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Members of the Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group (GRMG) have been monitoring the county’s Goshawk population for over 20 years, gathering a wealth of information on the distribution of breeding pairs, timing of breeding and productivity. The Goshawk’s secretive lifestyle has, however, limited the number of ringing recoveries to a handful of records of dead and injured birds during this time. In 2017, we sought to address this by starting a colour ringing project, coupled with the use of trail cameras at nests and baited winter sites to re-sight ringed birds. In the four breeding seasons that have followed, 312 Goshawk chicks have been colour-ringed in Gloucestershire and adjacent counties from 142 successful nests. This is a significant proportion of those ringed nationally.

Read what we’ve learnt and what comes next (PDF).

GRMG, Raptor Aid and Cirencester Wildlife Group collaboration to install a Peregrine nest box on the roof of St John the Baptist Church, Cirencester.

We are delighted to report that on 18 December 2020 this Peregrine nest box was installed by Raptor Aid in conjunction with GRMG, the Cirencester Wildlife Group and St John the Baptist Church, Cirencester.

GRMG take this opportunity to thank all associated with this project and in particular for the enthusiasm shown by Cirencester Wildlife Group and the church itself.

Fantastic work by @raptor_jimmi and @glosraptors – constructing and installing the peregrine nest box on #Cirencester Parish Church today.

If you’d like to donate towards the Cirencester Peregrine Project, please click the following link: https://t.co/vz3k9jRpU2 pic.twitter.com/dXRg380UxC

— #WildCiren (@WildCiren) December 18, 2020

Cirencester Wildlife Group have set-up a Go Fund Me page for a nest box camera for internet streaming and their target is £1600. If of interest GRMG would be delighted if our supporters might consider donating towards our first ever Gloucestershire Peregrine internet streaming site at the following link;

https://gf.me/u/zcthff

We would also be extremely grateful if you might share this link with other interested parties.
See project timeline below;
On 7th October 2020 the following article was published in the local press;
Cirencester Peregrine Project aims to provide rare viewings
By Joseph Forte (Reporter)

The Cirencester Wildlife Group will shortly be exploring community grants as well as other funding options so locals can have an opportunity to take a detailed look at Peregrine falcons. 

Prior to 2020, peregrine sightings in Cirencester were mainly a winter affair, with birds seen circling and occasionally perching on the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist. However, at the end of 2019 sightings started to increase – with one bird even seen calling from the top of the church tower at 8am on Christmas Day.

Reports continued at the start of this year, until Dr Ian Grange (senior Environmental lecturer at The Royal Agricultural University) photographed a pair of peregrines on the church tower during the breeding season.

Those involved with the Cirencester Peregrine Project would later learn that church vergers had also witnessed evidence of nesting activity on the tower.

Sadly, whist sightings continue to be frequent, there has been no evidence of chicks successfully fledging. Which is why a collaborative project is now aiming to give these birds an additional helping hand by providing a suitable nest site and allowing researchers and the public an intimate glimpse of their nesting behaviour.

Historically peregrine falcons have not had it easy. In the post-war period of late fifties and early sixties the environmental impacts of chlorinated hydrocarbons were poorly understood.

Whilst BTO scientists (led by Derek Ratcliffe) were researching the effects of these agricultural pesticides, Rachel Carson’s (1962) classic book Silent Spring brought the issue into the public spotlight.

As well as increasing raptor mortality rates, scientists showed that DDT and other organochlorines caused the thinning of egg shells, which broke during incubation, resulting in the serious decline of raptor populations. The peregrine was fast becoming a rare species all over the country.

These enigmatic birds are still regarded as being of conservation concern in both a European and a UK context, however after suffering at the hands of man for many years, this top predator is now benefiting from protection.

As the population recovers, nesting in urban areas has increased in recent years, with more of these birds moving into our towns and cities, they now epitomise a renewed potential for urban rewilding and our ability to live side by side with nature.

Nest sites in the natural environment, known as eyries, are usually located on grassy or earthen cliff-ledges, quarries or other inaccessible undisturbed locations. However, to a Peregrine, an urban environment bears a surprising similarity to canyons and cliffs, with tall vantage points and the added advantage of artificial light which allows these supreme and adaptable hunters to hunt by day and night. As part of the Cirencester Peregrine Project, Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group will be working with Raptor Aid to construct a suitable nest box, which will be installed later this year.

