Pine Martin, Capercaillie & Red Kite

Following my posting yesterday about seeing my first Pine Martin, a good friend in America informed me that this mammal is also present there. However, over there there is a bounty on them even though they are relatively rare. It is no wonder they are so illusive.

Even here they are persecuted as one of their foods are eggs. The areas where they are most present is in Scotland and its there on the big shooting estates that they are considered a pest. While protected by law, the martin is treated as vermin. However it is their impact on the wild birds nests that has and is creating a dilemma for conservationists. As the Martin will take the Eggs of one of the rarest birds in Scotland the Capercaillie.

Here there are two rare species, both protected by law, yet one is impacting upon the population of the other. So what one of the RSPB wardens is doing is collecting a small number of the Capercaillie eggs and rearing them under a bantam chicken. Thus helping to maintain a higher breeding success rate than was happening naturally.

While researching this I asked the question of why not create a reintroduction programme for the Capercaillie? I discovered that in Scotland it is illegal to introduce or release Capercaillie. This was a law that was introduced to protect the shooting estates in Scotland and was brought in after the last time the Capercaillie became extinct in Scotland.

When that happened a gentleman took it upon himself to reintroduce the bird and obtained birds and Eggs from Norway and Wales and it the off spring of these that are now the Scottish population. Yet it is perfectly legal to introduce birds from Asia as these are the partridges and pheasants that are at the heart of the shooting industry. It just shows what lunacy can happen when vested interests are involved.

However, made a suggestion to the person I was talking to while researching the story and said why not put down some faux nests with bantam or small chicken eggs to distract the Martins from the Capercaillie nests to give both populations a chance. Well it seems that this is what will be tried next year. A simple solution that may help protect two rare species.

Just as I was typing this I had to stop for my Red Kite fix as on flew over. It should have been my best chance of filming one but as today is a bank holiday (like labour day), I was just sitting here with nothing on my feet. So I grabbed the Camera and was just ready to shoot out the door when I realised that I did not have any trousers on. Another quick dash to get my trousers a clean pair of socks and my boots and I was still out quickly. I dashed to a location that I would get a good sighting as the Kites are quite methodical as they search for food, just to see the Bird in the distance. I did trot down the hill further as there is another useful viewing point there but the Kite had long since glided off out of view. It was only as I walked back did I think just what a ridiculous sight I would have made had I just gone out. But had I not got dressed I would not have had my keys and how would I explain that to the police or a lock smith. Lesson for the day engage brain first.

It is one of the aspect of the Red Kites that makes them so magnificent, is their effortless flight. With a wingspan of five to six feet they glide so gracefully, yet they move so swiftly too. Personally I think that Red Kite watching should be prescribed on the NHS much better than Prozac.