There’s more grim news from Northern Ireland this week with the discovery of a dead adult red kite on her nest, along with two chicks. Poisoning is strongly suspected.
The authorities were alerted to a potential problem at the Katesbridge nest in Co. Down by a sharp-eyed local resident who had been watching the nest from her house and was worried something had happened to the female.
The site was subsequently visited by members of the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group, RSPB and the Police Service of Northern Ireland where they found the adult (wingtagged ‘Blue 13’) slumped on the nest, along with the two chicks. Their bodies have been sent for toxicology tests.
These birds were part of the small breeding population in Northern Ireland, reintroduced (with donor birds from Wales) between 2008-2010. The population is still tiny and is extremely vulnerable to illegal poisoning.
In 2013 alone, six dead red kites were recovered. Tests revealed that two had been poisoned with Carbofuran, three with Alphachloralose, and one was too decomposed for analysis but was found in the same (very small) geographical area as three of the others.
At least this time the police have issued a very quick alert (within 24 hours of the discovery), in sharp contrast to the 13-month delayed announcement about a poisoned white-tailed eagle that we blogged about a couple of days ago (see here).
As a side issue, this is our 1,000th blog entry. It’s a milestone, but unfortunately not one to celebrate.
Raptor Persecution UK 
The people responsible for this crime, along with all the others, are nothing but worthless scum, still living in the 19th. century.
The blog is vital, both nationally and increasingly internationally for exposing these obscenities. I wish you didn’t have to be here….but thanks for you efforts, it cant be easy.
Thanks for your continued support…
RPS wrote
“As a side issue, this is our 1,000th blog entry. It’s a milestone, but unfortunately not one to celebrate.”
Guys you’ve brought the issue of Raptor Persecution in a so called civil society to the world, you’ve used the latest technology to your advantage, you’ve embarrassed a seedy minority who think they are above the law, people who are so full of their own ego’s they think they are untouchable. Each day that this blog exists makes it more uncomfortable for them. More and more people are getting a different view of what is happening on these shooting estates. I still don’t believe I’ll ever witness sky dancers on my local moors in my lifetime but at least I have the satisfaction now of knowing the greedy bastards who are responsible for this are getting more and more uncomfortable each day this site produces another blog, you’ve probably realised I’m a disagreeable old sod so I’m going to disagree again, celebrate your 1,000th blog, in some countries you wouldn’t be able to, there’s a couple more pints behind the bar for you tonight. Thanks for your hard work and take care guys
Thanks for your continued support – very much appreciated.
Onwards.
Managed to see 3 separate sky dancers while driving along the A9 the other day…..all on managed grouse moors…….enjoy keeping my eyes open on the real world!
“all on managed grouse moors…….enjoy keeping my eyes open on the real world!”
I find it sad you think a grouse moor were even the tiny weasel is ruthlessly exterminated represents the real world, I think a safari in Africa might open your eyes, a trip to the Russian steppes, the American plains, vast parts of Northern Europe but a Grouse moor!!!!!! you really need to get out more
Thanks, I do. And yes been to Africa, where I have witnessed significant wildlife crime issues and have also been to NZ where the equivalent of SNH use 1080 by the tonne, and yes I really can identify both cock and hen Hen Harriers.
I would be more than happy to show anyone a harrier hunting on a grouse moor as it is not as rare as people often make out. If I can see one on 50% of my trips out I am sure others can too. Do they know what they are looking for? Have they got the patience to sit and watch? Do they even know the best time of day or area to look?
It’s all very well showing someone a harrier hunting over a grouse moor, but chances are it will be shot very soon after and never get a chance to nest, hence the reason that there are so many scientific papers proving that very few successfully nest on grouse moors, whilst at the same time documenting the illegal persecution that is limiting its recovery. Or are you going to tell us that there are hundreds or thousands of pairs nesting on managed grouse moors?
