HawkTalk Issue 92 Winter 2022

WINTER 2022 ISSUE 92

The most magical time of the year Winter at the Hawk Conservancy Trust feels special. As the weather changes, there’s a cosy feeling as you walk around the grounds. Brisk foggy mornings and crunchy leaves underfoot signal the familiar changing of the seasons, and with this comes the re-introduction of our winter timetable.

To round off your visit, make sure you stick around for our Meadow Encounter. At this popular 3:15pm display, you can see different species every day take to the Hampshire skies above Reg’s Wildflower Meadow. You may be lucky enough to get a glimpse behind the magic of our displays to see some training with one of our younger birds. This intimate session is definitely worth wrapping up warm for! To make your visit even more festive you can book a scrumptious Christmas Lunch in Feathers Restaurant. Available to book on 9, 10, 16 and 17 December, you can enjoy a hearty meal that will keep you feeling warm in-between our displays. Please email info@hawkconservancy.org for more information and to book. Take a look at the menu on our website: www.hawk-conservancy.org/your-visit/feathers-restaurant/. We know being outside and immersing yourself in nature can have incredible benefits for your physical and mental health. Be sure to make the most of your membership and enjoy a peaceful visit to us this holiday season to brighten your spirits and keep the winter blues at bay.

To accommodate the shorter days, our Woodland Owl display takes place at 11:30am. The Woodland Arena takes on a whole new atmosphere during this time as the Silver Birch trees begin to drop their leaves. The stillness surrounding the woods makes our owls’ silent flights even more special to witness, and quieter week days will allow for even closer encounters with these magnificent birds. Our World of Birds of Prey display returns each day at 2:00pm – something that everyone looks forward to all year. While learning all about birds of prey from across the globe, you’ll be treated to see some of our winter stars do what they do best. Duck as Sweeney Todd the Snowy Owl swoops low over your head, watch our New World vultures soar high, and look out for the beautiful White Storks in the finale!

DON’T FORGET! We will be closed 17 November and 22, 25, 26 December. The Trust Grounds will also be closed Wednesday 4 January to Friday 10 February 2023, but Feathers Restaurant and the Trust shop will remain open during this time.

A message from our Chief Executive Penny Smout CEO

In this issue

Meet our newest

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team members Meet our winter stars

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How are you doing? A question that is often asked, but seldom answered honestly. I ask because it’s been a tumultuous time over the last few months and we’ve all probably been feeling a bit more worried and unsettled than

Ryan ran!

Our hospital annexe is open! Egyptian Vultures in Central Asia Project An interview with Dr Campbell Murn Marion Paviour Award update Christmas gift ideas

normal (although what is normal nowadays?) Hopefully, with the lovely weather we have had, you have managed to visit and enjoy some healing and rejuvenating time at the Trust. We are still here, and doing our best to work on our mission to help birds of prey, and to keep moving forward on the park. You’ll see some evidence of that around the grounds. We have recently had two tall wooden towers installed at the meadow to really showcase the soaring flight of our biggest birds. The team are excited at what this will mean for our 2:00pm display and Othello, the African Fish Eagle, has already decided that they offer a handy perch. Definitely a good sign! We have also unveiled the new aviaries by the Woodland Arena. Their magical design has been crafted by our master volunteers, Viv and Mike. I love all the details they have included. Another amazing volunteer, Gary (aka Q), has added some technical wizardry. The funding for these came from the family of Stuart Featherstone, a long-time member and staff favourite, who sadly died in a car accident. We were delighted to have his family visit recently to be the first to see them unveiled. You can find a plaque to commemorate Stuart on the arena side of the aviary. You will notice that we have the disinfectant mats in the entrance. This is to try to protect our birds from the raging cases of bird flu which are already worse than prior years. Please do make sure you walk over these mats when you come in. We are also implementing additional biosecurity measures around the site including spraying down any vehicles that come into the park (beyond the car park) and not encouraging wild birds to our site. If you have any of your own birds at home, such as chickens or ducks, we ask that you wear clean clothes that have not been around your birds when you visit us. If you’d like any advice on biosecurity, we’d be happy to share what precautions we are taking. While we are trying to avoid wild birds around the park, we have been able to return to our annual visit to South Africa to ring African White-backed Vulture chicks. The team were delighted to be back with our colleagues, especially as this year marked the 30th Anniversary of the start of the programme at Dronfield near Kimberley. Campbell has also been able to return to his projects in Kruger and has managed to catch up on much that was missed in the last two years. You may have noticed that we have increased our admission fees. As with everyone else, we are facing increased costs across the board and fear the impact of the end of government support for business energy costs in March. However, we are striving to keep our membership fees the same for you, which will make membership even more of a bargain, providing endless days out for no extra cost. Of course, if you are interested and able to help us more, then we do have some supporter options or you could consider joining the 100 Club and whilst it is not such a cheery topic, you could always remember us in your will, understanding that family always come first. Please let us know if you decide to do so, and we’ll add you to our Legacy Club. Finally, I am planning to attend the Walk for Wildlife 2 on 26 November in London. Please let me know if you would like to join a group from the Hawk Conservancy Trust at this event.

