The Lincolnshire Bird Club

About a week ago a pal asked if I'd read a thread on a members blog about the above, no I hadn't because I'd just become to ill to come on here. So last night I went on the said blog and read the item in question. It was both disturbing and odd, why odd, well I can only speak from the birds that visit my garden.

If for whatever reason I don't fill the feeders I've noticed that a large percentage of the birds don't come, so I must assume they are getting fed elsewhere be it in other gardens or on farmland etc.

Reading the members blog they are blaming the farmer for ploughing up the land where the owls hunt for their food. Surely if the owls cannot find the rodents there, then they would either turn to hunting birds which both my RSPB guides say they do or move to another location of which Bonby Carrs has a similar habitat. Now that Bonby Carrs has been turned over to the birds etc it would in my humble opinion be an ideal substitute. Not to far away over the Ancholme there is Appleby Carrs where I have often seen owls of one sort or another.

It was a sickening sight to see the picture of this beautiful bird! To their due the member did say they did not like putting it on for all to see but I fully understand why they did. I hope someone has some answers has to my questions and others.

One person I hope will read this is Dr Alex Lees because if anyone can answer the above I'm sure Alex can.

If anyone else would like to join the debate please add your five pennorth.

Because this is a serious matter I have refrained from adding smilies.

Kind regards

John

_________________
GETTING OLD HAS IT'S ADVANTAGES BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE lol

Hi John, all

Without recourse to an autopsy (did anybody save the skins?) I can comment on any direct link between the owl deaths and the ploughing of the field. A priori, one would expect the owls to move on should habitat suddenly become unsuitable, prey-switching to birds is less-likely given that SEOs specialise in small mammals and birds typically make up just 5% of their diet (more on the coast). It is possible that local resource depletion might have left them underweight and the subsequent habitat loss acting as the straw that broke the camel's back; it would be useful to know if these were 1st year birds for which high mortality would be expected.

The real tragedy here is this loss of grassland habitat obviously...

cheers

_________________
Dr Alexander C. Lees
Lecturer in tropical ecology
Manchester Metropolitan University

Lab Associate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Cornell University

http://www.freewebs.com/alexlees/index.htm
@Alexander_Lees

When i first heard of whats been happening i too was shocked..but my buddy's have since told me some are still around..but regarding the theory/discussion i also thought the seo's would of moved on even if just down the road to other suitable habitat..a trust spokesman apparently visited during the top grass cutting & he also apparently stated they cant do anything because the owls are not being hurt & they will disperse to other suitable areas..but it would be interesting to find out as to why what happened happened or are people putting it down to natural cause's?
There was such an uproar on social media sites before anything happened & now it has or appear to have happened its all gone quiet..anyway such a shame!

Just been looking at pics of shorty's that have moved on a little further afield

A few points
The Worlaby scheme was designed for 130 hectares of wet grassland to promote breeding waders numbers. Although initially successful the design of the water management was very poor and the site seldom held water through to late April so most wader chicks died. The site should have been grazed and cut annually but has been allowed to grow into rank grass and rush making a good habitat for Short eared Owls and other stvole specialists BUT this was not what the scheme was intended to benefit. Recent mowing was presumably a catch up after 2 years of inactivity but this does not kill owls. Short eareds are nomads and would quickly leave an area with a depleted food supply, they would not sit around and starve! I found another dead bird nearby in April and as with many species it is possible that the prolonged cold combined with persistent gales for long periods may have inhibited their hunting and the weakest will die through natural selection. Late winter is often the hardest time for many species due to natural food depletion.
On the subject of Bonby Carrs it is a successful HLS wet grassland scheme and will not be a site for Short eared Owls as it is properly grazed and in the winter very wet with a short sward unsuitable forvs t voles.

Thanks to Alex and Graham for supplying facts and figures.

Thanks also to Andy for getting involved in the debate, sadly other than the two experts above no one else was interested enough to say owt.

Kind regards

John

_________________
GETTING OLD HAS IT'S ADVANTAGES BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE lol