From: Dave Richards <onsafari@iconnect.co.ke>
Date: 2016-03-24 16:38
Subject: FW: Fwd: [FSG] [KENYABIRDSNET] Question about Lake Bogoria flamingos and helicopter rides

Hi Nate,

 

Simon has asked me to pass this on to everyone.

 

Dave

 

From: Simon Thomsett [mailto:sthomsett@gmail.com]
Sent: 24 March, 2016 1:41 PM
To: Dave Richards
Subject: Re: Fwd: [FSG] [KENYABIRDSNET] Question about Lake Bogoria flamingos and helicopter rides

 

Dave can you forwqrd this to the discussion group? Can't seem to do it.

Dear all re low flight over flamingo and other colonial nesting birds.
There was some correspondence on this issue.

There are advertised helicopter rides that do a circuit round the rift lakes and hells gate. I recall a whole article in Ndege News.
I have repeatedly seen a helicopter down below Njorowa gorge and during 2000 to 2002 it used to buzz below the Lammergeyer cliff  less than 100 yards off the wall.
I know of another routine flight that goes between pinnacles on Shaba cliffs. Great buzz for the occupants, but not so good for the Ruppells colony that flies back and forth across the gap!
It also goes right past the south wall of ololokwi.
I was once in a plane with a pilot (1986)..who for kicks, buzzed flamingos and pelicans on lake Elementeita. I also was in a chopper over lake Natron and knew of a BBC documentary that used choppers to film flamingo...even making an artificial landing platform in the lake.
Also saw a chopper herding and hovering right over wildebeest crossing the Mara.
Military jet fly past major cliff faces is probably the most disturbing bar from mortar fire...which is usual near milie saba  isiolo and occasionally ololokwi.
Military fire and munitions explosions is often aimed at  cliffs...hells gate being a prime example during WWII and 1950s.

In raptor work we have to occasionally fly to count nests. When this is done we are obliged to keep our distance and be cautious of both birds and mid air collision. Civil aviation in Kenya is almost non existent compared to other countries but the effect of a few cowboys can mqke a difference. One hopes for individuals with common sence. But documentaries and set helicopter tours set out to have problems.
These can be found and targeted.
I do think that irresponsible flying should be reportable by the public. Taking the plane's registration will help.
In terms of energy expenditure and panic it may be less of a problem than a Fish Eagle, that routinely herds and shepards flocks and usues exhaustion as a means to single out one flamingo.
If low flying is seen as a problem in Kenya I believe a poster in and around Wilson airport will educate people. I tried this once asking pilots to contribute records of Ruppells colonies.
Somewhat predictably given the cowboy attitude of our pilots I had not one response.
Simon

On 24 Mar 2016 12:13, "soysambu" <info@soysambuconservancy.org> wrote:

 



Begin forwarded message:

 

From: "Curco Masip, Antoni" <acurcom@gencat.cat>

Subject: Re: [FSG] Fw: [KENYABIRDSNET] Question about Lake Bogoria flamingos and helicopter rides

Date: March 21, 2016 at 1:02:36 PM GMT+3

To: "Christophe.Tourenq@banrockstation.com.au" <Christophe.Tourenq@banrockstation.com.au>, Neil and Liz Baker <tzbirdatlas@yahoo.co.uk>

Cc: FSG <fsg-bounces@wwt.org.uk>, Flamingo Group <fsg@wwt.org.uk>

 

Good morning from the Ebro Delta (Catalonia)

 

low-altitude flights with aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, drones ...) is potentially a very negative activity for the bird colonies (flamingos, herons, terns, gulls ...) and, unfortunately,  they are a growing threat danger in the Ebro delta.

As commented Christophe, the first nesting attempt Flamingo in the Ebro Delta (1992) failed because the disturbance of a seaplane flying at low altitude.

 

In Spain there is a regulation of airspace including restricted and prohibited areas for security (military zones, nuclear power stations ...) and environmental reasons (protected areas, areas of bird concentration in migration ...). You can consult these regulations (in Spanish and English) in the attached document. Each of these areas has an associated minimum flight altitude (often difficult to measure from the ground). Similarly, there is a mechanism for periodic changes of these regulations (for example, in the Ebro delta we are trying to raise the minimum height of 700 to 3500 feet).

 

On the other hand, many censuses of birds (flamingos, gulls, herons) in the Ebro Delta are conducted by aerial photography with aircraft or helicopter. Our experience in numerous flights (1-2 flights per year since 2000) indicates that there are no significant disturbances in the colonies at an altitude of 350-400 meters.

 

Best wishes (and excuse me for my English),

Antoni Curcó Masip
Àrea de Protecció i Recerca
Parc Natural del Delta de l'Ebre

Av. Catalunya, 46 | 43580 Deltebre | Tel. 977 48 21 81 | Fax 977 48 13 92
acurcom@gencat.cat  /  www.gencat.cat/parcs  /  www.facebook.com/PNDeltaEbre

 

 

De: FSG [mailto:fsg-bounces@wwt.org.uk] En nombre de Christophe.Tourenq@banrockstation.com.au
Enviado el: 21 març 2016 07:05
Para: Neil and Liz Baker
CC: FSG; Flamingo Group
Asunto: Re: [FSG] Fw: [KENYABIRDSNET] Question about Lake Bogoria flamingos and helicopter rides

 

