A new study claims that ski resorts across Europe are having devastating impact on native bird species.
“Italian ecologists say that slopes situated above the tree line have fewer birds in their vicinity compared to natural grasslands at similar altitudes.”
Approximately 25 waterfowl on the Dinkel in Twente, the Netherlands, were found illegally shot last week. The majority of corpses found were those of geese, all of which had been filleted after being shot.
On Monday 15 January, hikers found the cadavers spread over a kilometer along the banks of the Dinkel. The geese and ducks were killed with shot. The killers filleted the birds for their meat and dumped the decimated corpses in or next to the water. The police are seeking witnesses.
“The EU Commission has announced that the ban on imports of birds caught in the wild is to be made permanent throughout the European Union later this year.”
“The move comes after a temporary ban was imposed within the EU in October 2005, after birds in a UK quarantine centre were found to have avian influenza.
The ban is to take effect from the 1 July 2007.”
Kingfishers in the Netherlands are doing exceptionally well due to the recent mild winters. In the Dutch language they are called ijsvogels, which means ice birds. Despite that name, the birds do not fare well in cold winters.
Ten years ago the population of Kingfishers in the Netherlands consisted of only 150 breeding pairs. Today there are several hundred.
Source: IJsvogel rukt op dankzij zachte winters
A low-flying gull caused chaos on the A28 highway in the Netherlands last weekend. A 34-year-old motorist from Amsterdam swerved to avoid the animal, causing a traffic accident.
The swerving driver drove into the ditch resulting in the car becoming a total loss. The driver suffered head wounds.
The gull did not survive the incident.
In 2006 the Netherlands gained not only the White-tailed Eagle as a new local breeder, but also the Whooper Swan.
Whooper Swans have been winter guests in the Netherlands for years. Every fall Whoopers come to the Netherlands from the north to spend the winter months. By the end of March most have flown back to their breeding homes in the north and northeast of Europe.
In 2005 a Whooper Swan nest was found in the province of Drenthe. Though four eggs were laid, none lived to hatch. In 2006 the nest was used again. This time, two chicks survived to fledge.
Around Amsterdam’s airport, Schiphol, approximately 25,000 birds have settled and seem to be planning nesting activities. That is about 20 percent more than normal.
To drive the birds, mostly lapwings, off, authorities have placed dogs in the fields around the airport. Loudspeakers playing recordings of lapwings in distress have also been placed around the airport in an effort to drive the birds away. The lapwings have migrated from northern Europe and remain in the Netherlands this year due to unseasonably warm temperatures.
Landing and departing aircraft can suffer from damage if the birds fly into the windows or engines.
The grass in the fields around the airport will remain unmowed in an effort to make the birds feel less comfortable.
Source: Schiphol verjaagt kieviten
Forest managers have placed a small camera by the White-tailed Eagle nest in the Oostvaardersplassen in Flevoland. The birds’ successful nest last year amazed park rangers and was great news for birdwatchers in the Netherlands.
The Oostvaardersplassen received a lot of visitors intent on seeing the birds. However, park rangers kept the location of the nest secret, to avoid disturbing the birds. Rangers themselves stayed clear of the nest and only learned several weeks after hatching that one chick survived to fledge.
Rangers placed a remote camera in the tree by the nest. Eagle pairs are known to use the same nest over many years but do not use the nest over the winter months, so the camera was placed without disturbing the birds. Images from the camera will be viewable from the visitor center at Oostvaardersplassen and via the internet.
Already the eagle pair has been seen making repairs and improvements to the nest. Last spring the couple, a young female and older male, raised one chick to adulthood. Remarkable was the fact that it was the female’s first nest. First nests rarely produce a successful offspring.
Source: Camera op zeearendnest
Dutch bird researchers hope to learn more about how local groups of feral Rose-Ringed Parakeets survive the cold winters of the Netherlands. The parakeets have lived wild in the Netherlands since 1968.
The first wild birds were noticed in the Ockenburg area of the Hague in 1968. Today large populations of the birds live around big cities like Amsterdam and the Hague and outlying urban areas. We have seen them around Leiden as well.
A huge cable bridge has been proposed to link Fehmarn in Germany with Lolland in Denmark. The proposal, by the European Union along with Denmark and Germany, could threaten more than 90 million birds.
The German partner of BirdLife International opposes the proposed bridge as construction could have serious consequences for millions of migratory birds as well as sea life including seals and porpoises. The group has an online petition against the bridge which can be signed here.
Read more about the proposed bridge between Germany and Denmark.