Of course, you will choose not to believe this, you will ignore all of the evidence provided in a plethora of scientific journals, and you will simply dismiss decades of field data gathered by highly respected and vastly experienced raptor study workers.
Thats a crude assumption and demonstrates a typical contribution to this blog. I do read relevant scientific papers on mammals, raptors as well as predation ie pine marten and capercaillie and work with a variety of organisations and individuals who collect field data on a wide variety of matters.
I also note my own observations and know that these are collected from areas that have not been surveyed by others.
The constant stream of mis-information that is being relayed by contributors to this site, the press and other organisation is doing little if anything to maintain good working relations with the wider rural community. It seems to be a case that many are now working on the basis of mis-information = members = money.
How do you know for sure that the areas you have watched have never been surveyed by others? Unless you have a constant watch on these areas, with a large number of cameras recording 24 hours a day, you cannot possibly make such a claim. Or did you just make that bit up, just like much of the game shooting industry tosh.
The only misinformation on raptor persecution and predator-prey relationships invariably comes from those with an interest in the shooting industry. We’ve seen it from the SGA, the NGO, SL&E, GWCT, Songbird Survival, other organisations, and a number of individuals like yourself, with much of it being blatant lies.
So, on the subject of this “misinformation” would you care to tell us how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in Scotland last year? Or how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in England last year? And how do these figures compare with the carrying capacity for such areas?
The fact remains that Hen Harriers are not tolerated on managed grouse moors, with many adults and sub-adults being shot, trapped and bludgeoned at all times of the year, or nests and chicks being destroyed to prevent successful nesting, therefore limiting their recovery.
Can you now confirm that Conon Bridge is linked to grouse moor ownership?
Personally I’ve never had a problem with being accepted in the wider rural community and I have never condoned criminal behaviour but there is plenty of hyped up mis-information flying around as we all know.
I take it this is a reply to my comment. At no point did I write Conor Bridge was linked directly with Grouse Moor ownership however if your looking for a link try doing a search on banned poisons! Have a look at the list and have an educated guess at which industry has the most criminal convictions for ignoring the ban on still using and possessing these substances.
“Personally I’ve never had a problem with being accepted in the wider rural community and I have never condoned criminal behaviour but there is plenty of hyped up mis-information flying around as we all know.”
Since we started this discussion another gamekeeper has appeared in court apparently, what is this mis-information your talking about that we all know, please educate me as all the information I’ve seen and checked upon seems to stand up
Firstly, the Conon Bridge issue has nothing to do with the discussion, and secondly, I have never linked it to grouse moor management? And what is this nonsense about being accepted in the wider community? Are you mentally unhinged?
I am fully aware that no surveys have been undertaken by others as there has never been a wind farm application or suspected wildlife crime anywhere in the vicinity. And wildlife thrives as a result.
We all know that Hen Harrier chicks are predated by foxes amongst other mammals.
So you know for a fact that raptor study group workers have never surveyed these areas before? You do realise that RSG workers carry out surveys each year? You do realise that people are free to walk in most areas of the country, and therefore people are able to birdwatch in these areas if they choose? You do realise that this is all permitted by the laws of the land, and is not reliant on windfarm applications or suspected wildlife crimes?
And yes, Hen Harriers are predated by foxes, other mammals, and other birds – that’s all part of a healthy ecosystem and the majority of commentators on this site happily accept this. But again we have another imbecilic reply from the pro-shooting camp, and again we have someone from the pro-shooting camp that cannot or will not respond to the questions set to them.
Yes, I do know because I have researched what information is available and I have been told that there is very little other than the odd seasonal vantage point count by all that I approached. They also said it was highly unlikely that anyone had undertaken research given that there had been no wind farm applications or suspected wildlife crimes in the vicinity. Their words not mine.
I am fully aware of the the requirements of the Access Code but I am impressed that every recognisable agency that requires access for survey work still has the decency to call to request consent. They don’t have to but they do – its called a good working relationship which is as a result fully respected by all parties.