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Dates for your diary

Christmas Market , Thursday 24 - Friday 25 November Winter Woodland Lights , 13-29 January 2022 Evening Owls , Selected Dates in spring 2023 www.hawk-conservancy.org/events 01264 773 850

Hawk Conservancy Trust Visitor Centre, Sarson Lane, Weyhill, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8DY T: 01264 773 850 E: info@hawkconservancy.org www.hawk-conservancy.org

REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 1092349

@HawkConservancy

youtube.com/user/hawkconservancytrust justgiving/hawkconservancy

OFFICIAL PARTNERS

CORPORATE SPONSORS

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HAWKTALK WINTER 2022 ISSUE 92

Meet our newest team members

Ronnie Hunter BIRD TEAM

Becky Ive CONSERVATION COORDINATOR

Mark Ison BIRD TEAM

Patrick King BIRD TEAM

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TEAM ONLINE!

Leon Greenslade FEATHERS RESTAURANT TEAM

Katherine Fenger BIRD TEAM

Josh Johnson FEATHERS RESTAURANT TEAM

Winter Woodland Lights is back! Friday 13 – Sunday 29 January Start 2023 with a sparkle as our dazzling Winter Woodland Lights display returns in January, and it’s bigger and better! Watch in wonder as the Trust comes alive with beautiful illuminations and a live owl display set in our stunning, colourful woodlands. There’ll be more lights and opportunities for you to take family photos, and our beautiful owls will feature in a colourful finale of lights, music, and flight. Feathers Restaurant will also be open throughout the evening, serving up a range of delicious hot meals and drinks to keep you feeling warm.

We received brilliant feedback from this event last year, and we’re planning for 2023 to be even better. This January, We’ll take you on a NEW captivating trail through the grounds while immersed in nature.

Last year’s sold-out event was extremely popular, so be sure to book your tickets early to secure your chosen date!

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Meet our WINTER STARS The return of our winter timetable heralds a really lovely change across the Trust grounds. Our three winter flying displays return, the light is almost gone by 4:30pm – and we fly a completely different team of birds. After time spent resting in aviaries, our winter birds have

around a month before taking part in demonstrations once again. Meet some of our winter stars returning to wow our guests this winter …

SIRIUS Striated Caracara

Arguably the loudest bird on the winter team, Sirius the Striated Caracara is a highly intelligent bird with bags of character! He stars in our World of Birds of Prey display, where the Bird Team set him a number of problem-solving challenges to find his food. These challenges have been created based on the behaviours displayed by this species in the wild, such as turning over plant pots to discover a tasty treat! Sirius has been at the Trust his entire life, and you may already have met his parents without knowing it! He hatched nearly 20 years ago in 2003 to Darwin and Lafonia, two of the oldest birds at the Trust who are enjoying a happy retirement near our National Bird of Prey Hospital™. Sirius’ huge personality and cheeky character have made him a firm favourite with our Bird Team and guests alike.

With the naturally smaller winter audiences during the week, we often have days that are so quiet you will have the most personal experience as a visitor at our displays. We really do recommend taking the time during this quieter period to visit us and get to know these incredible birds better.

