Raptor research project presented Sept. 23

Scott Thomas, the director for the Sea and Sage Conservation, will host a presentation on his latest findings of the "Orange County Raptor Research Project" on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Irvine Ranch Water District Duck Club at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine.
Thomas and biologist Pete Bloom, a 35-year veteran raptor researcher, led a group of young scientists and students from University California, Irvine as well as Audubon volunteers in an effort to research the status of the county's raptor population.
Sponsored by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, where many predators still dwell, this free slide-show illustrated presentation highlights their efforts, including information that can be obtained from monitoring birds using satellite telemetry.
Some biologists and specialists say a declining amount of predators, such as red-tailed hawks, cooper’s hawks, owls and American kestrels, throughout Southern California, could be declining in numbers.
“It’s puzzling,” said Bloom, a biologist for the Audubon California Starr Ranch Sanctuary. “Certain species have declined dramatically.”
Although no official numbers have been recorded, data shows the dwindling amounts of “Birds of Prey” could be caused by a variety of environmental concerns, Bloom said.
Fewer protected habitats because of fires and development, climate change caused by global warming, West Nile virus outbreaks and less prey are all factors in the shortened number of nests over the last few decades.
Some of these predators are sometimes displaced or treated in the hands of veterinarian Scott Weldy, who works for a wildlife hospital in Lake Forest.
Weldy has seen a difference in both the kinds of predators that are brought into his hospital and the amount.
“I can tell you the numbers are a general anecdote,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s not a representation of them dying, but in general, numbers have significantly dropped down.”
Weldy works with federal and state wildlife officials on birds of prey where he treats each one in cages until they can be re-released or relocated.
He said a better representation of whether predator birds are declining would be to take a survey from all of the biologists over the state, look at the nest sightings and see how many babies fledge out of that site.
Photo by Forget Me Not Photography