FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

Thames Valley Police are appealing for information after the discovery of two injured red kites, both suffering from shotgun wounds. Both kites were discovered in Oakley Wood, near Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. One was found on 29th March 2016 and the second was found on 5th April. Both are now in the expert care of  Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital . The Police have revealed that a third red kite had been found in the same wood on 22nd March 2016, although the cause of death is not known. Anyone with information is asked to call  Thames Valley Police on 101, quoting reference #URN 372 06/04/16. Well done to Thames Valley Police for issuing an appeal for information ( here ). Photographs of the two injured kites and their x-rays provided by Tiggywinkles. From https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/red-kites-shot-in-the-thames-valley/

Evidence is emerging of what looks to be a pretty comprehensive police cover-up of the mass poisoning of birds of prey in the Powys region of Wales. According to the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2012), the following incidents are listed: Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 2 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x poisoned red kite (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. This little cluster is of interest, but becomes of even greater interest when you look at the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2013), where the following incidents are listed:

Poisoned Red Kite Back to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment (RACCE) committee meeting in January…. The topic of the Ross-shire Massacre was raised again. For new readers, the  Ross-shire Massacre  refers to the discovery of 22 dead raptors in a small area of Conon Bridge in the Highlands in March 2014. Sixteen red kites and six buzzards were found dead: 12 red kites and 4 buzzards have since been confirmed to have been poisoned by a ‘banned substance’. There have been no arrests to date. Our last update was on the 18 month anniversary ( here ) and we’ll be writing more when the two-year anniversary rolls around in March. In the meantime, here’s the discussion from the RACCE committee meeting in January. In a nutshell, 22 months on from one of the biggest mass raptor poisonings uncovered in Scotland, the police have no progress to report:

23 red kites were poisoned in 2014  (Image: RSPB - Robert Straughan) The RSPB is calling for better application of the laws that protect UK raptors, as the  Birdcrime 2014 report  highlights that illegal persecution continues to prevent some of our native birds of prey from recovering to their natural levels. In 2014, the RSPB received 179 reports of shooting and destruction of birds of prey, including the confirmed shooting of 23 buzzards, nine peregrines, three red kites and a hen harrier. The report also documents 72 reported incidents of wildlife poisoning and pesticide-related offences. Confirmed victims of poisoning include 23 red kites, 9 buzzards and four peregrine falcons. These figures are believed to represent only a fraction of the illegal persecution in the UK, with many incidents thought to be going undetected and unreported.

by Steve Portugal Sometimes it can get a little depressing when all the news about the state of the environment and Britain's countryside is bad; farmland devoid of birdlife, wetlands being drained and forestry being cut down. But it's not all doom and gloom, over the last decade many threatened species have been able to make successful comebacks, thanks mainly to the help of conservation charities and organisations such as English Nature, the RSPB and hundreds of dedicated volunteers from estate agents to students to housewives and the police.

Here is the RSPB's report on bird crime in 2012 which includes accounts of individual offences against bird legislation. The full PDF can be viewed full screen, with larger text or zoomed in  here .