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SWEENEY TODD Snowy Owl

CHIPS & PIKE Black Vultures

It wouldn’t be winter at the Hawk Conservancy Trust without the return of one the most iconic winter birds around – Sweeney Todd the Snowy Owl. Her beautiful white and grey plumage is a welcome sight in our World of Birds of Prey display every day. Sweeney Todd is quite the character. Her swooping low flights are beautiful to watch, and watching her walk beside our Bird Team is simply adorable! She has, however, earned a reputation as a bit of a diva – choosing to perch on one of the aviaries around the Savannah Arena and surveying the grounds for as long as she likes! She will patiently wait until one of her favourite members of the Bird Team appears before returning home for the rest of her dinner. She is certainly a crowd favourite, and a special bird to watch take to the skies in the colder months of the year. SAXON Golden Eagle During our Meadow Encounter you might get the special opportunity to meet Saxon, our Golden Eagle. Saxon was welcomed to the Hawk Conservancy Trust when she was over 20 years old and is now one of the oldest members of the team at over 30. She enjoys the quieter periods of flying over the winter, and as a British bird of prey is well accustomed to the cooler weather. She can be very particular about who she works with, and certainly has favourites amongst the Bird Team who she has formed a strong bond with. Saxon spends her summer resting and going through a feather moult. As she normally flies towards the end of the day in the winter, the sun catches her new set of feathers beautifully, and she looks absolutely magnificent soaring over Reg’s Wildflower Meadow. Her powerful flights are certainly worth sticking around until the end of the day for!

Summer displays at the Hawk Conservancy Trust are synonymous with vultures flying overhead, but did you know you can still come and see vultures fly here in the winter? This season is when our New World vultures come back onto the flying team, with Black Vultures Chips and Squadron Leader Pike making a return in the World of Birds of Prey display. Chips and Pike are an almost inseparable pair. Their appearances in this winter display are always an adventure as they often get very close to the audience, even walking amongst our guest’s legs! Chips is the older of the two, having been born at the Trust in 1997. Pike is younger, and far more mischievous; one of his favourite things to do when a Bird Team member is cleaning his aviary is to give them a swift peck on the back of the legs before scurrying away! After a restful summer break, the pair have had a chance to moult through a brand-new set of feathers and are ready for a wonderful winter saying hello to all our visitors.

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Ryan RAN! He did it! On Sunday October 2, Bird Team member and Registrar Ryan Stephens completed the biggest challenge of his life and ran the London Marathon! Ryan had never attempted a marathon before, and even went through a brief period of illness at the beginning of the year, so we’re extremely impressed that he completed the marathon with an amazing time of 4 hours and 58 minutes! Ryan has been putting in the hard work and dedication it takes to train for a marathon, all to raise money for the National Bird of Prey Hospital™. With the help of generous donations from our community online and at the Trust, he absolutely smashed his original target of £6500 in August, and has raised over £10,500 pounds! The money that Ryan has raised will go towards the work of the National Bird of Prey Hospital™, which can take in up to 200 injured, orphaned or sick wild birds of prey each year. Our Hospital Manager and veteran marathon runner himself, Cedric Robert, has been supporting Ryan throughout his training all year. We couldn’t be more proud of Ryan and this fantastic achievement, and we’re so grateful for the support that all our amazing visitors, donors and members have shown Ryan over his marathon journey – thank you! His donation page will stay open for a short while, so please do continue supporting Ryan if you can. Members’ Working Day We’re excited to invite all our members to the annual Members’ Working Day, this year being held on Saturday 3 December. Our Members’ Working Day is a rewarding day of maintenance work around the Trust grounds. You’ll have a chance to work with some of our team, get hands-on to keep our visitor attraction centre looking spick and span, and get to know your fellow members over a free lunch! Every year we look forward to this special day welcoming you on. If you’d like to get involved in this fun day, please email jemma@hawkconservancy.org. We’d love to see you there!

