all, Just about to start the days birding but have a problem of Identification to solve first. Adrian Drummond-Hill photographed a warbler yesterday in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He thought himself that it was a Scrub Warbler however I don't think it is but I am also at a loss to possitively identify it. Suggestions so far are Cettti's Savis's and Reed - Adrian has two pictures on the web site under O&B with AJ to view please see the following > http://www.hawar-islands.com/blog/aj_stub.php comments as usual are most welcome. Howard King Bahrain