Raptor Rambles by Raptor Aid CIO

Welcome to the next episode of Raptor Rambles! In this episode I chat to Sophie-Lee Williams from the Eagle Reintroduction Wales project which is a feasibility study and community research study set up by Sophie to try and find out if there is a possibility to successfully reintroduce Golden and White Tailed eagles back into Wales. Sophie discusses her path through academia and what led her to focus her attention on bringing back two of the largest predators Britain has to Wales. Sophie has extensive experience working alongside Britain's foremost reintroduction expert Roy Dennis and its a real treat to hear how the project is progressing but also what its like for Sophie to be leading such an exciting project. To find out more about ERW please visit - https://www.eaglereintroductionwales.com/

In Episode 2 I’m really pleased to be joined by Katie Harrington a research associate with Hawk Mountain in the USA. Katie is studying the fascinating species that is the Striated caracara which is found on the remote islands of the Falklands. Caracara’s are some of the quirkiest and intelligent birds of prey you will ever come across and it’s fascinating to hear what is being discovered about them! In this chat I find out all about this incredible species and how Katie found herself in some of the remotest islands in the world studying them! You can find Katie on Social media - Instagram - @phalcoboenus Facebook - Falkland Islands Johnny Rooks Twitter - @phalcoboenus Patreon - http://www.patreon.com/katiejharrington Thanks once again for tuning in!

Ian Newton is widely regard as one of the leading ornithologist's of our time having spent a lifetime studying and writing about birds and their ecology. His Sparrowhawk study which lead to the publication of one of his first books 'The Sparrowhawk' published by T&D Poyser is still recognised as one of the longest studies of a single species in the UK. Ian's work has also included raptor ecology, bird migration, farm land and upland birds and if that wasn't enough he strangely knows a thing or two about apples! He has supervised and/or examined many well known ornithologist's PhD's including a couple we have previously interviewed and has his name on countless scientific papers. His no nonsense and easily understandable writing style makes even the toughest scientific topic digestible to most readers. His most recent book is titled Uplands and Birds as part of the Collins New Naturalist Range and can be found in all good book stores. Thanks for tuning in!

In this Lockdown Live we are joined by a close friend of Raptor Aid, top nest finder and Honey Buzzard expert Steve Roberts. Steve has been monitoring raptors for over 30 years and specialises in finding their nests to study a range of things. He is probably best known for his long term studies on one of Britains most elusive and rare breeding raptors the European Honey Buzzard.  Every year Steve works across South Wales and the South of England monitoring this species and he has authored several papers on the species uncovering some fascinating insights into this shy elusive British migrant. When Steve isn't working in his long term studies he can also be found behind the scenes on the BBC's nature series Springwatch as their chief nest finder - without Steve and the nest finding teams skill there wouldn't be a show as we know and love it. He also loves travelling to find and observe rare birds in the wild and in 2017 Jimmi and Steve headed to the Philippines together to work with the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

Scott Mason is the pioneer behind the idea of Parahawking- flying with birds of prey. Parahawking started life out in Nepal where Scott took his passion of flying birds of prey as a falconer and took to the skies first with Black Kites and then a couple of rescued Egyptian vultures. What Scott achieved by taking people on tandem paragliding flights with Kevin and Bob the Egyptian vultures shone an incredible light on the plight of these critically endangered birds. He has feature in National Geographic and the Discovery channel, carried Steve Backshall for Deadly 60 and reached millions of people with his footage and DVD's. Now having moved to Spain after Nepalese officials turned their back on the great conservation work Scott was achieving Parahawking is born again with two American Black Vultures. You can follow Scott on Facebook @theparahawkingproject or by visiting www.parahawking.com 

In South Africa there is an amazing charity working to save the most endangered group of bird the vultures. That charity is called Vulpro and in this episode we are joined by Ryno Kemp from the Vulpro team. Every year Vulpro rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of vultures and other birds of prey from poisoning, collisions with power lines and other injuries. They have a breeding colony of Cape vultures made up of injured vultures which can't be released but who's off spring have every chance in the wild when released. They also work with local communities and students to monitor wild vulture populations. We chat to Ryno to find out what its like to work for this amazing charity and an amazing group of birds. www.vulpro.com

In this episode of Lockdown Live we are joined by one of the worlds greatest conservationist's! That might seem like a monstrous statement to make to anyone who hasn't heard of Professor Carl Jones but once you understand how many species he has saved from extinction and what makes this man tick you realise how special he is.  Working all his professional life for the Durrell Institute Carl has probably saved more species from extinction than any other, the most notable or well known being the Mauritius Kestrel of which the population dwindled to less than 10 birds. Carl has won the Indianapolis Prize for his work, the highest recognition for conservationists. In this chat we find out what makes this great mind really tick, how he brought species back from the brink and what the future holds for the conservation of species and ecosystems.  https://www.durrell.org/wildlife/

Professor Alexandre Roulin is an incredibly gifted scientist who is widely regarded as one of the worlds leading experts on everyone's favourite species the Barn owl. Alex has been studying this species for over 20 years and continues to uncover new and fascinating facts about one of the worlds most wide spread species. Did you know a Barn owls white plumage startles its prey making it easier to catch?  Or that Barn owl siblings negotiate with each other over who is getting fed next? These are just some of the incredible things Alex and his researchers have discovered. Alex has also become heavily involved with using Barn owls as messengers of peace in conflict zones and has recently authored the fantastic book titled Barn owls - Evolution & Ecology.  