Ryan with medal in-hand

Raffle

There’s still time to enter our raffle to be in with a chance of winning a day with our Bird Team! The lucky winner and one friend will join us for a full day and go behind-the-scenes to areas not normally open to the public. There will be an opportunity to help with the day-to-day care of our birds, including flying them. The prize winner will also have an opportunity to be involved in one of our three world-class flying displays! Raffle closes 31 December 2022. Terms and conditions apply.

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Our hospital annexe is open! We were delighted to officially open our new National Bird of Prey Hospital™ Annexe at the beginning of September with the help of wildlife presenter Megan McCubbin.

To help us with the official launch, we were joined by friend of the Trust and TV wildlife presenter, zoologist and conservationist Megan McCubbin. Megan spent time with our Hospital Manager Cedric Robert, helping him to move some of the patients into their new rehabilitation bays. This included a female Sparrow Hawk, a male Buzzard and a Barn Owl chick! The new Annexe has been built to expand capacity of the hospital, so there is potential to treat and rehabilitate more orphaned, injured and sick birds of prey each year. As well as the improvement to biosecurity measures this allows us, there is also improved access for anyone bringing a bird for assessment and treatment with a new entrance situated next to the car park.

At the official opening, guests were invited to join us for our premier screening of the Trust’s latest documentary: Stories from the Hospital. Featuring Cedric Robert and previous Conservation and Communications Coordinator Hannah Shaw, the documentary goes behind the scenes at the Hospital to give an insight into the rehabilitation and release of some of our previous patients. The construction of the new Annexe would not have been possible without kind and generous donations from our supporters, including Animal Friends, Graham & Rita Morgan, Caroline Stelling in memory of David Stelling, and Maureen Dixon in memory of Valerie Roberts.

LATEST TRUST DOCUMENTARY Watch now on our YouTube Channel …

In light of the current Bird Flu measures, if you have found an injured, sick or orphaned wild bird of prey, please give us a call BEFORE touching or bringing the bird to the Trust

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A Black Hole of Knowledge; Egyptian Vulture Migration in Central Asia Migration is one of the most dangerous times for birds, and populations of many migratory species are in rapid decline. A big challenge with conserving migratory species is that they often encounter different threats in the different areas over which they migrate. The Egyptian Vulture is the only true migrant among the Old World vultures; there are two distinct populations of this species, one across Africa, the Middle East and Europe and the other in central and south Asia.

We introduced this new project back in our last HawkTalk and are excited to share updates on the projects progress. Egyptian Vultures in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are relatively well-studied, but very little is known about the movement patterns of Egyptian Vultures that migrate in central Asia. Our project, in collaboration with researchers Dr Robert ( John) Burnside, Vladimir Dobrev (Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds), Anna Ten and Valentin Soldatov (Institute of Zoology, Uzbekistan), aims to address this critical gap in knowledge. This research will help us understand the threats Egyptian Vultures face and contribute to conserving this Endangered species. Fieldwork began in August 2021, when three birds were fitted with GPS satellite tags, to identify the routes they take during migration and where they spend the winter. The field team travelled to already identified breeding grounds in the Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan where they fitted tags to three almost-ready-to-fledge young birds, while still in their nests.

In our Spring issue, we shared the fascinating and unexpected initial results from the first few months of the first three birds that were tagged. Migratory Egyptian Vultures usually remain in their wintering ground during their first spring, only returning to the breeding grounds at the age of two or more. Since the last update in March, Arys has surprisingly migrated north back into Uzbekistan in the Tian Shan mountains between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Timur and Anya both remained in their wintering locations as expected in the Rajasthan desert crossing the border between India and Pakistan and in Yemen respectively.