Since when did raptor study groups start publishing truthful surveys? How much time do you spend on the hills Marco? Not very much I bet compared to the people who spend 365 days a year, 7 days a week out there doing their jobs. So I doubt you see a fraction of what is really there. Maybe you should listen to keepers they know a lot more than you do!!
So there we have it – Rural Rascal has researched what information is available, and with the emphasis on the word “available” has defeated his/her own argument.
You have failed to take into account the necessary actions that some information on nesting raptors will be withheld from the public domain, primarily because if the information was made public, the adult birds would end up dead and the nests (and any of its contents) would be destroyed. It wasn’t that long ago that the SGA were demanding that the SRSG release information on nesting raptors. I wonder why? There are also many individual birdwatchers and naturalists with no affiliation to any organisation, and again these people may have gathered sensitive data and have kept quiet about it. There is no need for these people to inform landowners that they will be walking their land and taking notes in the process. So, you do not know for fact that no-one else has gathered data in these areas.
You also made the comment “They also said it was highly unlikely that anyone had undertaken research…”. Who are “they” and why would do you believe they possess all of the knowledge on breeding raptors and on each individual person to have walked in the area? Yes, some organisations may well inform the landowner of their intentions, but others won’t. It would be incredibly stupid and counter-productive if someone investigating wildlife crimes were to alert the landowner(s) before making a visit.
Boza, would you like to alert all of this site’s viewers to the untruthful aspects of raptor study group surveys?
And exactly what does it matter how many hours I spend on the hills? Querying the hours any given person “spends in the hills” is a most ludicrous question and argument, and in no way contributes to a persons education on the subject matter, but this strange way of thinking appears to be particularly prevalent in the shooting or gamekeeping industry. If this ideology is to be followed, then are you suggesting that a gamekeeper (or someone else) who spends so much time in the hills, “365 days a year, 7 days a week” as you put it, cannot have a grasp on lowland farmland ecology, woodland ecology, estuarine ecology, etc.? Furthermore, 7 days a week will eventually lead to a full year, so 365 days a year would have sufficed in this respect. There was no need to go overboard.
And finally, on your misinformation on keepers, I will alert you to the fact that Alex Hogg, the chairman of the SGA, recently claimed that a Goshawk took 35 pheasant poults in one strike. That’s right!!! 35 poults in just 1 strike!!! An incredible feat or a humungous lie? What do you think? Do you think a Goshawk could take 35 poults in one go? He also claimed “I strongly believe the goshawk never was indigenous to the United Kingdom and there is absolutely no hard evidence to suggest otherwise.” He is, of course entitled to a belief, but when this belief ignores the fossil evidence dating back to the Devensian period, it truly shows the knowledge that keepers possess, so I don’t think I’ll bother listening to gamekeepers, unless I want to hear deliberate lies or grossly exaggerated stories.
“The constant stream of mis-information that is being relayed by contributors to this site, the press and other organisation is doing little if anything to maintain good working relations with the wider rural community. It seems to be a case that many are now working on the basis of mis-information = members = money.”
Are you for real, what constant stream of mis-information are you on about, the gamekeepers appearing in courtrooms accused of committing crimes against wildlife?
The continuing use of banned poisons being used without any thought or consideration for health and safety of local communities or the amazing regularity in which dead Raptors turn up.
“Good working relations with the wider rural community” take a look at what the people near Leadhills are saying, take a look at what people near Canon Bridge are saying. They’re sick and tired of the negative publicity brought on them by the wildlife criminals you and your organisations harbour. The wider rural community don’t want you! To the ordinary field sportsman, the wildfowler or the pigeon shooter for example, the driven grouse shooting fraternity are an embarrassment, they are a parasite on their good name and as for money take a look were all the government grants are going, multi millionaires sponging off the tax payer to pay for their so called sport. welcome to the real world!
you are absolutely bang on the money there rural rascal!! there is an element of control over what information is made available on this site which is misleading the general public as to what happens in the countryside
I think this site gives the game shooting industry plenty of opportunity to air its views, however If you truly believe your statement, then could you direct us all to which elements this site has deliberately controlled and withheld from the public domain, and in which cases has it misled the public?