There are people in this world who really do go that extra mile for wildlife and in the case of birds of prey Nadeem Shehzad is one of those individuals. I first came across his work in a BBC wildlife magazine article which covered the amazing rescue and rehabilitation work Nadeem and his brother carry out in New Delhi, India. Now several years on Nadeem has established himself as an expert in suturing and rebuilding the patagial region of a birds wings. His main patient is the Black kite who enter his facility with damaged wings due to entanglement and collisions with kite lines/string. Kite flying has a big cultural significance in India but this has a huge impact on many species of raptors. luckily for some they find their way to Nadeem's clinic. Note - As this was filmed as a FB Live Nadeem tried to show us around some of his clinic and also how he performs certain procedures which doesn't really work for a podcast. The also apologise for the poor WiFi at times. You can check out the full video and chat over on our YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChpbjHZ9q2UAg0C0YnppkDA/featured?view_as=subscriber

Lester Hartmann founded Peak Boxes less than 5 years ago but already he and his nest boxes have become some of the most well respected and used on the market. A new comer to conservation Lester is no stranger to woodwork having been a master craftsman of joinery and making bespoke items out of wood for over 25 years. This knowledge and professionalism shows in the quality of his nest boxes but also spills over into his desire to work with experts to make sure the boxes really work based on the latest science. We have worked closely with Lester helping develop some of his bird of prey boxes and are proud to use him as Raptor Aid's nest box supplier. In this chat we find out all about how Peak Boxes came to exist, what its like to take BirdFair by storm on your first appearance and what makes a great nest box. https://peakboxes.co.uk

We must have been short of a guest for this week so I took advantage of that to explain who, what and why Raptor Aid came to be in existence and what the future might hold for us. If you've never heard of Raptor Aid and want to learn a bit more about what make us tick then have a listen.

We all have that poster bird don't we? Well mine was the Philippine eagle and what better way to learn all about it than by chatting to Dr Jayson Ibanez, head of conservation and research at the Philippine Eagle Foundation. In this chat we dive head first into Jayson's life trying to save this critically endangered eagle along with the amazing team at the PEF. Jayson has spent over 20 years working for the organisation with the sole aim of saving this eagle from extinction. We chat about some of the brilliant initiatives that Jayson and his team have developed to create a brighter future for this incredible pin up bird! https://www.philippineeaglefoundation.org/

Ian Thomson is the head of RSPB Scotlands Investigations team investigating wildlife crime against birds. This is no easy task given the on going battles with some land uses in Scotland and the persecution of several raptor species. An hour probably isn't long enough to discuss this issue but it was great to get an insight from someone who is on the very front line of raptor persecution. https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/at-home-and-abroad/scotland/

Its not very often you get to chat to one of the UK's leading authors but having had the great fortune to work with Helen Macdonald and call her a friend. Her book H is for Hawk propelled Helen into the dizzy heights of stardom winning the Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book of the Year award among others. Helen is a avid falconer and an incredible writer, her use of the English language and way describing things is wonderful. In this chat we try to get to know Helen and what makes her tick, where her love for raptors comes from and whats next.  

Everton Miranda is a raptor biologist with a fascination for predators and blood. The blood aspect might seem slightly odd because it stems from his background as a mixed martial art fighter. Since quitting this he has found his fix of violence by studying some of Brazil's mega predators. Firstly he started on Anaconda before moving on to one of the largest eagles in the world the Harpy eagle. In this chat we hear all about Everton's collaboration with locals to unlock the world of Harpy eagles and shine a light onto this mega predators habits. 

Ed Drewitt is a naturalist and tour guide with a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the natural world. He is probably best known in the raptor world for his long standing study of Urban Peregrines which he has studied for over 20 years. An avid bird ringer and wildlife tour guide Ed is a brilliant communicator and it was great to have him on sharing his years of knowledge studying the fastest bird on the planet and their urban adaptation. Ed has authored a book on Urban Peregrines and more recently on his other passion of studying prey remains from raptor kills. https://www.eddrewitt.co.uk/

Ruth Tingay is a raptor biologist by training having worked in several countries on a range of species before returning to the UK to fight the battle for birds of prey and their continued persecution.  Formerly the president of the Raptor Research Foundation Ruth has a strong grip on how the science works and this shows in her fantastic blog uncovering the world of raptor persecution here in the UK. Ruth rarely gives interviews so this was a real treat to chat to her not just about persecution but also her path as a conservationist. https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/

Mark is the former conservation director for the RSPB the UK's largest nature conservation charity. Since leaving the organisation he has become a prolific blogger and author covering a wide range of topics relating to the environment and natural world. One aspect of Marks recent work has been his writing, commentary and petitions against certain land uses in Britain most notably grouse shooting and the many environmental impacts this sport has such as raptor persecution. In this chat I try and find out what makes Mark tick, what he enjoys and what he wants to achieve as one of the UK's leading environmental campaigners. https://markavery.info/

In this episode we head to South Africa to find out about the fantastic work of the Endangered Wildlife Trust's bird of prey programme with the man in charge Dr Gareth Tate. I heard Gareth talk about his work as part of the BoP Programme monitoring Martial eagles in the Karoo and loved how straight forward and pragmatic their approach was to the conservation of birds of prey. In this episode we chatted to Gareth about his career, what its like to head up the programme and how things are faring for South Africa's birds of prey. https://www.ewt.org.za/what-we-do/what-we-do-species/birds-of-prey-programme/

What is it like to work in some of the remotest parts of the world as a raptor biologist, well Dr. Eugene Potapov has been there and done that and written the book! An expert on studying arctic species Eugene has spent decades studying species and habitats in the far North and East. These species include the Gyr falcon and Snowy owl both of which he has co authored as part of the legendary Poyser monograph range. He has also published Russia - A natural history. Another species Eugene is very familiar with is the magnificent Steller's sea eagle, one of the largest eagle species in the world. In this chat we find out all about what it takes to carry out some of the toughest fieldwork in the most hostile environments.