From Left to right: Dobromir Dobrev, Vladimir Dobrev, Anna Ten and Valentine Soldatov

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This year, the project continues with more exciting updates. The field team visited the desert in central Uzbekistan in July 2022 to tag five more Egyptian Vultures; there are now eight birds with satellite tags. These birds will start to build an understanding of the migration routes for this important population. The first bird for 2022 is a 5-year-old Egyptian Vulture adult female, named Sofia by the team. Sofia was caught on a dump site near the town of Kitab; the field team recorded more than 200 vultures at the dump site! Sofia was fitted with a GPS-satellite tag on a backpack harness and released back where she was found. Sofia is the first-ever adult Egyptian Vulture to be tagged in central Asia. Four more birds were fitted with tags, including Guzar, a 3-year-old male, Hissar, a 2-year-old male, Johnny, a 4-year-old male and Shirin, a 2-year-old female. Juvenile Egyptian vultures (shown far left) maintain a brown plumage for five years before moulting into their adult white feathers. Sophia (shown bottom left) is a little grubby from being rummaging around in the dump site compared to the usual white plumage seen on our lovely Boe here at the Trust (shown bottom right). We suspect that over time they will establish their migration patterns, so catching and tagging adults can give us new information on the movements, requirements and threats faced by this species. The team, Vladimir Dobrev, Anna Ten, Valentine Soldatov and Dobromir Dobrev (shown at the bottom of the left hand page), all put a huge effort into safely capturing and tagging the five birds and surveying rubbish dumps in central Uzbekistan. We look forward to seeing what new information the five new vultures will give us in the coming years.

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Our Head of Conservation & Research, Dr Campbell Murn, recently returned from three weeks of fieldwork in southern Africa. We caught up with him to find out more about his time in the field, and what it’s like working on the ground across our research projects with Critically Endangered vultures. An interview with Dr Campbell Murn

Let’s jump straight in – can you give us a summary of the fieldwork you’ve just completed in Africa? Firstly, we undertook aerial surveys around Kimberley, which is in the middle of South Africa and where we’ve had long-term involvement with White-backed Vultures. We’ve done two sets of aerial surveys in the same area previously and want to be able to compare the differences in the population to see whether it is going up or down. We worked on our Hooded Vulture project, which is now nearing completion. We also started a project investigating Lappet-faced Vultures and the interactions elephants have with their nest trees. That was a chance to test out some new equipment – a camera on a long, extendable arm. Mostly because I’m tired of climbing trees! Can you give us an example of what this research tells us and how can this help these species? There are two main questions we have about White-backed Vultures. Firstly, ‘Why do they nest in groups?’ Sometimes you only get two or three nests together, sometimes there are huge clusters. Evolutionary adaptions would suggest the vultures ought to spread their nests out as far and wide as possible – they can fly really high, and they’ve got good eyesight. So why nest quite close together in a large group?

Dr Campbell Murn (up a tree)

Secondly, ‘Why do they nest where they do?’ When you look across these nesting areas, like around Kimberly, as far as the eye can see there are pretty much only Camel Thorn trees. Vultures like nesting in these trees, and to our eyes they all look similar, but you may find a cluster of nests in one area, and not in another. So, if the vultures like nesting in these trees so much, why aren’t there nests everywhere? In other words, if we can understand why the birds decide to settle somewhere, we can understand the areas of the landscape that are important to them so we can protect those areas, and we can assess threats in those areas so we can target how to mitigate those threats. Can you describe a typical day out in the field? On an ordinary day, I’ll get up really early. I’ll pick up whoever I’m working with that day, usually game guards, at about 6.30AM. And then off you go! There’s lots of driving and lots of walking. I try to maximise the time by doing road transects (counting sightings of birds of prey) while traveling between sites where we are carrying out research. Afterwards, I’ll come back to where I’m staying, have a coffee and a quick sleep, and then turn on the computer and start downloading what I’ve done for the day. I’ll look at emails if I’ve got a signal, and carry on doing what I do back in the office: analysis, writing up papers, dreaming up new ideas. I’ll do that until quite late and then go to bed. So it’s a long day. What’s your favourite part about fieldwork? I do like being by myself, although I don’t like being away from my family. I enjoy being out in the bush and I like seeing the wildlife. Although, when you’re on foot and walking through the bush the animals usually move on long before you get there – they see or smell you and they’re gone.

