Raptor Rambles by Raptor Aid CIO (Raptor Aid CIO)

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/

In this chat we catch up with Dr. Cathleen Thomas formerly of the RSPB, heading up their Hen Harrier Life Project. 

The Life project is funded by the European union and ran from 2014-2019 with an aim of improving conditions for range expansion and population growth of the Hen Harrier in Britain.

We have a frank and open chat with Cathleen about what its like to be a young female trying to make their way in the competitive field of conservation jobs. This is a real must listen for any budding conservationist's or current academics.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/hen-harrier-life/

Darcy Ogada is the vice president of the Africa programmes for the Peregrine Fund. The Peregrine Fund is arguably the worlds leading conservation organisation for birds of prey with conservation projects right across the globe.

Darcy is based in Kenya and in this chat we earn all about her work saving vultures in particular the conflict between predators/livestock and the impact this can have on vultures through retaliation poisoning.

Darcy has published extensively on poisoning and vultures and her work is well worth reading if you have an interest in bird of prey conservation.

https://peregrinefund.org/

 

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!

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

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

He needs no introduction really but we were really pleased to be joined by broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham to wrap up our Lockdown Live interviews.

Chris is best known for his broadcasting of such shows as BBC Springwatch or if you're old enough the Really Wild Show. Now Chris also use's his voice to fight for nature and takes action when its needed.

In this chat we ask silly questions like what really is the coolest bird of prey and more important questions like how do we help protect nature and have an impact.

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/

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.

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. 

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.

The first in our Lockdown Lives was BBC natural history presenter Iolo Williams. Iolo is a good friend of Raptor Aids and is a massive fan of birds of prey, his favourite being the Hen harrier which he still finds time to monitor.

Before ending up on our TV screens Iolo worked for the RSPB across Wales as the species protection officer for 15 years. This means Iolo is perfectly positioned to discuss conservation on the sharp end and he's certainly not one to mince his words.

Best known for his presenting on popular programs such as the BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch series he is always great value with plenty of humour.

http://iolowilliams.co.uk/

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

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.

 

In epsiode 3 of Raptor Rambles I catch up with director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation Jose Tavares. The VCF have gone from strength to strength since Jose has taken the helm and we find out what it takes to lead a progressive forward thinking NGO.

Jose shares with us how the VCF came to be returning the Bearded vulture to the skies of Europe and how captive breeding and understanding the genetics has helped return this species to many of its traditional haunts.

VCF work to protect all European vulture species through practical conservation methods and collaboration across the world with fellow scientists and conservationists. It was great to hear from Jose how things are looking bright for European vultures.

You can find out more about the amazing work of the Vulture Conservation Foundation below

https://www.4vultures.org/

I can guarantee 99.9% of followers/listeners will have never heard of Brian Etheridge and that in my opinion is a crime, the man is a legend when it comes to monitoring raptors in the UK so much so I call him God.

Enough of the plaudits, Brian has been involved with monitoring birds of prey most of his life and the majority of those years has been in the Highlands. Brian worked for the RSPB on species such as the Hen Harrier and Red Kite and for 10 years was the Scottish raptor species officer.

Still as active as ever an hour spent in the field with Brian is a lifetime of knowledge.

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 this chat we catch up with Andre Botha of the Endangered Wildlife Trust who is programme leader of their Vultures for Africa work. No one is better placed to talk about vulture conservation than Andre as he travels the world working on this issue.

Andre has a love of all nature though and formerly headed up the EWT's bird of prey programme and works on their Southern Ground Hornbill project.

A straight talking conservationist with the experience to back it up.

https://www.ewt.org.za/

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/

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/

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.

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.

 

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/

I have had the privilege of working with wildlife cameraman and tree rope access expert James Aldred and as he's one of the most humble unassuming people you'll meet I knew I had to get him on the talk about his incredible work and career.

An Emmy award winning wildlife cameraman James has filmed all over the world but is most comfortable amongst the canopy filming the worlds arboreal and avian species. This work has included working on legendary productions such as Planet Earth and Our Planet.

I first came across James watching his epic BBC Wildlife on One episode where he climbs to a Harpy eagle nest to place a nest camera and feeling the sharp end of a protective mother. He also runs a tree rope access training company and has authored his first book The Man Who Climbs Trees.

https://www.jamesaldred.com/

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/

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!

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/

In episode 7 I welcome Karla Bloem, director of the International Owl Centre in the United States.

Karla and her team do an amazing job focusing on the dissemination of education on owls and their conservation around the world. On a personal level Karla has carried out extensive work on understanding the vocalisations of Great Horned Owls. 

The International Owl Centre is also home to the Owl Hall of Fame awards where not only individuals who excel in   owl conservation are recognised but also an award that recognises ambassador owls themselves! 

Karla has also founded the International Festival of Owls which takes place annually held in a different country each year. More information can be found using the links below but also the IOC also has been running a brilliant virtual expert speakers series recently which is available on their YouTube page. 

Thanks for listening! 

www.internationalowlcenter.org 

www.festivalofowls.com

 

Welcome to the episode 8 of Raptor Rambles!

