Searching for breeding sites of the Spotted Eagle in the north of Chernihiv region
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 Posted in Field researches, Photos, Projects | No Comments »In late June-early July 2009 it was the expedition with aim to reveal breeding places of Spotted Eagle in the north of Chernihiv region. The expedition was taken under the project competition announced by Ukrainian Birds of Prey Research Centre.
A question of accurate definition of distribution and numbers of the Spotted Eagle in Ukraine is still open. Till mid-1990s this Eagle has bred in most regions of Ukraine (Zubarovsky 1977). Researches of last decades proved existence of the Spotted Eagle only in the north-west of Ukraine, namely in Rivne and Volyn region (Dombrovsky 2007). Owing to our colleagues from Byelorus, after their special counts, it was found out that majority of Belorussian Spotted Eagles inhabits Prypyatskoye Polissia in the areas neighboring to Ukraine. A part of this breeding group also inhabits the area of Ukraine. At present there are no reliable data proving breeding of this species in other regions.
The Spotted Eagle looks much alike a related and more numerous species of the Lesser Spotted Eagle which often causes misidentification by ornithologists.
In Ukraine the Spotted Eagle is sometimes observed on migration. Rough estimation of the bird numbers within Ukraine shows only 10 to 20 pairs. Surely, comprehensive investigation of its prospective breeding places in the near future can give a more precise picture of the Spotted Eagle population. This is the aim why we undertook expedition to the north of Chernihiv region.
This species of Eagle prefers breeding and hunting on wet areas without or with minimum of human activity. Also it avoids the areas with settlements located nearby. Читать далее »
Expedition to southern regions of Ukraine
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 Posted in BP & photographers, BP contraband, Field researches, Photos, Projects | 2 Comments »An expedition was undertaken during the last decade of May 2009 in the framework of the project supported by the Falcon Research Centre (United Kingdom). The aim was to reveal the sites, suitable to set up nest boxes for Saker Falcons on poles of power lines.
The participants of the expeditions were Vitaly Vetrov, Sergey Domashevsky and Elena Vetrova. In the first place they investigated the power lines adjoined the sites with good food resource (colonies of small sousliks, rooks, gulls and other species of birds) and with absence of territorial pairs of ravens (main suppliers of nests for falcons) or human disturbance factor.
Territories of Kherson region, Zaporizhzhya region and Crimean Autonomous Republic were studied by car ‘Niva’. The route crossed both virgin steppes and agricultural landscapes. The points interested for the project were fixed with GPS. A total of 49 points, prospective for further setting up of nest boxes, were identified.
Steppes and agrocoenoses of the Central and North Crimea, south areas of Kherson region and Zaporizhzhya region were rather thoroughly investigated. In a total, the expedition covered over 2,500 km.
Saker Falcon study. Crimea 2008
Saturday, June 21st, 2008 Posted in Field researches, Photos, Projects | No Comments »The Central Laboratory of General Ecology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences started a Saker Falcon research and conservation program in 2006. The project is named «Saker Falcon in Southeast Europe – Research and Conservation». In the frame of this program an international network from organizations and researchers was established – Southeast European Saker Network (SESN); eight countries participate in this network at the moment i.e., Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. The aim of this network is to coordinate efforts for Saker Falcon study and protection in the Southeast European region. The Saker Falcon is listed by IUCN as a globally threatened species, and it requires urgent and joint measures for stopping and reversing its declining population trend.
Last SESN studies are connected with identification of different populations of the Saker Falcon using DNA and stable-isotope markers. It will enable to determine of the origin of birds taken from the wild for use in falconry. Furthermore, by comparison with museum specimens, it will enable to determine genetic similarity of current and historical populations of Sakers in Southeast Europe, which will determine possible parental stock for any potential reintroduction project. For this reason feather samples are collected from juvenile birds from the different parts of the species’ breeding distribution range.