Greater flamingos' breeding was immensely disrupted in the Camargue, France, by low-flying aircrafts until the 1960s. 
The airforce was particularly using the salines, where the breeding grounds were located, as an exercise airspace with low altitude flights. 
Flamingos deserted their nest due to the disturbance and the predators (herring gulls) were hammering eggs and chicks. 
At the end of  the 1960s, flamingos restarted to breed successfully again after intense lobbying by flamingo researchers (Drs Hoffmann & Alan Johnson) from the Tour du Valat, at the airforce and aviation industry, to avoid/respect a minimum altitude above the  flamingos breeding grounds.
And this was mostly respected, although I personally saw in the 1990s, the flamingo colony being  greatly disturbed by an helicopter hovering to take pictures of the colony. Adults left  the island in panic, and clutches unattended to the mercy of predators. 
There are reports of unsuccessful breeding in Ebro delta colony in Spain was due to low-flying aircraft in 1992. 
Flamingos are long-lived species and their fear lives on, and you don't want to have the risk of a single disturbance by an aircraft to cause the desertion of a nesting ground and the failure of breeding; they are particularly sensitive at the beginning of the incubation stage. 
More info  in the reference books Kear and Duplaix-Hall (1975), Johnson and Cezilly (2010),  issues of IUCN SSC/WI flamingo specialist group publication "Flamingo", etc.and I am sure the flamingo specialists here, can provide you with advice on a minimum altitude and period in the flamingo season, to respect over flamingo groups, to prevent dramatic disturbance. (ex Flamingo colonies have been safely counted from light aircraft at 300 m - or around 990 feet-  above sea level in Europe, once the incubation has well started though ; see Descamps et al. 2011). 
Cheers and good luck. 
Christophe

Dr. Christophe Tourenq
Wetland & Conservation Manager

 

Banrock Station, Holmes Road, Kingston on Murray, SA 5331, Australia
Tel +61 8 8583 0299
Mobile +61 4 3700 5030
Fax +61 8 8583 0288
www.banrockstation.com.au



From:

Neil and Liz Baker <tzbirdatlas@yahoo.co.uk>

To:

Flamingo Group <fsg@wwt.org.uk>,

Date:

21/03/2016 03:03 PM

Subject:

[FSG] Fw: [KENYABIRDSNET] Question about Lake Bogoria flamingos and helicopter rides

Sent by:

 




comments to Kenyabirds please. 

I would not want these flights to happen over Natron. 

Neil 
  
Neil and Liz Baker, Tanzania Bird Atlas, 
P.O. Box 396, Iringa, Tanzania. 
Mobiles: +255 785-311298 and +255 784-834273. 
http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com 
Subscribe to: tanzaniabirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 


On Monday, 21 March 2016, 1:34, "Itai Shanni 嚅 � itaisha1@yahoo.com [kenyabirdsnet]" <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote: 


  
Hi Nate and all, 

I'm not a Flamingo expert, but you don't need one in this case. 

The answer you received is outrages and just show how little this guy understand conservation. 

Off course zooming through Flamingo flocks is a big disturbance and in fact there are plenty of works that will show how fleeing birds make them loose much energy and also change their breeding success (even though they don't breed in Bogoria, birds in lower energy state have higher chances to have unsuccessful breeding). 

About flight regulation, I think that there are regulations over NP but I'm not sure what about NR and in any case who is controlling and monitoring these regulations. 

Maybe a complain from NK or members of this group to the relevant Authority (Kenya Aviation/ KWS...) might help as this is for sure a disturbance to protected animal. 

Cheers, 

Sent from Itai Shanni iPhone. 
Avian ecologist and guide, specialized in East Africa and Middle East. 
+972-523689773


‫�-20 犷 2016, 狴蜾 21:49, �"Nate Dias offshorebirder@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet]" <kenyabirdsnet-noreply@yahoogroups.com> 膪�/�:


  
I have a question for the flamingo experts out there:  are the helicopter rides that take photographers to buzz the flocks at Lake Bogoria bad for the well-being of the Lesser and Greater Flamingos? 

I have heard stories about recent egregious behavior (buzzing very low and intentionally flushing/herding flocks) and seen some milder photograph-laden online trip reports that still cause me some concern.  I asked an oblique, veiled question of one of the trip report writers + photographers.  He replied that it's a minor/temporary disturbance, like spooking a buffalo or hippo on a game drive. 

But knowing what I do about colonial waterbirds in the New World, and their propensity to abandon roosts and rookeries in response to disturbance, I have doubts and would like to learn more. 

I would appreciate any feedback from flamingo conservationists or researchers on the subject - either off-list or shared with the group. 

I am also curious if there are any height regulations or other protocols that are possibly being ignored by irresponsible helicopter operators? 

Good birding, 

Nate 
 

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Company Registered Address: Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT.
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a charity registered in England & Wales (No. 1030884) and in Scotland (No. SC039410) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 2882729).
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (Trading) Ltd. (Company No. 2541350) is a wholly owned subsidiary of WWT.
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 The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust does not accept responsibility for changes made to this message after it was sent. Any personal opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy of the organisation.

Company Registered Address: Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT.
 Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a charity registered in England & Wales (No. 1030884) and in Scotland (No. SC039410) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 2882729).
 Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (Trading) Ltd. (Company No. 2541350) is a wholly owned subsidiary of WWT.
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