Monitoring pollutants in predatory birds

This poignant image was photographed on the hard shoulder of the M5. It’s a sad visual description of the dangers faced by our birds of prey every day – not just Barn Owls, as pictured here. This owl appears to have been in prime condition prior to what was almost…

Goshawk ID morning with GRMG

GRMG will be running a Goshawk identification morning on March 28th 2015 at New Fancy View in the Forest of Dean from 10am. This identification morning is being run by GMRG member Robin Husbands, an experienced nest finder and ringer. Rob currently spends a lot of time studying, observing and…

Rob’s Goshawk Diaries

Rob has updated his Goshawk Diary with the following entry… 07/03/2015 Goshawk display in full swing now, excellent weather today for soaring birds bright and breezy. Pairs are now nest refurbishing or prospecting for nest sites, spending more time around the nesting area proclaiming ownership of their territory by calling…

February records

We’ve just completed our second full month of collecting sightings, and we’re pleased to report that in February we received 261 records, totalling 390 birds. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to submit records. A quick tip for those that prefer to submit their records all in one go,…

Countryfile

Just a quick note to let everyone know that our Honorary President, Helen MacDonald will be appearing on Countryfile this Sunday, BBC1 at 7pm. “Ellie Harrison meets award-winning author Helen MacDonald and hears how Helen overcame personal grief through a love of goshawks and turned the experience into a literary…

BTO bird identification

Identifying some raptors from one another can be a difficult task, especially when you see a lone bird and have nothing to compare it to. The most common mistakes made by many birders, both new and experienced, are knowing the differences between the Buzzards, the differences between Kestrel and Merlin…

January records

The GRMG website opened on December 16th 2014. Yesterday marked the end of our first complete calendar month of accepting records of raptor sightings. We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to submit their records, and we very much hope that people will continue to do so….

Rob’s Goshawk Diaries

Rob Husbands has been out observing Goshawks for the past couple of weekends. Many reading this will be well aware of Rob’s experience with this species, but even he is still learning new things about them through observation. Although the main period for displaying Goshawks is generally March through to early…

Species information

A quick note to inform that the species pages have been further updated. Each species now has short sections covering a basic description of the bird, its habitat, diet, breeding and survival, as well as some local information on distribution and population. This information will be expanded on over time….

A request to photographers

Only a month or so since creating the gallery, and it was already starting to become apparent that in time it was going to become something of a disorganised mess! Furthermore, it was suggested by some at the January meeting that it would be potentially useful, particularly for novices, to have…