Think about it

[dooscoo]

hello bird lovers, my names dave and I love all birds, I keep racing pigeons, so thats a declared interest against Peregrine falcons.
Real hard question now, on the river Orwell mud flats Mick Wright the regional rep for BToO has questioned why the numbers of birds are going down in the river This is the question "If a bird has its feet firmly wedged in the mud head in the water how many of you agree with me it makes it an easy target" peregrines are top preditors no question about that.
Peregrines have never been nesting in East Anglia because there is no natural nest sites, lots of flat land and rivers.
Lions are kinda nice but would we think about the knock on effect of disturbing nature, the answer is no thought went into placing these birds in Suffolk the effect they might have on the habitate.
My answer is simple after the breeding season take down the nesting boxes as if you say you care about the birds you might remember the Peregrine will eat anything with feathers, like all falcons they go for easy meals especialy if it has its head in the water.
Sparrowhawks kill differently but there are legal ways of putting them off, my loft has high nets on 3 sides which stops the glide of the kill, Peregrins kill at speed on the wing some call it majestic spruce it up how you like it kills other birds.
When there are no river wading birds on the river Orwell the warning fell on deaf ears, Rachel Carson warned about minor changes to nature causing ripples, anybody think I am right feel free but please forget my declared interest in racing pigeons.
The lads in the west of the Uk moan like nobody biz but they still breed more than the raptors take, but mother nature does not need own goals like peregrins in Suffolk just because there are none, trust me mother nature has a reason why she did not mix mud flats and Peregrins.
If you want to see them in their real habitate go to the west of the Uk, nothing fake about that area just a natural place.
Everything in its place or do we want Lions walking the streets?

[sunnydale]

Hello dooscoo and welcome to WAB!

Tracey

[artdemole]

Hello and welcome.All views are posted on WAB.Lots of us like Raptors .Peregrines are breeding in a church spire in Bath and a lot of Buzzards are seen in my area.My Grandfather and my uncles as well as my dad kept pigeons.

So have a welcome from the West Country.......

[Deb London]

Hi and welcome. I love BOP too. ;-)

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by dooscoo

hello bird lovers, my names dave and I love all birds, I keep racing pigeons, so thats a declared interest against Peregrine falcons.

Hi Dave, welcome to WAB.

I've made my views on the "Peregrines vs Pigeons" debate known in the past, and I'm reluctant to revive it. However, as you're new here, and as I birdwatch regularly on the Orwell, I suppose I'd better respond to this.

Originally Posted by dooscoo

Real hard question now, on the river Orwell mud flats Mick Wright the regional rep for BToO has questioned why the numbers of birds are going down in the river

Where did you get this information? I wasn't aware of any marked decline - did Mick Wright make a connection with Peregrines, or is this your own inference?

I know Mick, in his capacity as SWT warden at Trimley Marshes, so I'll ask him about this next time I see him.

Originally Posted by dooscoo

This is the question "If a bird has its feet firmly wedged in the mud head in the water how many of you agree with me it makes it an easy target".

Possibly, but so what? Are you implying that Peregrines kill more birds for this reason? If so, do you have any evidence for this?

Originally Posted by dooscoo

Lions are kinda nice but would we think about the knock on effect of disturbing nature,

Everything in its place or do we want Lions walking the streets?

Forgive me, but what do lions have to do with anything?

Originally Posted by dooscoo

the answer is no thought went into placing these birds in Suffolk the effect they might have on the habitate.

What do you mean by "placing these birds"? If you mean "introduced", and you're referring to the birds now nesting on the Orwell Bridge, they weren't "placed" there. A nestbox was placed on the bridge in '05 or '06, but the Peregrines were already present, and would probably have nested on the bridge anyway, if it hadn't been decorated with anti-pigeon netting.

Originally Posted by dooscoo

My answer is simple after the breeding season take down the nesting boxes
.

Why?

Originally Posted by dooscoo

you might remember the Peregrine will eat anything with feathers, like all falcons they go for easy meals especialy if it has its head in the water

Peregrins kill at speed on the wing some call it majestic spruce it up how you like it kills other birds.

Your point being...?

Originally Posted by dooscoo

When there are no river wading birds on the river Orwell the warning fell on deaf ears

I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

Originally Posted by dooscoo

trust me mother nature has a reason why she did not mix mud flats and Peregrins.

Nonsense. Visit any major British estuary in winter, and you will find a Peregrine or two. Peregrines are an integral part of estuary ecology, and have been for thousands, probably millions, of years. They were certainly wintering on the Orwell long before the bridge was built, let alone any nestboxes provided.

As I said above, I'm not aware of any significant decline in either wintering or breeding waders on the Orwell, but I'm open-minded as to the possibility, and it wouldn't really surprise me if it was true. I find it difficut to believe, however, that the arrival of a pair of breeding Peregrines is going to have the sort of impact you appear to be suggesting.

Apart from the fact that the Orwell is mostly important for wintering birds, and Peregrines breed in the summer, I can think of a number of other possible reasons why numbers may have declined.

For example:
1. Increased recreational use of the estuary, particularly water-based activities like yachting, jet-skiing, bait-digging etc.
2. Increased overflights by helicopters. A survey carried out a few years ago on the Stour discovered that 60% of disturbance to feeding waders came from helicopters. This sort of disturbance to feeding birds is potentially very serious, and as the area is now being used for training RAF Apache pilots, it can only have increased.
3. As I expect you are aware, 20-odd years ago the Orwell estuary was the site of two major construction projects; the Orwell Bridge at one end of the estuary, and Felixstowe Docks at the other. I've only been in the area a few years, and can offer no evidence for the hypothesis, but I would not be surprised to learn that the ecological consequences of these immensely disruptive projects include a decline in the numbers of waders on the estuary.

Originally Posted by dooscoo

anybody think I am right feel free but please forget my declared interest in racing pigeons.

Sorry, but that's impossible to forget. You clearly have a personal, anti-Peregrine, agenda here, thinly disguised as a concern for the ecology of the Orwell. Are you a member of the Songbird Survival Trust, by any chance?

T2

[Kayleigh]

Hi and welcome to WAB (wild about Britain) a wildlife site for wildlife lovers..
You may not get to hear what you want on this site as everyone has strong views regarding the wildlife in the British countryside.
Wildlife has a way of striking a balance and people who keep birds especially pigeons are against BOPs..
So I dont think you will get much sympathy here..
But I dont want you to think I or any of the other wabbers are against you personally as some take offence when I speak my mind so sorry if you do as its not meant to be offensive to you..
Enjoy your stay here..

[Richard Baber]

Originally Posted by dooscoo

Peregrines have never been nesting in East Anglia because there is no natural nest sites, lots of flat land and rivers.

Not true. They may not have bred in Suffolk for a couple of hundred years, but there are breeding records before then.

Richard

[dooscoo]

Many thanks as I said its not about pigeons, 200 years reintroduction is not true, you guys know about habitat without fake nest boxes these birds would not be in the Orwell.
I love wild birds Mrs Sparrow hawk does cause me greif because when she is about but I rattle the tin my birds are in.
The impact on the wild bird population will take time to show just what effect this relocation project is doing so watch out for the signs, for those who are interested the RPRA site has a hawk watch section that should show you just how BOP attacks are monitered.
We might seem like with have different aggendas but for me East Anglia by its very nature is unable to sustane Peregrines, for the record its because of the lay of the land.
Majestic birds well Swanns hold that title "Stuka" seems a better term, hopefully sense might just look at what we might lose if more fake nest boxes are put up.