BRI’s founder and world-renowned raptor ecologist Dr. Peter Bloom was invited by California State Parks’ Environmental Scientist Lisa Fields to join in the Osprey nest monitoring at Mono Lake, CA – with close to 50 years of raptor conservation work, Pete has been able to add valuable insights to the monitoring efforts, and the team began banding all the nestlings they could in order to track their movements.
Posts tagged #conservation
An update on Banning Ranch
On Wednesday, September 7, the California coastal commissioners rejected the development proposal for Banning Ranch due in part to BRI's Pete Bloom's testimony on the Burrowing Owl and its habitat requirements. We are so excited that the council voted 9-1 this way and are hopeful for the future.
Burrowing Owls and Newport Banning Ranch development
The Newport Banning Ranch project is one of the largest residential developments proposed in Orange County in a number of years. This week the Coastal Commission staff recommended increasing the amount of acreage needed for conservation thanks in part to a letter submitted by BRI's Peter Bloom advocating for more land to be devoted to the Burrowing Owl's wintering habitat. (a state species of special concern ) A good week for conservation!
Raptor Research Foundation conference Nov. 4-8
We are pleased that this coming weekend, the Raptor Research Foundation is hosting its annual conference in Sacramento. BRI's Dr. Peter Bloom will be the plenary speaker discussing “Fifty Years of California Raptor Conservation — Success, Failure, Works in Progress, & Insights for Future Research.”
Links to information about the conference and the Raprotr Research Foundation can be found here
Imperial Eagle | Kazakhstan
Dr. Evgeny Bragin releasing the eagle Sep 23, 2015
Dr. Evgeny Bragin with the Naurzum Zapovednik preserve, Kostanay State Pedagogical Institute and The Peregrine Fund, and Dr. Todd Katzner with the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with The Peregrine Fund, have been working on a research project involving the ecology of raptors at the (Naurzum National Nature Reserve) in the Kostanay Oblast of north-central Kazakhstan (51°N, 64°E). Initiated by Dr. Bragin 40 years ago, and joined by Todd Katzner 20 years ago, they needed to capture an adult Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), so BRI's Dr. Peter Bloom volunteered to assist them in the trapping effort. On September 23, 2015 they successfully captured, banded, and affixed a GPS-GSM radio transmitter to an adult male Imperial Eagle. The intent is to study the migratory movements of an eagle from its nesting territory at the north end of its range all the way to its wintering grounds, and perhaps also gain data on the use of its home range upon its return to Naurzum.
Dr. Bragin and Katzner have been studying eagles in this region for decades. Some of their research efforts have been published and include studies involving variation in the offspring sex ratio of a long lived sexually dimorphic raptor, the Imperial Eagle; conservation implications of inaccurate estimations of cryptic population size using populations of White Tailed sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla), Imperial eagle, Steppe (A.nipalensis) and Golden eagles (A.chrysaetos); and using naturally shed feathers to determine genetic parentage analysis, and population monitoring of the Imperial Eagle. For more information on the studies click below.
The Naurzum National Nature Reserve was pristine and full of amazing fauna and flora. In addition to the eagles, the preserve is home to a wide range of species including Saker Falcons, jerboas, European badgers, and the occasional moose. There are Prehistoric yurt circles in the soil and five species of Stipa blowing in the wind across the Central Asia steppe, mixed with groves of Scot's Pines. In addition to the preserve, on the last day of the trip they visited the Ili Alatauski National Park in the Tien Shan Mountains.
Imperial eagle banding in Kazakhstan
Pete Bloom is spending the next 10 days helping researchers in the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan trap and attach GSM (satellite) transmitters to two Imperial eagles. Here are some pictures of the area in which the eagles are located. We will keep posting updates, please check back!
Peter stumbled across this threatened grassland Praying Mantis, a female ovipositor with eggs.
