James Delingpole suggests potting a few of the most gorgeous (and protected) birds in the country. And he has the RSPB in his line of fire too!
What do you think?
Carduus the strangest thing by far as you are a nit picker is that the most unsubstantiated fact of all probably put out by RSPB but not sure it was them but was the original start of Kestrel thread,it said increase in intensive farming to blame and that is so untrue it is unbelievable someone like yourself who likes facts based on coming from a proven source has not gone to town on it.Repeat increase in intensive farming has not occurred in the time scale Kestrel numbers decreased so there is a real opportunity for you.
Well Carduus think you could have the same critical thought about all of my comments and indeed just about anyone else's,why one fact correct or not is so important to you only you know.Hope you have a better day.
Sooty,
No, I don't have any agenda, hidden or otherwise. The comparison between you and Delingpole was merely that in both cases unsubstantiated claims were made about the effects of larger raptors on the Kestrel population. No further similarity intended.
I am sure that RSPB staff have, in general, better things to do than to correct every minor claim made in blog comments, even those on RSPB staff blogs. To suggest that something must be true because the RSPB haven't challenged it is bizarre logic, to say the least. It wasn't even as if the issue concerned RSPB policy.
I'm not saying you're wrong about Kestrel remains in Buzzard nests, just that it would be better to have a more reliable source than the word of an anoymous person. It occurred to me that (some of the) Kestrel remains in nests could (possibly) be from dead birds (e.g. roadkill) scavenged by Buzzards. Not saying this is the case, just that it's a plausible alternative explanation.
I think the Norway paper quoted was perfectly relevant - the same two species involved and in general I suspect the ecology would be reasonably similar.
Regarding the poisoning, I have no wish to see any birds poisoned at all, either intentionally or as a consequence of rodent control. The 70% figure quoted by Meconopsis referred to dead birds containing rat poison, not killed by it. It would be interesting to know what proportion of birds were carrying enough poison to have significant effects on their survival or reproduction, although clearly the impacts must be less serious than the severe effects of organochlorine pesticides in the past.
Well Carduus perhaps you think I have a hidden agenda and to say I am alike Del boy seems a bit over the top as he got loads of £s for his rubbish,perhaps you like the 70% being killed by eating rats killed with poison or perhaps even you dispute this.That Buzzard nests contained Kestrel remains must have been in a reputable source but if you choose to not believe it I could not care less but to quote something from Norway seems way off the mark.My guess is RSPB could easily confirm or deny what I said about Buzzard nests so my take on it is this if I am wrong the RSPB will say so.It is no big deal to be wrong as far as I am concerned but you obviously take a much different view,would you not have expected by this stage if I was wrong the RSPB to have politely said so,oh you had not considered that.
We still only have your unsupported word for it that Buzzards i) eat a lot of Kestrels and ii) are causing Kestrel numbers to decline. Not much better than Delingpole's assertion that Red Kites and Sea Eagles are to blame.
Even if Buzzards do feed on Kestrels that doesn't necessarily mean there is a negative effect on the population. Competition for food could perhaps be significant, due to the large dietary overlap, but I don't know of any evidence that this is important. I found one paper on Buzzard diet ("Diet of Common Buzzards (Buteo buteo) in southern Norway determined from prey remains and video recordings"), which doesn't report any Kestrels or other birds of prey at all (admittedly this was quite a small study).
Goshawks are known to have local effects on Kestrel numbers, but there aren't that many of them around at all anyway so their total effect must be quite small (The decline of Common Kestrels Falco tinnunculus in a forested area of northern England: the role of predation by Northern Goshawks Accipiter gentilis).
Ultimately, the origin of this story was the reported 36% drop in Kestrel numbers between 2008-2009 (www.bto.org/.../roadside_raptor.html). It isn't really plausible to attribute such a large rapid drop this to gradual changes in the levels of predation, road deaths or agricultural changes, rather than e.g. weather conditions for that year. Taking a longer view, there isn't much evidence of a long term decline in Kestrel numbers since the late 1980s (www.bto.org/.../wcrkestr.shtml) (excluding the last 2-3 years).