Hooded Vulture nest

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What do you find most challenging about fieldwork? How long it takes to get from point A to point B. But elephants have sabotaged fieldwork more than anything else. You can spend two hours driving somewhere and then another two hours walking to a particular spot, and more than once I’ve found a breeding herd of elephants camped out there! And you can’t get where you’re going because they’re not going anywhere. So you have to turn around and go four hours back again! That’s frustrating. It is rewarding most of the time, but sometimes you come back from a long day with nothing to show for it. For example, when our Hooded Vulture project started, it took ages to find nests. Ages and ages and ages. We’d spend all day trudging through the river, walking through soft sand looking up at these really tall trees so you get a really stiff neck. And working along rivers is dangerous; there’s always the risk of a buffalo, hippo or elephant around the corner. And then not finding any nests at the same time is just really hard. But we got there in the end! What would you say your greatest achievements are in the field? Having been part of the vulture scene in Africa for a long time and contributing to the knowledge of White-headed Vultures – a species we didn’t know much about. So having a better understanding of that bird. I like being known as the White-headed Vulture guy, that’s pretty cool. They’re a fantastic species. They’re a bit hard to find, like a ghost. Not many people had done anything on these birds, so I think that’s a big achievement. How do you think we make a difference? It’s a combination of the research work to understand the birds, and implementing that research work to provide conservation solutions. Then measuring the outcomes to see whether what we’re doing is working. Without question we make a difference, even though we are a small organisation. There’s the work I’ve just been explaining in the field, but there’s also the work here at the Trust where we make a difference. For our size we punch well above our weight. So what’s next? On the research side of things, publishing our findings on White-headed Vultures, and the new project we’re starting on Lappet-faced Vultures. We’re also finishing off the Hooded Vulture project, which is a big job because the fieldwork is actually the simplest part of that project - the analytical side of things comes next, which will be really time-consuming. My fieldwork is probably going to start winding down, just because I’m getting too old for it really. It’s a young person’s game – running around in the bush. And it’s young people from southern Africa that should be doing this work rather than people from over here.

Hooded Vulture chick

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What’s it like to be an intern at the Hawk Conservancy Trust? Meet Mel and Fern – this year’s Conservation and Research interns at the Hawk Conservancy Trust! We caught up with them to see what they’ve been up to since joining us over the summer:

Our work together One of the main ongoing projects we have been involved with is the monitoring of prey availability for our wild birds of prey. This is usually how the day begins, as small mammal traps must be checked early in the morning to minimise the amount of time the animals are kept inside. The traps are very appealing spaces for the small mammals to spend a night due to the warmth of the nest box filled with hay, and all the tasty treats we put inside them! Once the traps are opened, the necessary data are taken (for example species and weight) and the animal is released. We have usually found bank voles or wood mice, but on occasion we’ll get a less frequently seen mammal, like a pygmy shrew or yellow-necked mouse! After I’ve checked all the traps, we head back to the office. The morning usually consists of writing any notes from the morning so that we have accurate data or working on some of our research projects. Alongside the small mammals, we are also conducting surveys into other biodiversity on the Hawk Conservancy Trust site. Every week, we aim to survey the pollinator, bird, vegetation and butterfly communities, with a particular focus on Reg’s Wildflower Meadow. When it comes to the wild nightlife around the park, camera traps allow us to observe the more elusive animals that we rarely get to see for ourselves such as foxes, deer and badgers.

Mel’s work Every day is very different, I have been lucky enough to assist in checking the nest boxes of our Raptor Nest Box Project as well as releasing several rehabilitated birds from the National Bird of Prey Hospital back into the wild! I have also been involved in some desk-based projects conducting data analysis on UK birds of prey with trichomoniasis admitted to our National Bird of Prey Hospital, and conducting literature searches based on research on vultures in Africa.

“I have been able to get involved in lots of ongoing projects contributing to the conservation of birds of prey.”

Mel

Fern’s work I have predominately focused on digitising and mapping records from juvenile Tawny Owls that were released and radio-tracked a few years ago. I also monitor the native wildlife at the Hawk Conservancy Trust iNaturalist as part of the BIAZA Spotted on Site Project, for any sightings of wild plants and animals that have been made by the public on site. We are grateful for the support from our Official Partner, Investec, for their support in making these internships possible.

Fern

“I particularly enjoy the bird surveys, as they are an opportunity to stop, listen to and enjoy our native birds.”