Peregrines typically lay between 3 and 4 eggs in late March and April, which are incubated by both parents until early May. After hatching, the young chicks are brooded by the female for 2 to 3 weeks while the male brings in food. Once fully fledged the parents will then teach the youngsters to hunt and handle prey in flight – a spectacular sight for all those lucky enough to witness.

Excitingly, the nest box will also incorporate the provision for a camera attachment, which it’s hoped will allow ornithologists, peregrine enthusiasts and the general public an opportunity to take a detailed look at the nesting behaviour and ecology of these charismatic birds of prey.

Since peregrines pair for life, typically living on average for between 5 to 6 years and staying on a territory all year round, it’s also hoped that these birds will become a much-loved addition to Cirencester’s community.

If you would like to find out more about the Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group please visit www.glosraptors.co.uk or follow the group’s activities on Twitter via @glosraptors.

If you would like to find out more about the Raptor Aid please visit www.raptoraid.co.uk or follow their activities on Twitter via @raptor_jimmi

Thank you and Season’s Greetings to all our supporters and volunteers.

GRMG team

19 December 2020

Many thanks to Chris Newton for sending in his story of how the summer of 2020 gave him a passionate interest in the Hobby. Chris’s excellent observations from close to his Severnside home covers the entire season from the establishing of a territory to return migration, and his notes are accompanied by some superb images.

Read Chris’s article here (PDF).

Many thanks to Dave Pearce for providing this update on the Christ Church Peregrines. A fantastic series of images illustrate a successful year for these birds.

On the weekend of June 13^th/14^th some of the ringing and climbing team members of the GRMG went out around Gloucestershire to ring and collected biometric data for Goshawks following the ease to lockdown restrictions by the UK Government. Working in in teams of three and maintaining social distancing at all times, the GRMG visited nests that were previously observed as later nests (our key weekend for Goshawk ringing was the two weeks prior, however lockdown restricted at this time) and around 30 young were ringed at their respective nest sites.

Despite usually ringing around 80 young, some important observations were still made this year – the most interesting being the variety of stages that the nests around the county were at. Of the nests visited that weekend, some birds had fledged within a week of our visit, some had fledged within just a few days of our visit and a handful were ringed successfully and these varied in age from 20-32 days over the different nests visited. Additionally, some nests had unfortunately failed but at two sites the new nest was found and monitored.

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When working with raptors it is always interesting to observe the other wildlife at each site from other bird species such as Treecreepers working their way up a tree to evidence of Wild Boar and, more recently in some areas of the county, Pine Marten. This year whilst at one site GRMG team member Harriet found the well-hidden nest of a Spotted Flycatcher and as a qualified ringer for passerine pullus these were also ringed. It quite common to find nests of species such as Spotted Flycatcher and Nuthatch near to Raptor nests, especially Goshawk, who will keep predators of these smaller species away.

The GRMG would like to thank all ringers and climbers for their work at such short notice this year as well as Forestry England and our private landowner contacts for their support.

A reminder to owners of Tawny Owl nest boxes to exercise caution when monitoring.

One of our supporters has a Tawny Owl box in his garden, and last week he contacted us with this
message…

I had a new experience this week when being attacked by a Tawny Owl. I had, a few days before,
seen a fledged owl at the entrance to the box and realised that successful breeding had occurred.
On the occasion of the attack I was three or four metres away at 11:00am when I assumed a branch
had fallen on me until I saw a Tawny Owl disappearing at speed. Its talons led to me having eight
cuts on and close to an ear – although surface wounds there was much blood and considerable
bruising afterwards. It was the force of the hit that was surprising – it was like being hit by a cricket
ball! How can something so light be so powerful?

Our enquiries suggest that when it does happen, it is invariably when there are “branching” young
still in the vicinity of the nest box/site. Although it is a rare occurrence this report highlights the
importance taking extreme care around Tawny Owl nests.

We thought we should let you know some exciting news; GRMG recently applied to the Charity Commission for charitable status and this has been granted.. we are now a registered charity! Our registered charity number is 1185930.

This is an important milestone in our development and we hope it will provide financial and other benefits. It should open doors in terms of applying for grant aid, and will enable us to benefit from Gift Aid in due course.

