The BBC reports there were 20 goshawk breeding pairs recorded in 2011 in Hampshire, but Forestry England says there are now 40 pairs living in the New Forest alone. The woodland raptors are nicknamed the “Phantoms of the Forest” due to their elusive nature. 

If you want to know more about Goshawks you can check out the write up of our FNW talk on goshawks from Dave Burges.

The Telegraph reports British holidaymakers have been warned off going on shooting holidays to kill rare turtle doves, which migrate from the UK across Europe. At least least two British companies offer shooting holidays to Morocco, allowing interested parties to slaughter the endangered birds for fun in the country where it is legal to do so.

Shooters have been condemned as these are migratory birds who fly from the UK to Morocco – so those who kill the turtle doves are destroying the very birds the government is trying to protect. Turtle doves have suffered a 94 per cent UK population decline since 1995 and a 78 per cent decline across Europe since 1980. The RSPB has warned that the species could soon “be lost forever”. 

Discover Wildlife reports, recently dubbed the ‘panda of UK conservation’ by ministers, the curlew is classed as a priority species in the UK, where it faces an uncertain future. Here, their population has seen an overall decline of 42 per cent between 1995 and 2008.

Understanding the fragile state of Britain’s curlew population, experts at Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) decided to intervene, taking a hands-on approach.

The charity rescued over 50 curlew eggs from nests on military airbases in Norfolk, where they would have been destroyed under licence to protect air safety. The chicks were raised at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, before being released onto reserves in Gloucestershire when they were old enough to fly.