Bravo, the Bee team come to Cumbria

Member of the B team

On Friday 7 August Rhodie, Ann, Chris Melia and myself started out at the crack of 08:30hrs and headed North up the M6 to see the quite rare Bee Eaters who had made their nest in the bank of a sand quarry near Carlisle. We arrived at the quarry after 10am to find that there were about 20 other cars there already.

Fortunately the other week, the quarry workers had reported seeing unusual colourful birds that were flying in and out of a nesting hole in the face of the quarry bank.

They called the RSPB who identified the birds as Bee Eaters and was quite a rare site to see.

The quarry owners kindly allowed the RSPB members to have access onto their land to be able to enjoy the rare sighting.

A small donation was collected by the organisation to help funds for future projects.

We followed the fenced path around the quarry to a vantage position where we could see the birds flying in and out of the nest hole and without disturbing them.

The nest was on the other side of the quarry, quite a few hundred meters away but was quite visible with scopes and binoculars.

Bee eater

We didn't have to wait long before there was one perched on a fence post above the nesting hole and actually eating a Bee.

Apparently there had been two pairs of Bee Eaters but one nest had unfortunately failed.

Red Legged Partridge

While waiting for the birds to return from foraging for food, some Red Legged Partridges appeared on the top of the bank.

Sadly it was very overcast and grey morning, so all the birds beautiful plumage didn't really stand out.

From there, and not to waste a 300 mile round trip, we called in at Leighton Moss on the way back, which was quite, due to the time of year but was rewarded by seeing some nice Emperor Dragonflies

and a bonus of a Dog Otter swimming a feeding on eels.

Otter - Leighton Moss

After a few hours there we made our way back down the M6 and called into the Preston Dock to see the Ring billed Gull and again we found it with ease, as there were quite a few people who had scopes trained on it and could point it out to us.

Ring billed gull

So all in all, it was a very good and productive days spotting.

Our Manu in Cyprus – fighting back for birds

Manu

Last August, while looking for a job in one of the websites I regularly visit, I saw a heading that drew my attention immediately: "Migratory Birds Conservation on Cyprus Volunteers".

As a conservation biologist and a keen birdwatcher, I'm well aware of illegal bird trapping all around the Mediterranean area, so I decided to send an e-mail asking for information. A few days later I had already booked the flights.

I arrived at Larnaca International Airport on 8th October at 20:55, and Edith and Gabriel were already waiting for me. About fifty minutes later we met Paulina at home, a nice lodge in Protaras.

 Protaras coast.

Edith Loosli cleaning a female Blackcap

Edith Loosli is the camp organizer and MBCC founder, a Swiss woman who has been fighting against illegal bird trapping in Cyprus for more than 20 years. Gabriel and Paulina, from the USA and Bulgaria, were the other volunteers.

Our everyday work consisted in patrolling the Southeastern Peninsula and Cape Gkreko areas, looking for illegal bird trappers. 

Coast at Cape Gkreko National Park.

We used to work chiefly at night and around sunrise and sunset for two main reasons: 1) it's still really hot in Cyprus in October and 2) the trappers know both Edith and MBCC's work, so we had to be very cautious not to be discovered.

Fortunately, Cypriot landscape is very bushy and we usually were able to spy on the trappers from a quite short distance.

A tree ready for illegal bird trapping! Note the wooden steps and the lime sticks.

Using this procedure, we managed to collect 278 lime sticks, confiscate 3 decoy devices and save 17 birds in the time I spent in Cyprus (until 25th October). Most birds were Blackcaps (13), but we also rescued 3 Willow Warblers and a lonely Reed Warbler.

The question here is: "what do they trap the birds for?" I would say that there are two kind of trappers: 1) the small ones, who want to hunt just a few birds for their own consumption, and 2) the big ones, who want to catch as many birds as possible in order to get money. The latter sell the birds to restaurants, where they are served as a dish called ambelopoulia, and are the most dangerous. It's easy to find plenty of information about this disgusting delicatessen on Google.

Coast at Cape Gkreko National Park.

I think that it's really important to say that police is very reluctant to cooperate, so we usually did our work independently, and only turned to police when the situation was especially risky or when there was a big chance of catching the trapper red-handed.

That said, I'd like to emphasise that Cyprus has not only illegal bird trappers and corrupt police, but many kind people, plenty of astonishing landscapes and countless interesting birds (I got seven lifers!) 

Starred Agama.

Juvenile Masked shrike

Stonechat

Crimson  Speckled Moth

Dragonfly

Below you can find a link to the last MBCC report:

http://1drv.ms/1t9NRDT

If any of you have any interest in taking part in a future camp, please let me know.

All the best! 

Manu Santa-Cruz