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Spot the difference with owen and Tebenwick

There are six to find!

Can you identify these three British birds of prey? Who am I?

3. The UK’s smallest falcon

1. UK Populations of this species are in a critical condition

find the Snowy owls

Did you know?

2. This species mostly eats fish

Snowy Owl feet are covered with feathers, like fluffy slippers. This provides ample insulation for the cold Arctic climate.

Snowy Owls are true masters of camouflage. Can you find the ten owls hiding on this page?

Answers

1. Hen Harrier 2. Osprey 3. Merlin

who am I?

missing feathers, colour of walkie-talkie, missing strap

Trust logo missing from hat, missing badge on strap, colour of vulture’s face,

spot the difference

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An update from our 2021 Marion Paviour Award Winner In 2018, we introduced the Marion Paviour Award with the goal to further research into the conservation of birds of prey. Each year, we give this award to one exceptional early-career researcher for a project working towards this goal.

We were thrilled to have Jaime Carlino as the award winner in 2021, for her work monitoring Barn Owls in Napa Valley, California. Jaime is studying where Barn Owls prefer to nest, how healthy they are and what effect this has on how successfully they reproduce. This work is particularly fascinating for us, as it aligns with our British conservation work providing nest boxes for owls. Jaime tells us more: “During our 2022 field season, I assisted my team in monitoring around 300 nest boxes for Barn Owl occupancy. During these visits, we checked the nest boxes for an incubating or brooding female, the presence of Barn Owl eggs, and/or the presence of Barn Owl nestlings. We revisited the occupied boxes to measure the owls’ reproductive success, which is determined by counting the number of offspring that reach an age where they start to leave the nest box, also known as ‘fledging’. This breeding season was our lowest year of occupancy in the 8 years of our ongoing work in Napa Valley, California, with 22 percent of boxes being occupied. The average number of fledglings from 54 nests was 4.13. This is slightly higher than the average number of fledglings in 2021, which was 4.02. In addition to fieldwork, I have also made progress with data analysis. To address my research questions, I developed an updated model of Barn Owl habitat preferences in Napa Valley, California. Results of this model indicate that Barn Owls in Napa Valley, California prefer wooden boxes that are on taller poles and have greater box height dimensions.

They also prefer boxes with more grasslands and oak savannas around them, while boxes with more forest around them were avoided. These results are consistent with previous models of habitat preferences developed by past students. However, based on our ongoing research on Barn Owl habitat preferences in other regions of California, these results and preferences are not necessarily the same in other regions and crop types. In relation to reproductive success, I found a positive relationship between reproductive success and the predicted probability of nest box occupancy, with boxes that have higher probabilities of occupancy also having higher reproductive success. There is also a positive relationship between observed reproductive success and reproductive success predicted by our model of habitat preferences. This means, our model’s predictions about which habitat features Barn Owls prefer was correct, and this is shown by the higher observed reproductive success in those areas with the preferred habitat types. I look forward to moving forward with more data analysis and thesis writing in preparation for academic conferences and my thesis defense this fall.” If you would like to stay up to date with what Jaime and the research team is up to, you can follow @calpolyhum. barnowls on Instagram and Cal Poly Humboldt Barn Owls (@barnowlHSU) on Facebook.

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HAWKTALK WINTER 2022 ISSUE 92

African Sunset Safari We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather at this years’ African Sunset Safari events! With the sun slowly setting against a crystal-clear sky, Bird Team members Tom Morath and Ben Cox transported over 400 guests to the African savannah. Our African birds of course stole the show, with speedy flights from our Lanner Falcon, and swooping close encounters with our Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl and Barn Owl (known as a Grass Owl across the plains of Africa). The stunning finale of these evenings saw kites and vultures, more than in our daily displays, soar over the audience, reminding them of what beautiful wildlife in Africa is at risk of extinction without important conservation efforts. Events round-up