I am joined by Dr. David Anderson an ornithologist and biologist for the Peregrine Fund but also a specialist is canopy access which he uses to monitor various species including the Harpy eagle. David also uses his skill set to train budding biologist's to reach for the canopy and is the founder of not for profit organisation Canopy Watch International (https://www.canopywatch.com). 

David realised fairly quickly the power accessing the canopy can have on people from all walks of life and runs recreational climbing events alongside training events for biologists. As a tree climber myself it was great to hear about the incredible adventures and work that David has accomplished.

Raptor Aid is also proud to have made donation to set up a scholarship to support two raptor biologists take part in Canopy Watches International Training camp in Colombia this year!

Go and find your favourite tree and sit in it or under it and enjoy this interview with Dr. David Anderson!

What could be more festive than talking about the frozen North with snow, ice and the worlds largest species of owl?

In episode 4 we chat to Jonathan Slaght a wildlife biologist working for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as their Russia & Northeast Asia co-ordinator and who is probably best known as one of the worlds foremost experts on the Blakiston’s Fish Owl.

I have tried to follow Jon’s work on this rare and elusive owl from afar here in the UK often picking up small articles with updates on this incredible species and his work. I was so excited when after 10 years of studying this species in the remotest parts of Russia Jon has published his first book titled ‘Owls of the Eastern Ice’ about his exploits attempting to understand the Blakiston’s Fish Owl. The book has been a huge success including winning The Times UK nature book of the year - it is a must read for anyone with even the slightest interest in nature, I couldn’t put it down.

In this interview I find out what its like trying to understand the ecology of a rare and poorly understood species in some of the harshest terrain with an eclectic mix of human characters. Hopefully you get a feel for being on the front line of real cutting edge conservation.

You can find out more about Jonathan Slaght and buy the book at

https://jonathanslaght.com/

Thank you for listening and have a great festive season & new year!

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/

A very special episode for our UK fundraiser for the Philippine eagle Foundation!

In this episode I am really lucky to bring together Neil Rettig and James Aldred, two amazing wildlife camera men who have both been lucky enough to film a wild Philippine eagle nest. 

Neil Rettig is an award winning cinematographer based in the USA and has been championing the Philippine eagle and its conservation since the very early days of science even knowing about it. Along with his Partner Laura Johnson and friends in the early days he has been a shining light for this species and its conservation.

James Aldred is an award winning wildlife cameraman based in the UK who specialises in canopy access. He has worked on some of the biggest natural history productions seen on British television, has pulled the great Sir David Attenborough into a tree to film and even been attacked by a female Harpy eagle whilst rigging cameras on a nest. He is also the author of the brilliant book "The man who climbs trees".

Thank you to both of them for taking the time to chat to me and support this fundraiser. If you can donate feel free to visit the fundraising page below.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-philippine-eagle-conservation-fundraiser

Episode 9 of Raptor Rambles and we are talking about one of my favourite birds the Bearded vulture with Dr Sonja Krueger. Sonja is based out in the incredible region of the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa and having been lucky enough to visit this part of the world I can personally testify what a stunning place it is.

The Bearded vulture is happiest in this mountain environment and I discuss with Sonja the pressures this species faces in Africa, the issues she and her team have to face accessing and monitoring as many breeding territories as possible and also how they are trying to support the population with innovative captive breeding. 

Anyone who has been to Africa I'm sure will know what it is like to have that urge to visit again and again! Talking to Sonja certainly brought so many memories of seeing my first Bearded vulture in the wild!

https://bred4thewild.com

Thanks for listening!

Apologies for the delay in bringing you another podcast and also apologies that once again Apple & Google Podcast's appear to be playing up. We are trying to fix this. You can find us on PodBean & Spotify though!

This episode I spoke to eagle falconer and anthropologist Dr. Lauren McGough from the USA. I've followed Laurens work with eagles and travels for a while now and since I have a former life working with captive birds of prey its always interesting to see other individuals and cultures perspectives on this ancient field sport.

Lauren is a fantastic ambassador for the world of falconry and she comes from a country that leads the world in using falconry techniques for the conservation and preservation of the worlds birds of prey. Lauren puts these skills into practice by training and rehabilitating Golden eagles.

She has also travelled to the remote regions of Mongolia to learn about the cultural significance of Golden eagles and the role they play in the nomadic lifestyles of the people in this region. Lauren didn't just go for a holiday though, she fully embraced and immersed herself in the culture by spending over 12 months with a family learning eagle falconry and the nomadic lifestyle first hand.

Lauren is very active on social media and anyone with an interest in falconry, birds of prey and anthropology should check her out on Instagram - @eaglefalconer 

www.laurenmcgough.com

In this episode we are joined by none other than avian super vet Neil Homer-Forbes BVetMed Dip ECZM(avian) FRCVS and it is a real treat to hear what its like to be on the cutting edge of avian veterinary medicine.

I have been fortunate to work closely with Neil in the past and see first hand the amazing work he carries out 'fixing' birds. A man of incredible empathy and knowledge it was brilliant to hear in his own how he got into veterinary medicine and what he is proud of achieving.

Thanks for tuning in and as always if you enjoy it please give us a follow, like and share and we'll keep the great interviews coming!