On two occasions RPS have decided to delete my comments made in respect of raptor losses on wind farm sites so I do not view this as a balanced site. It will be interesting to see whether this comment is accepted during moderation.
[Ed: if your comments have been refused, it won’t have been because they were about alleged raptor losses on wind farms, that’s for certain]
I’ve had comments edited as well, as have many others, but this is more for the protection of the site and for individual commentators against possible libel action. It has nothing to do with control.
Yes, complete control over information which is also reflected by the abuse you receive when you question their comments! Mentally unhinged and imbecilic??? How low can they go???
You did not receive any abuse. You altered the primary discussion on a Red Kite poisoning incident in Ireland, to your claim of watching Hen Harriers from the A9. The discussion then changed to the Conon Bridge massacre, then onto your statement that “I’ve never had a problem with being accepted in the wider rural community…”. As a result of your desire to completely alter the course of the topic with inane comments, I merely asked you if you were mentally unhinged. It was a question, not a statement of fact, or a suggestion in any way.
And I did state that it was an “imbecilic reply”, and that was a perfectly valid comment considering the questions and answer. Again, this was aimed at your response, as people can and will do daft things at times, but if you want to consider yourself mentally unhinged and imbecilic, then that’s entirely up to you.
But anyway, if people did not read the questions and answer, it went as follows;
Question
So, on the subject of this “misinformation” would you care to tell us how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in Scotland last year? Or how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in England last year? And how do these figures compare with the carrying capacity for such areas?
Answer
We all know that Hen Harrier chicks are predated by foxes amongst other mammals.
It wasn’t even a proper answer. It was a response, but a response completely avoiding the questions by providing an unconnected statement, so in that respect it was fair to relate to your “answer” as an imbecilic reply. If you feel hard done by, I will give you another chance to provide a sensible answer, and as Andrew Gilruth of the GWCT has also failed to answer a similar question on three occasions, I’ll give him the opportunity to redeem himself as well.
Have a look at the comment immediately above my initial one. I dont think it was my comment that altered the thread.
On the subject of mis-information, I was speaking to a visitor to the UK a month or so ago and he specifically mentioned the Red Kite affair in Conon Bridge. His comment was that when he had researched it on UK based raptor websites, it is was apparent to him that grouse shooting interests are more often than not responsible for such incidents. I pointed out to him that there is no grouse shooting in the vicinity of Conon Bridge and that the far greater threats to raptor survival were probably the encroachment of habitat by wind farms developments and the increasingly common strikes by turbines. i also made him aware that those that purport to protect birds are financially linked to the such developments and have a clear conflict of interests in the whole affair. His response was that he had not been aware of this and had assumed that what he had read was a portrayal of the facts – this is a clear example of mis-information being spread by websites such as this.
[Ed: Talking of conflicts of interests, aren’t you a ‘specialist’ involved in sporting lets and estate management??! Oh, and your employers also appear to be busy helping landowners to get wind turbines installed!!!!]
Your comment did alter the thread. Merlin’s comment centred on the general issue of raptor persecution, and of the immense value of sites such as RPS, and of a longing desire to see nesting Hen Harriers in his local area, whereas your comment was of an antagonistic nature, pathetically implicatiing that people on here would not be able to identify a Hen Harrier, and intending to “promote” gamekeeping and grouse moors as beneficial to Hen Harriers, which is of course utter nonsense.
