FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

By Keith Bensusan and Charles Perez Abstract -  Gibraltar is a tiny, rocky promontory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It is a UK Overseas Territory, captured from Spain by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704 and ceded to Britain in 1713. Situated on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, little more than 20 km from the North African mainland, it is an important bottleneck site for the migration of large soaring birds, and is also important for migrant seabirds entering and leaving the Mediterranean. The site's habitats and natural history interests are described with particular reference to its IBA designations. Short-toed Eagle being mobbed by Yellow-legged Gull. Pic by Paul Acolina

Fight Against Illegal Bird Killing, Trapping, Hunting & Egg Collecting Poisoned Golden Eagle by Murdo Macleod Show your support for stricter laws against bird crimes to help save birds from illegal killing, poaching, persecution, trapping, hunting & egg collecting. We can use power in numbers via social media to express our concerns & encourage enforcement of stricter laws against, change in governments' attitudes towards, & raise awareness of, bird crimes & what needs to be done to stop these atrocities. 'Like' the Fight Bird Crimes &  Fight Bird Crimes Facebook Page at  facebook.com/FightBirdCrimes  where you can have your say, post information, or share articles. You can join here  by clicking the 'Like' button below. You can also help spread the word & show your support for the cause on Twitter & Google+ by using the buttons below. Follow @FightBirdCrimes Tweet #TwitterStories Worldwide we have ...

Wood Warbler (BTO) Migrant birds are likely to be particularly vulnerable to climate change because they can be affected by changing conditions on the breeding grounds, wintering grounds or passage areas in between. Many  long distance migrants that breed in the UK and winter in Africa are in severe decline , and previous BTO work has shown this can be related to  changing conditions in Africa , which affect overwinter survival, as well as to  conditions on British breeding grounds . BTO research published last year showed that although  conditions in Africa can ‘carry-over’  and affect the timing of nesting in this country, the most important factor influencing breeding was spring temperature in the UK. A new study by the BTO and the  University of Sheffield  builds upon the work by considering the impacts of climatic variation in passage regions, as well as the breeding and non-breeding grounds. It focuses on three declining migratory s...

The recently-published  Bird Atlas 2007–11  has highlighted some very significant patterns and shifting trends in our bird populations over the past 20 years.  For all too many species these findings reveal declines and range contractions; however there are some positive stories too. One of the most remarkable of these has been the colonisation and subsequent spread of the  Little Egret .  As the atlas has shown, this elegant heron is now widespread and is frequently observed throughout the country both during the winter and breeding seasons.  It is therefore easy to forget that it was as recently as 1997 that the first ever nesting record was documented in Ireland, following the first British record the previous year!  These events followed on from a rapid expansion of the Iberian breeding population in the early nineties, and their arrival to these shores throws up all sorts of interesting questions, such as the speculation as to whether their colon...

Cuckoo (BTO) Of the 18 Cuckoos we are tracking with satellite tags this year, 12 have already left the UK. Of the remaining six, three were tagged in Scotland and three in Norfolk. Those tagged in Devon, Sussex and Wales have already set off on migration. We currently have Cuckoos in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Corsica.  Take a look at the latest positions and blogs here. http://www.bto.org/news-events/news/2013-07/two-thirds-tagged-cuckoos-have-left

Trophy exhibition on Facebook This Lebanese poacher proudly displays a shot White Stork A freshly-shot, still living Short-toed Eagle is proudly presented as a trophy. Armed men pose with freshly killed cranes and pelicans. Another hunter holding a dead Lesser Spotted Eagle grins into the camera lens. His hunting companion has neatly draped his bag for the day - hundreds of shot song birds - on a bedsheet. Two children, hardly eight years of age - inspect wide-eyed two dead Honey Buzzards that their father has brought back today from the hunt. Another still life shows nine freshly shot White Storks in the foreground with behind them the hunter, completely relaxed with a cigarette in one hand and the beak of one of the storks in the other. Such photos give an idea of the incredible damage that Lebanese poachers inflict on the European bird populations. There are several hundreds, perhaps thousands of such trophy pictures. Most are taken by the poachers themselves to show off to...