Kestrel in steep decline??

Birdnuts

Already on the Amber list I've noticed a decline in North Kildare in recent years plus I was talking to a ranger in the Midlands recently who picked up two dead adults in a small area just last month. Secondary poisoning seems the likely culprit from the consumption of rats and mice who are easier to catch having been poisoned with bait blocks. There are safe alternatives on the market which don't have this secondary poisoning affect and I would encourage people to use them instead. Kestrels are wonderfull little falcons as well as being the farmers friend so it would be a tragedy if we lost this part of our natural heritage through simple ignorance:(

Kess73

I have to say that where I live I have not seen a decrease in them as I see a pair daily, and the sparrowhawk population seems to be very strong over the last three years here as well.


It does seem that certain counties are very anti raptor though, with many case of deliberate killing of raptors as well as secondary poisoning.



I agree with you that the kestral is a lovely little predator though, and a sight that I always enjoy.

Birdnuts

Kess73 wrote: »

It does seem that certain counties are very anti raptor though, with many case of deliberate killing of raptors as well as secondary poisoning.

Indeed, I get the impression the the further West you go in this country the worse it gets with likes of Kerry being a real blackspot. Don't know if its it a lack of education or what

PS: Good to hear your kestrels are doing well and like where you are sparrowhawks are doing well here too:)

lightening

There are a few hovering hawds on the Bull wall in Dublin, I can never tell the difference between Sparrowhawks and Kestrels though.

gerky

lightening wrote: »

There are a few hovering hawds on the Bull wall in Dublin, I can never tell the difference between Sparrowhawks and Kestrels though.

Sparrowhawks aren't known to hover for long periods in one spot, Kestrels do that, but saying that some raptors can hover just not to the same extent as kestrel.

lightening

gerky wrote: »

Sparrowhawks aren't known to hover for long periods in one spot, Kestrels do that, but saying that some raptors can hover just not to the same extent as kestrel.

Thanks for that gerky, then it's deffo Kestrels I am seeing in Dollymount, saw one is Sneem in Kerry this year too.

Zzippy

Haven't noticed a decline myself, have seen a good few kestrels this year. Also plenty of sparrowhawks. Saw a group, presumably a female and fledged chicks, last week beside the river where I was fishing...

boneless

I have noticed this over the past three years or so, but... to buck the trend and upset my theories I have spotted one every day so far this past week or so!!

Dusty87

Birdnuts wrote: »

Indeed, I get the impression the the further West you go in this country the worse it gets with likes of Kerry being a real blackspot. Don't know if its it a lack of education or what

PS: Good to hear your kestrels are doing well and like where you are sparrowhawks are doing well here too:)

I think kerry is because of the eagles that were introduced. A lot of farmers claim they lost lambs to them. But seemingly there scavengers and were only after an easy meal left by fox.

Birdnuts

Dusty87 wrote: »

I think kerry is because of the eagles that were introduced. A lot of farmers claim they lost lambs to them. But seemingly there scavengers and were only after an easy meal left by fox.

Yeah - The IFA in Kerry have spent the last 4 years wallowing in their own ignorance on this one. No farmer has to date produced any evidence that the eagles have taken even one lamb. If they ever brought in a grant for the eagles I guarantee they'd all want one the following morning:rolleyes:

RedorDead

Got talking to a guy in scotland recently about sea eagles and sheep and he said that they conducted a local trial to appease farmers where they fitted every sheep in one farm with a tracker and when the tracker hadnt moved for a day they would investigate what happened the sheep when they retrieved it. Over a 4 month period - one sheep died of natural causes, one was hit by a car and the third fell off a cliff. Eagles didnt account for any sheep deaths. A similar trial here in Kerry would be no harm? Lambs are probably another thing though.

Dusty87

Iv seen one of these eagles. They are huge. If anyone is in the burren, there is one at the falconry section of alliwee caves.
Amazing bird to see up close. Didn scotland stop giving us eggs or something because of them being killed??

Manuel

I used to see kestrels almost daily on my drive into work along the M6, either hovering over the verges or perched on the fence or signs. Then over the summer I hardly saw any. I thought maybe it's harder for them to hunt when the growth gets very thick, but I did worry that maybe they had been poisoned.

Anyway, driving home yesterday I spotted the first in months, hovering over the verge. I pulled in to have a look (I wasn't on the motorway), but straight away he got chased away by a bunch of rooks. Considering there are rooks everywhere, how do these poor kestrels get a chance to hunt anywhere unmolested? And why do the rooks feel threatened by them?

ThunderCat

I see Kestrals fairly regular when im out playing golf. I play across from the malahide estuary beside donabate beach and whenever im there i see them hunting in the marram grass alongside the beach for rodents and the like. Amazing how they hover while searching for their prey.

cuddlycavies

Plenty here in Greystones too. We also have Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Peregrines and red Kites nearby. Goshawk in the Glen Of Downs and Merlin on the sugarloaf. No real shortage of raptors here. Also an osprey at ashford earlier this year.