Telephone Poles - The Pros and Cons

[SANBoPC]

Earlier this afternoon I drove past a Haggard Lanner Falcon sitting on top of a disused telephone pole surveying the grass land and maize (corn) lands.

The reason for this thread, is that recently, a prominent NGO involved with amongst other raptors, have advised the national telecommunication provider "Telkom" to remove the network of disused telephone poles that criss-cross the country. This was a unilateral decision by the NGO concerned without consulting with various members of the "Bird of Prey Working Group" that was formed a few years ago to address raptor conservation issues (falconers are also represented in this group through a MOU signed between SAFA and the NGO).

With the advances in technology the old telephone lines are becoming obsolete. There are literally thousands of kilometers of disused telephone lines throughout the country. The telephone wire is removed (for recycling) however the poles have been left behind, often forming a T piece where the lines used to be suspended.

I was seriously annoyed on hearing of this removal, at a Working Group meeting, and voiced my objections as I feel the pros of having these poles far outweigh the cons, ie an array of raptors uses them to hunt from and in certain areas various raptors use them to breed on. Obviously the down side is that raptors are occasionally struck by passing cars.

I would very much like other falconers view on this.

Regards
Trevor

[Gozzhawk]

I would think they , as you say , provide perching and nesting area.
makes no sense considering the expense of removal.

was there scientific evidence given for the reason the poles have to come down??

always sceptical but i bet someones getting a big new swimming pool..............

[Yarak_Eric]

That's definatly sad news. The poles are useless to man at this point, but a lot of times or society doesn't think outside of the box for the problems that we have created, by clearing the forests etc. that they put the telephone poles on, and then uprooting the telephone polls after! To much open land without any place for birds to perch. The birds will move in to areas where they can perch of course, but it does limit their selection and hunting areas for those who are roadside hunters.

[Little Joe]

Obviously the down side is that raptors are occasionally struck by passing cars.

I would very much like other falconers view on this.

Regards
Trevor

Reading your post I was desperately trying to think why they would be doing this.

I would imagine the only birds really in danger of being hit by cars in any mentionable number would be owls - Spotted Eagle Owls specifically.

Sure enough, its not nice to see dead Spotties lying around next to a road, but their overall numbers certainly dont seem to be affected too much by this. And if you bear in mind what excellent hunting opportunities these poles bring for a large variety of diurnal raptors, including buzzards, kestrels, falcons and even some eagle species in an otherwise perchless environment like the Karroo, West Coast, etc. the pros must surely far outweigh the cons.

I for one am in favour of leaving the poles where they are. But if what you say is true, the decision has apparently been made and this discussion is pretty moot. Seems like job creation if you ask me....:roll:

[Gozzhawk]

the dead birds thing is a red herring, the road will still be there!!

yeah , seems a bit strange.....

[Little Joe]

One thing I always look forward to when I undertake the arduous trip from Cape Town to the Kalahari is spotting raptors on telephone poles along the way.

On a single journey I have seen Rock kestrels, Greater kestrels, Blackshouldered kites, Jackal buzzards, Steppe buzzards, Lanner falcons, a single Peregrine (haggard tiercel), Blackbreasted snake eagle, Martial eagle and Spotted eagle owl at dusk.

[Yarak_Eric]

One thing I always look forward to when I undertake the arduous trip from Cape Town to the Kalahari is spotting raptors on telephone poles along the way.

On a single journey I have seen Rock kestrels, Greater kestrels, Blackshouldered kites, Jackal buzzards, Steppe buzzards, Lanner falcons, a single Peregrine (haggard tiercel), Blackbreasted snake eagle, Martial eagle and Spotted eagle owl at dusk.

Wow that must be cool to see Martial Eagles and Snake Eagles on Telephone poles! Never seen anything like that here, although I sure do see plenty of Red-tailed hawks perched up on the poles. The wires themselves provide the best perches for the American Kestrels.

[SANBoPC]

was there scientific evidence given for the reason the poles have to come down??

always sceptical but i bet someones getting a big new swimming pool..............

Gozz no scientific evidence just a brain fart and personal view. You might be right about the pool :)

[SANBoPC]

Reading your post I was desperately trying to think why they would be doing this.
And if you bear in mind what excellent hunting opportunities these poles bring for a large variety of diurnal raptors, including buzzards, kestrels, falcons and even some eagle species in an otherwise perchless environment like the Karroo, West Coast, etc. the pros must surely far outweigh the cons. Seems like job creation if you ask me....:roll:

Jannes I often find the motivation is money based. These are the same people that endorsed a rat poison as been environmentally/owl friendly.

I'm hoping the cost of removing the poles will be restrictive, however I will be sending Telkom my and views from this thread.

Could be as you say job creation along similar lines to the con of Working for Water

[Eagle-Eyrie]

Dear trev

like any other falconer i always watch the poles for raptors and have climbed the odd nest as well. It would be a great loss to see them go. Its kinda like when they decided all alien trees should be destroyed, and then wonder why the goses and spars werent breeding as much. With the removal of some of the blue gum trees, that most raptors use here to breed, the population dencity would be lower. Regarding the poles, i remember driving to do a documentary in the kalahari we counted 10 posts and you would either see a pygmy falcon or pale chanting gos surveying the area for a meal. So to see them go would be like taking 1 step forward and 10 back. Money talks and these ngos are putting forward these preposals without data to support it. Someone is making money off it and to me that would be the only motivation.

please keep us posted on this topic.

good hawking
dylan