On the weekend of June 15th 2019, we were joined by Drs Ian Henderson and Greg Conway of the BTO to fit satellite tags to some of our young Goshawks both east and west of the Severn. We were delighted to get permission to do this; this is the first satellite tagging project in the county and will provide a glimpse into the secret life of the Goshawk. This is a licensed activity and highly regulated; to get to this stage we have had to apply to an independent panel who hear all the evidence and decide whether we can go ahead.

Photo: Ben Locke

It’s important that the birds are of the right age, weight and size otherwise a tag will not be fitted; the birds’ welfare is absolutely paramount and no chances will be taken.

Photo: Ben Locke

The process is to fit a ribbon harness which fits around the chest of the bird. The tag itself is either 18 grams for a male or 21 grams for a female and this sits on the back of the bird, it also contains a solar panel to charge the on-board battery and a “mobile phone”.
The device transmits the location of the bird, temperature, height, acceleration, direction of travel, battery level, temperature and a few other parameters.

Photo: Ben Locke

Once the tags were fitted there is a tense wait; no information is transmitted as the tags need to charge and register but also the birds are often under cover. But it wasn’t long before we started to receive data…
Males were the first to explore but females are now moving around and the greatest distance moved so far (early September) is a female at around 18km from her nest site.

Some of the birds have gone into farmland and have often used hedgerows to roost or rest, even old hedgerows that have mainly been scrubbed out.

A couple of birds hopped briefly into Wales but only for day trips and moved back quickly.

Some birds have stayed in a tight area – not near their maternal home but they seem to have found an area where there must be food and cover.

One bird is of particular interest, a female who has visited nest sites of other Goshawks. We know it happens in breeding birds because if a pair go missing they are often quickly replaced by a new pair, who seem to be able to find old nests and use them the following year, but it is amazing to see that even at this age they seem to know what makes an ideal nesting area for Goshawks.

Some have come very close to conurbations but not flown directly over them, choosing to move along the edge and crossing a less built-up area.

We have lost two birds at a very early stage, one of the tags has been retrieved and the bird will be sent off for a Post Mortem but there are no signs that the tag played a part in its death. Hopefully we can use the recovered tag next year, the other we are yet to look for. It’s a hard life for a Goshawk and it’s thought up to 60% of birds fail to reach maturity so this is to be expected. We know from our site visits and ringing this year that the weather was not conducive to a good breeding season – birds that went down on eggs early often failed as we had a warm spell but then a very wet, cold and windy spell which would have made hunting hard. The good news is that if the birds that went down later survived the early weeks they had plenty of food available.

As you will see some paths have crossed over each other but as far as I can tell looking at the data the birds were not in the same place at the same time. Not being very scientific a little piece of me would like them to meet although I suspect the consequences of meeting other Goshawks at this stage could be serious for a young bird.

Photo: Semi-fledged Goshawk by Piers Suckling

It’s fantastic to look at these birds’ tracks on Google Maps etc but the real information is in the data and we hope to better understand this as the project goes on.

We are still to retrieve most of our nest cams but hopefully we will during the next couple of weeks and we are crossing fingers that that yields a photo of our first colour ringed bird.

A note about food sources: nest cams that have been retrieved over the last couple of years show squirrel is an important food source which will please foresters. It will be interesting to see if this changes for Goshawks based in the west of the county with the introduction of Pine Martens, I personally doubt it but time will tell.

An update from Rich Harris:

The Southam & District Tawny Owl Project has just completed its 4th breeding season.

In 2015 we had 12 breeding pairs in our nest boxes, and this has increased gradually each year so that we now have 27 breeding pairs this season.

The take-up of available boxes is an amazing 36% in 2019; the significant increase this year has been helped by a mild winter and an abundance of prey, especially the Long-tailed Field Mouse (aka Wood Mouse) which has been ever present at breeding sites.

Tawnies have taken to their new homes with gusto in coniferous plantains and mixed woodland where there is a lack of natural tree holes, and all the woods within the project, bar one, have maintained or increased the number of breeding pairs.

However, in ancient, mature woodland with ample natural nest sites, the uptake has been, since the project’s inception, a total blank even though it is clear while we are surveying that owls are present. Therefore I have decided to remove some boxes for repair and relocation to some new areas, and also to places in near to developing strongholds, building on past years successes.

We used a policy of placing boxes in pairs, 100 yards apart – in theory, one box for the breeding site and a second for the roosting male. The outcome has been interesting; either a second pair has taken up residence in the second box or other wildlife have moved in. Only on 3 occasions in 4 years has a male been flushed from the second box. The Tawny Owl is territorial, but seems to be able to tolerate other pairs nesting close by! So this policy has been abandoned going forward.

