16 June 2011
I felt sickened today, to see one of the birds I had been watching dead, to know it had laid eggs in the same small gulley where I watched a pair together in the sun days before and saw the male on guard was rather sad.
Natural predators are a part of what happens, it has always been so. It is sobering when you lose such a precious bird but they have co-existed with them over time. A healthy population can cope with such losses a threatened one will find it a much bigger blow.
I rather hope it was a natural predation rather than something like dogs, it certainly looked like a surprised chance attack from the air but that is speculation and we have no proof to suggest for sure.
So sad but don’t be down – just carry on with the viyal work you are doing. Good luck!
Babs the birder.