Wildebeest in the Potting Shed An evening of laughter and fond memories; Hawk Conservancy Trust Life President and Founder Ashley Smith delighted an intimate audience this October with tales from the Trust’s past. It was Ashley’s parents, Reg and Hilary Smith, who bought Sarson Farm (the site of the Trust) in the 1950s. In 1965, the year Ashley was born, it became Weyhill Zoo. Ashley worked there as a child after school and at weekends, and started full-time at 16. From cheeky macaws and prowling wolves, to the first birds of prey to call the site home, Ashley shared heartwarming and humorous memories of the animals who have featured in his life from an early age until the long established charity the Trust is today! International Vulture Awareness Day Thank you to everyone who joined us for International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) this year on Saturday 3 September! We had a wonderful day talking to all of our visitors about these amazing birds, and raising funds towards a satellite tag for our project tracking Egyptian Vultures in central Asia. As well as a Vulture Fact Trail around the grounds, our lucky visitors on the day were treated to more vultures than usual soaring in our flying displays, including a cheeky appearance from Black Vultures Chips and Pike during our Woodland Owls display! Visitors also got the chance to get to know Burdock the Turkey Vulture with a close encounter in our Brilliant Bird Brains. We also recreated a buffalo poisoning scene, showcasing how Poison Response Kits funded by the Trust can intercept these tragic events, saving the lives of hundreds of vultures.

African Sunset Safari

Exciting new developments

We’re delighted to welcome school groups to our new Outdoor Classroom, named in memory of our former Director, John Ellicock. Situated near to the Adventure Playground, this designated area has a range of brand new educational equipment and resources and will host educational visits and workshops together with a garden area to explore nature. These developments have been made possible due to funding from the Loddon and Test LEADER Programme and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

We’re thrilled to make you aware of some new developments that have taken place at the Trust. During your next visit, you will notice that we now have six electric car charging points which will both allow those visitors with electric cars to visit the Trust and improve our collective environmental impact. Look out for the two large wooden towers that have appeared near to Reg’s Wildflower Meadow. More will be unveiled about these towers, but we can tell you that we have some exciting plans in place for a new display at 2:00pm in 2023. Watch this space!

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Christmas gift ideas We’ve got Christmas all wrapped up for you, with a range of unique and unusual gifts to suit all your friends and family. By shopping with us, you’ll be supporting our conservation work! Stocking Fillers We have a wide variety of trinkets, keepsakes and educational gifts and toys, including our Hawk Conservancy Trust Top Trumps, exclusive pin badges of our very own birds,

Clothing Explore our t-shirts, hoodies and long-sleeve tops, including our exclusive range featuring stunning images of our birds, illustrated by local artist Sarina Saddiq using water-based inks. Cuddly Toys Ever wanted to take your favourite bird home with you? Our cuddly toys are the closest you can get! Whether you go for a fluffy-white Snowy Owl or long-legged Secretary Bird, we have a wide range of cuddly toys in all sizes. Calendar Our stunning 2023 calendar features the winning images from the 2021 Photographic Competition. Photographs range from fantastic action shots of our birds in flight, to scenic shots of wildlife and nature for you discover each month.

sweets, books, and more! Christmas Cards

Delight your loved ones with a stunning Christmas card featuring our very own birds of prey in magical winter landscapes.

Events Watching our birds fly in the evening is a truly magical experience. Share the magic with your loved ones by gifting them an Evening Events voucher, or book something to look forward to in January 2023 at our sparkling Winter Woodland Lights event. Guardian of the Meadow Reg’s Wildflower Meadow is such a special place. Give the gift of Guardianship, the perfect gift for those that love the Trust, wildlife and nature. Adoption The perfect gift for bird lovers, this is a great way to support a bird and contribute towards their care, as well as supporting our conservation work and getting to learn all about some of our fascinating birds!

This year, why not give the gift of memories you’ll cherish forever with a voucher or ticket to one of our events or experiences? Experiences We offer a range of experiences to suit anyone wishing to get closer to our birds and learn more about them. This is a great chance to get close to and fly a variety of our birds, sharpen your photographic skills, and make memories for a lifetime! Membership Give a year full of wonderful days out – we’re sure you know how perfect a gift this could be! You can even spread the cost throughout the year, paying by monthly direct debit.

Items subject to availability.