So because a visitor to the UK provides a statement, you take it as fact? In an attempt to gather vital information to support your claim, did you question the visitor as to which UK-based raptor websites held this information that the Conon Bridge massacre was as a direct result of grouse shooting interests? If so, would be so kind as to alert us to which UK-based raptor websites have published information linking the Conon Bridge incident to grouse shooting interests? Or is this just another nonsensical story produced in a pathetic attempt to discredit those that are against driven grouse shooting and all of its associated damaging and illegal activities? And by suggesting to the visitor that the greater threat to raptor survival is from windfarm development and turbine strikes, you were clearly guilty in misinforming that particular visitor, and as you have now made that statement on a publicly available website, you are now also guilty of misinforming the wider public. Sheer hypocrisy! No, the far greater threat to raptor survival comes from widespread illegal killing and nest destruction carried out by shooting estates, and there is a wealth of evidence and scientific journals pointing to this fact.
But I note that you have yet again failed to answer my questions, so here goes again;
You have claimed that “If I can see one on 50% of my trips out I am sure others can too.”, so on the subject of “misinformation” would you care to tell us how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in Scotland last year? Or how many Hen Harriers successfully nested on managed grouse moors in England last year? And how do these figures compare with the carrying capacity for such areas?
Go on, give us a sensible reply and stop shirking.
The Conan bridge incident accounted for 22 birds of prey killed by a banned substance. The substances associated with this kind of incident are used almost exclusively by Gamekeepers, this is not a brash statement, name me any other industry whose employees have repeatedly appeared in courtrooms accused of using or possessing these “Banned chemicals”
“I pointed out to him that there is no grouse shooting in the vicinity of Conon Bridge and that the far greater threats to raptor survival were probably the encroachment of habitat by wind farms developments and the increasingly common strikes by turbines.”
Of 32 Eagles found dead in 8 years, 28 have been found dead on or near to Grouse moors, simple question, How many have been found dead on or near to wind farms, how many other kinds of Raptors have been found on or near wind farms, again who is mis-informing who? The visitor to the UK you spoke to was right, he had done his research it was you who was wrong! Shame on you for mis-informing him
I think if a lot of people took time to just sit and watch they would see that the majority of birds of prey are not rare and if people can’t see them they must be going about with there eyes shut .
Spot on Bonnie Highlands. These people don’t have a clue what’s going about in the countryside. All they do is sit on there computers and winge about nothing!!
Some are rare, some not so rare, and some quite common, but due to relentless and widespread persecution carried out by the majority of shooting estates throughout the country, the population recoveries of every single species of raptor in this country has been slowed as a result.
I live near the west pennine moors, there should be Hen Harriers nesting here but there is not. no matter how long I sit there and stare they are not going to magically appear. I and thousands of other people probably wont get to see them nest here because a few selfish individuals think that their sport of shooting and the amount of birds they kill in a day is far more important than anyone else’s enjoyment of the moors. ditto with the Magnificant Golden Eagle in the Lake District and the borders. your wrong they are actually rare
Oh and by the way your statement that you dont condone wildlife crime has been done before by the sga the ngo basc the sle etc yet the crimes continue whose mis-informing who
As I am not a member of any of these organisations I cannot speak for them. You assume too much.
I’m not assuming anything, I’m making a statement that the comment you made about not condoning wildlife crime has already been used by “ALL” the shooting organisations yet still the crimes continue which leads me to believe either all the organisations are liars, they are all led by weak committees or they just don’t have any control over non member estates, personally I think they are all liars, looking at pictures of some of these people on here I wouldn’t buy a second hand car off any of them, I digress, please educate me to the points you made about mis-information on here that “we all know” so I too can understand were I’m being misinformed!
“its called a good working relationship which is as a result fully respected by all parties”
Good working relationships can only be achieved when both parties work together, there are many examples of good working relationships nationwide between members of the shooting fraternity and conservationists, the Stone Curlew project, the work wildfowlers do, these relationships are being strained by the selfish acts of one group alone, the needy greedy driven shooting set! There is nobody on here who believes anything different, the mis-information comes from their supporters trying to muddy the water. These people are the biggest parasites in the countryside, wake up to it