The positioning of boxes on the edge of woods rather than the interior has been helpful, enabling a passing owl to better identify a possible nest site. Most are East facing which is warmer and drier for the inhabitants and reduces wear and tear on the exposed box.

Although there are many reports of Tawny Owls moving into urban areas the 5 boxes in semi-urban locations have never been taken up; these will also be relocated.

We ringed our first Raven chicks of the year recently – always our earliest species – so that marks the start of another busy season of nest-finding, ringing and monitoring. We have some news to announce; two of our ringers have been granted a licence to fit GPS tags to Goshawks, and we have secured funding to buy eight tags for use this year. Huge thanks to our donors/sponsors, namely the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society, Gloucestershire Ornithological Co-ordinating Committee, Forestry England and Mr Richard Webb. This is an important project for us; it is an obvious extension of our work monitoring colour-ringed birds using trail cameras. We hope it will help us to track Goshawks that have had tags fitted to them as young birds in the nest. We should be able to assess their scale of their movement, habitat dependency and dispersal, and interactions with farmland as well as managed forest habitats. We may be able to accumulate information on the last known location of birds and mortality, and to understand the potential for population mixing and recruitment beyond the region. There is also the possibility to assess breeding home range if birds survive to adulthood or are tagged as adults.

This is in effect an extension of a project already being run by BTO staff in Breckland, Norfolk.

Goshawk nest being monitored by a trailcam enabling us to read GRMG colour rings

BTO will license the whole activity, and BTO staff will train 2 GRMG fully-qualified ringers. Read on for full details…

Nationally, the Goshawk is a scarce breeding species and a “Schedule 1” breeding species (protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1982). The species should be a common breeding raptor and although the UK population is slowly increasing, there is much regional variation, potentially due to low recruitment where persecution may pay a role. Very little is known, locally, about seasonal movements, habitat dependency, home range size, or their reliance on specific habitat types such as farmland. Farmland use is relevant given the potential for conflicts with game bird enthusiasts. Winter movements, recruitment potential and connections with more distant breeding populations are also currently unknown. Entirely new information on habitat use and the dispersal would emerge for this population, also giving the potential to compare and contrast with other regions within the UK. We would like to make it known publicly that individuals of these species are being tracked, as a protection measure.
The Goshawk is an elusive species, not amenable to normal visual observation. Advances in remote tracking offer the best opportunity and most objective way of acquiring behavioral data.

Project objectives: Determination of habitat use and dispersal, the farmland interaction and possibly sources of mortality in the Gloucestershire population of Goshawks:

• To track Goshawks, to assess scale of movement, habitat dependency and dispersal; interactions with farmland as well as managed forest habitats.
• Potentially, to accumulate information on the last known location of birds and mortality.
• To understand the potential for population mixing and recruitment beyond the region.
• Potentially to assess breeding home range if birds survive to adulthood or are tagged as adults.

Links between forest, farmland and fenland habitats may be expected, especially for juveniles or females in winter and links to forest edge are predicted. Some exploitation of game bird populations is expected, though varying widely with native prey availability (pigeons, jays and squirrels), sex, age and season.

The devices supplied by a company called Movetech Telemetry, a subsidiary of the BTO. The devices weigh between 18 and 23 grams depending on sex of the carrying bird. The devices are attached on the bird by a harness, which contains a sacrificial thread that is designed to break after around 5 years.
No ill effects have been shown on birds that have been recaptured or have been collected.

The ‘Movetech’ bird-tracking system described here is a bird-borne method of tracking bird movements, by connecting to the mobile phone network. This technique has been successfully applied to similar sized birds (gulls) and raptors (Goshawks, eagles, Ospreys, harriers, Peregrines). the system is much more objective and less labour-intensive than radio-tracking, producing high precision fixed location data, unlike any other currently available method (bar satellite tracking at far greater cost).

Due to circumstances entirely beyond our control, the venue for this Wednesday’s ‘Adventures with Rainforest Raptors’ has had to change. We’re not going far though –  just around the corner from the Gala. It’s the Oxstalls Sports Centre, Plock Court (just along from Fairmile Gardens, opposite the Beefeater), Gloucester GL2 9DW.  We’re in the Conservatory Room there.  There’s a café on site. Apologies for the inconvenience, and we look forward to seeing you there!