Raptor Aid Round Up - Part 2.

When I started Raptor Aid I never really thought a key part of the work we would do is supporting other projects and people with small grants. In the beginning it was all about spreading the word, getting out in front of as many people as possible championing birds of prey. Obviously, that’s still crucial in species conservation but we found investing in people is equally vital and that is why we are slowly & quietly building up our grant fund to help more people, do more for raptors.

One thing I am terrible at is sharing that with you the individual who has an interest in raptors, conservation, Raptor Aid or whatever else it brings you to the website and blog. I have to apologise for that but please rest assured your money doesn’t sit in a bank we try and put it to good use for birds of prey and their conservation.

With Iolo Williams at a fundraising event.

There are now two or three grants which have become standard for us annually, this is because we believe they have a real impact both on the participants lives and subsequently the conservation of birds of prey with the work they intend to or already carry out. These grants also involve collaborating with fantastic organisations. The first of these grants is the ‘Discovering Raptors’ Canopy Access Grant provided in collaboration with American ‘not for profit’ Canopy Watch International and their annual ‘Discovering the Canopy’ workshop for Latin American biologists. For the last three years we have funded two biologists with a focus on birds of prey to participate and 2024 was no different. This year two biologists were funded by Raptor Aid, Sergi Gomez Espi is from Argentina and is researching the Crested Eagle with the Centre for the Study and Conservation of Birds of Prey in Argentina (CECARA) and Felipe Gonzalez Aguayo from Chile who is studying the ecology and reproduction of forest raptors in areas of urban growth. The humbling thing for me this year was when our very own trustee, Zoe Smith, attended the VI Neotropical Raptor Conference and bumped into not one, or two but five previous recipients of the ‘Discovering Raptors’ grant and they all commented on how crucial our support had been to their respective projects - watch this space we have plans to possibly introduce a UK version.

Another broader grant we have started is to fund all travel for participants in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Young Leader course based at Camerons Cottage run by the BTO and hosted by the Cameron Bespolka Trust in the New Forest. The course give individuals the chance to meet other individuals of a similar age with the same interests to learn the skills they might need to be a leader within nature conservation. We believe that if there is any individual out there willing to better themselves for the benefit of the environment the very last thing to stand in their way is the inability to afford transport. This year we supported 10 of the 11 participants who requested travel bursaries.

Our big fundraiser this year was an ambitious one. We set the challenge of raising £20,000 for both Short Eared Owl satellite tags (£9,000) alongside our friends at the North of England Raptor Forum with the remaining (£11,000) going to the Raptor Aid Grant Fund. The priority was always to raise the funds for the satellite tags to help better understand the incredible world of this nomadic owl species and I’m pleased to say we smashed the £9k fairly quickly. Currently, the fund stands at £11,368 and we’ll probably draw this to a close in the New Year as we have plans to help another specific project with fundraising in 2025. Whilst, it would have been incredible to hit the £20k crowdfunders are very time consuming and need to be constantly pushed to maintain momentum, we hit the main target for the owls and the extra £2k has been very welcome for the grant fund. The satellite tags have been purchased but unfortunately as with most things in nature the owls didn’t play ball this year and the team were unable to catch any suitable for tagging - we will of course keep you updated on the project outcomes and if you donated - Thank you!

Short eared owl caught and colour ringed as part of the satellite tagging project. Copyright of NERF.

Every year there are lots of other bits and pieces that I get up to like attending events to spread the word about Raptor Aid. These events included the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Groups annual conference, the North of England Raptor Forum Conference and The Bird of Prey Project British Birds of Prey Day which I gave a talk about the work of the charity and monitoring birds of prey. We also give items such as nest boxes and owl pellet kits to the raffles. We once again I attended BirdFair with our friends at Peak Boxes and delivered two owl pellet dissction workshops to a packed out tent. I’ve offered advice to several new peregrine urban schemes including one in Singapore which is seen as the first ever urban breeding attempt and we have donated a peregrine nest box to the Loughborough Peregrine Project which I’m off to construct in the New Year. Although not directly connected to Raptor Aid I have also helped with the rehab of a few wild birds of prey including buzzards, barn owl and peregrines. I’m of the opinion there’s a real shortage of rehab facilities in the UK for specific species such as peregrines which may require long term rehab before release - maybe it’s something for the charity to consider in the future.

Finally, we look forward to 2025, we have the charity AGM in January where I’ll meet the other trustee’s to discuss moving the charity forward and what role we think it can play in the world of raptor conservation. On a personal level I have my PhD to complete (Terrifying thought) and as Chair of Raptor Aid I’ll also be focusing on collaboration, I think we’re at a point now where it is the only way forward. I love hearing, reading and learning about the work of other organisations and individuals, I hope there’s no ego at Raptor Aid that gets in the way of this. We’re all after what seems to be an ever shrinking pot of money for conservation initiatives, we’re all trying to recreate the wheel to stay in the public eye and many organisations have far greater over heads but we hopefully all have one common goal - to leave the world and our ecosystems in a better state than when we arrived.

We attended the Restore Nature Now march in London. It was great to be amongst so many like minded organisations and individuals like our friend Ruth Tingay from Wild Justice/Raptor Persecution UK.