Removed dead chicks, what amout the nest

[larachmor]

I agree with those who, (regardless of the law - which is very well-intentioned) - would remove the lifeless chicks. The law has to be particularly water-tight when it comes to anything that can be seen as interferring with a nest -This could also apply to removing eggs which are obviously abandoned - though you would have to be absolutely sure that this is the case - I wouldn't leave them in to contaminate the box, even if it were "illegal." Common sense takes precedence.

[Jenny W]

[quote=FUDGEY;480395]

Originally Posted by Jenny W

Jenny I appreciate your concerns, but i think you ae getting a little over excited. I know what I am doing. For a Tawny Owl to have 4 young in my area is remarkably rare, its usually 1 or 2 eggs. This particular season most had 3 eggs and several had 4 so it must have been an incredible vole season. The chick i removed would have been the equivelant of one mouse/vole. I dont think that would have been the case or life or death if it had died and the young depended on it. Anyhow if you had the same choice that I had would you be happy to let nature take its course and let that Owl carry on incubating infertile eggs? I couldnt sleep at night thinking about it as I felt so sorry for the poor bird. When this oppurtunity arose I could not stop myself from doing it. For your information all 3 fledged from the nest I removed the chick from as did the single one that was fostered. If I ever come across the same situation again I would not hesitste to repeat what I done. Sorry if you think its wrong, but I will do what I think is best and I am extremly comfortable on how I acted.

Well, not wishing to start a fight here (please let's not do that) and I honestly do respect your opinions but I have to stand by what I originally said (and I was not getting 'over excited'). I think you were lucky that it was a good small mammal year. I have known years (this year being one of them) when the Owls have started off with 3 egg clutches at the beginning of the breeding season and then by the end only fledge one chick - just because they have a big clutch does not necessarily mean it's going to be a good mammal year, as has been seen this year.

The smallest chick could well have provided a vital meal if it had been a bad mammal year because that's what it's there for - nature is not stupid.

One thing that nest recorders should learn quickly is that a lot of nests fail - eggs are infertile, nests get predated, chicks perish - it is nature and is an important part of a functional ecosystem. I've done heaps of nest recording over the years, of many different species and I know to leave well alone and that whatever happens is part of that particular species breeding ecology. I'm very comfortable in doing that.

One last point, don't you think there is enough wildlife crime commited without people who actually care about wildlife doing it as well?

Sorry to sound so aggressive, I don't mean it that way - I'm not that type of person, I'm just trying to put an opinion across about something that I'm experienced with and that I feel quite strongly about.

Can we (amicably) agree to disagree on this one?

[FUDGEY]

Looks like we will have to agree to disagree Jenny, would be a boring world if we all agreed o everything ;-) Just to pick up on a couple of points you amde before we end on a happy note hopefully. First of all I knew it was a good vole year because at that time out of about 30 Tawny Owl nests I was watching (I used to help out ringing the young) All of them except 3 nests which were in the same area had 3 chicks so I knew that voles were plentiful. Secondly you must be a stronger person than me if you could leave an Owl sitting on infertile eggs for a month and a half (god knows how much longer it would have incubabted) if you had a simple option available that would allow it to bring up a young bird for the year. I must be too soft as it was constantly in my head thinking about that poor bird. Finally you said "One last point, don't you think there is enough wildlife crime commited without people who actually care about wildlife doing it as well?" Yes I do think there is enough wildlife crime and although what I done is termed as "illegal" I put it in the same category as what many others have said they do on here and that is removing dead chicks from a box. Do you see them as people who commit wildlife crime? I certainly do not. Sometimes common sense has to prevail in these situations. Anyhow no hard feelings Jenny and hope you have a wonderful day, the sun is shinning here in bonnie scotland.