2 Red Kite – Monkton Deverell – Alison Rymell

2 Goosander – on the River Avon, Bradford on Avon – Paula Vass

Green Sandpiper, 13 Snipe – Upper Waterhay, CWP – John Grearson

10 Curlew – Manor Farm, Waterhay – John Grearson

Red Kite – Hindon – David Jonas

2 RUDDY SHELDUCK, roosting Tawny Owl, Wigeon, 6 Shoveler – Coate Water – Graham Cox

Green Sandpiper – Chiseldon follds - Malcolm Royal

Red Kite – Albourne Chase – Malcolm Royal

Little Egret, 40 Linnet, 5 Lapwing, 2 Black Swan – Axford - Malcolm Royal

Black Swan - Malcolm Royal

2 WILLOW TIT, 2 Red Kite – Savernake area – Malcolm Royal

The project runs from April 1 to August 31, with live footage being beamed from cameras on the birds’ nests into the Forestry Commission’s New Forest Reptile Centre, near Lyndhurst.

Visitors will be able to observe the birds’ behaviour and watch events unfold as they breed, hatch eggs, feed chicks and teach their young how to fly.

Dan Parkinson, of RSPB South East, said: “The technology used really gives people a privileged peek into the fascinating lives of these birds. We’ll be at the Reptile Centre every day to explain what’s happening in the nest. Seeing people’s reactions as they watch the raptorcam is just priceless.”

First in the spotlight will be a pair of Goshawks who get busy with nest building in March. The female is due to lay eggs at the beginning of April, with chicks likely to appear in May. From June, a pair of Hobbies will take their turn in the limelight.

Last year the project saw more than 19,000 people visit the centre, and the project’s website clock up 581,000 visits.

People can also watch the action unfold live online at www.newforestgateway.org

Report from Salisbury Journal

Report from  BTO

http://www.bto.org/news/news2010/marapr/Are_predators_to_blame_for_songbird_declines.html

On Sunday evening, scores of starlings started to fall out of the sky over one house in the village, and no one can understand why. The deaths all occurred at the same time, and the bodies of the birds covered an area 12 feet across.

All the birds had blood coming out of their beaks, and their feet curled up as if in agony. The birds all fell in the front garden of Julie Knight, who lives in the village. She returned home at 4.15pm on Sunday to find the tiny feathered bodies in her front garden. She said: “One of my neighbours saw them. They seemed to just fall out of the sky. About 70 were dead straight away.

“We called out the RSPCA, and their animal welfare officer took a few away in cages and euthanised the rest. There must have been over 100 birds in total. I’ve been a country girl all my life and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Some of the bodies fell into the boughs of a tree and some surviving birds perched there as well. After having the incident described to him, Lloyd Scott from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said: “This is one of the oddest things I’ve ever heard about. We’ve certainly never come across anything similar.” He said it was unlikely that the birds had flown into each other hard enough to cause the deaths. “Starlings have natural habits and behaviour, when flying around in a murmuration they relate each movement to the seven birds closest to them. They are hardwired into doing this and on instinct they stay away from each other.”

Initially, Mr Scott thought that the birds might have flown into a glass conservatory while taking part in a murmeration – the apparently coordinated sky-dance of the starlings that takes place on nearby Shapwick Moor. But Mrs Knight said that the birds had not flown into anything – they simply fell out of the sky and into the garden.

The RSPCA are carrying out tests to try to find out the cause of the deaths.

Story dated 9th March

2 RUDDY SHELDUCK, 9 Goosander - Coate Water – Malcolm Royal

PEREGRINE, Redshank – Kent End, CWP – Ken Cypher

60 Common Gull - Grittleton – Stewart Dobson

MERLIN (male) – Liddington Hill – Malcolm Royal

Red Kite – Winterbourne Earls – Bob Blamey

RING OUZEL (male) – still in a Salisbury garden (present all year) - Bob Blamey

Ring Ouzel - Bob Blamey

 MEDITERRANEAN GULL (adult) – Salisbury floods - Bob Blamey

Mediterranean Gull - Bob Blamey