Month: September 2020

Another buzzard shot in Essex

Essex Police are investigating the shooting of a buzzard on 4th September 2020 at Davy Down Riverside Park, South Ockendon.

[Buzzard. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

PC Jed Raven from Essex Police’s Wildlife Crime Unit has confirmed the buzzard was shot, however its condition is unknown and the type of weapon used is yet to be reported.

[UPDATE 7 Sept 2020: Police have confirmed the buzzard died]

Anyone with information please contact PC Jed Raven on 101.

UPDATE 11 Sept 2020: Shot buzzard in Essex: an update (here)

This is the third bird of prey shooting in Essex in recent months, following a shot buzzard found near Weeley on 2nd June (here) and a shot hobby found at North Fambridge in August (here).

 

Wild Justice lodges appeal against badger cull judicial review decision

In July this year, Wild Justice lodged legal papers at the High Court seeking permission for a judicial review of Natural England’s decision to issue licences to ‘free shoot’ badgers, which Wild Justice argues is a failure to ensure the badger cull is humane (see here).

Last week, a judge refused permission to continue to judicial review (see here).

Today, Wild Justice has lodged court papers to appeal the judge’s order (see here).

Does BASC know its arse from its elbow?

Does BASC (the British Association for Shooting, and, ahem, conservation) know its arse from its elbow?

It certainly can’t tell the difference between a merlin and a lanner falcon (see here) and now it seems to be struggling to tell the difference between a buzzard and a hen harrier!

You know, if you’re going to profess to love a bird of prey, it helps your credibility if you’re first able to identify it. Otherwise it just looks like you’re pretending.

In this latest outpouring of proclaimed love from BASC for Britain’s most persecuted bird of prey, it is claimed that,

‘More grouse moors have embraced the hen harrier brood management scheme this year as confidence in the project grows‘.

Hmm. But not everything is as it seems. Standby for what we’re told is imminent breaking news that puts this alleged ’embracement’ in a totally different light…….

Proposed golden eagle reintroduction to Wales: genuine intent or just a publicity stunt?

Back in February 2019 we blogged about two different organisations who were taking two very different approaches to a possible reintroduction of the golden eagle to Wales (see here and here).

The most serious effort, in our view, to examine whether this might be feasible and appropriate was/still is being undertaken by a team of researchers at Cardiff University under the auspices of the Eagle Reintroduction Wales (ERW) Project (view their website here). The ERW’s approach has involved several years of carefully conducting a scoping exercise, to properly consider all the factors that need to be addressed before a reintroduction licence would be granted, e.g. biological and environmental considerations, social and political considerations, and comprehensive risk assessments and an exit strategy. The group has also been building partnerships with local stakeholders.

The other organisation is called Wilder Britain (website here), whose sole director is Dr Paul O’Donoghue, who according to Companies House is also a Director of six other companies, some of whom blog readers may already be familiar (Lynx UK Trust Community Interest Company (CIC), Wildcat Haven Enterprises CIC, Wildcat Haven CIC, Paul O’Donoghue Consultancy Ltd, Specialist Wildlife Services Ltd, and We Rescue Animals CIC). Some of you may know Dr O’Donoghue’s name as being behind the failed 2018 application to reintroduce Lynx to Kielder Forest (see here) and earlier this year he lost an outrageous defamation claim against Andy Wightman MSP (see here).

In a blaze of publicity and fanfare in February 2019, it was claimed that Wilder Britain’s plans to reintroduce ten golden eagles to Wales were ‘well underway’ and that a licence application would be submitted to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) by July 2019.

However, at that time there was very little detail available about any research that may or may not have been completed to support such an application. We were also interested in any modelling work that would be needed to understand how many young eagles would have to be released to establish a self-sustaining breeding population. Many previous studies on raptor reintroductions have demonstrated that long term success is largely dependent on releasing a sufficient number of birds, which is calculated by considering a wide variety of demographic factors. And that’s assuming that the habitat and prey has been deemed sufficient to support any reintroduction and that illegal persecution isn’t a threat. One thing’s for sure, any viable project is going to need to release significantly more than ten birds, which according to Dr O’Donoghue are being sourced from ‘Europe’ and will all be satellite tracked. We’re talking serious funding requirements here, that are unlikely to be met by Wilder Britain’s requests to ‘sponsor an eagle’ on its website.

Curious to find some answers, in November 2019 we asked NRW, via a freedom of information request, for copies of all correspondence it had had with Dr O’Donoghue/Wilder Britain, including any licence applications. NRW responded by stating it had received no correspondence from Dr O’Donoghue/Wilder Britain relating to a proposed golden eagle reintroduction (see here). Hmm.

Fast forward to August 2020 and amidst another blaze of publicity, which just happened to coincide with the news that a golden eagle that had been living in the wild in Wales for several years had been found dead (here), and up pops Dr O’Donoghue again, this time announcing (here) a public survey and consultation to support a proposal to ‘release five pairs of golden eagles’ in Wales in 2021.

This afternoon, Dr O’Donoghue is hosting the first of several public meetings in Wales to answer questions about the proposal. Should be interesting.

UPDATE 16.25hrs:

Here is a tweet from @WCRCUK who attended this meeting:

 

 

 

 

Four of this year’s satellite-tagged hen harriers already dead or ‘missing’

Earlier today delusional Natural England issued a press statement (along with two organisations that have zero credibility when it comes to hen harrier conservation, the Moorland Association and GWCT) proclaiming this year’s hen harrier breeding season was a ‘wonderful result’ (see here).

The RSPB published its own view, separately (here), pointing out, as if it was necessary, that illegal persecution continues to be ‘the most serious threat’ to hen harrier conservation.

Meanwhile, Natural England, having been justifiably criticised today for publishing inaccurate and ambiguous information about hen harriers (e.g. see here) has quietly updated its spreadsheet on the number of satellite-tagged hen harriers and their fates (see here).

Natural England has fitted satellite tags to 23 of this year’s cohort of 60, but according to the data, four of those 23 are already either dead or ‘missing, fate unknown’.

Here are the details of the four:

Tag #57266, female, Harriet, tagged in Yorkshire Dales on 4 June 2020. Last known fix in Cumbria (actually in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref NY770031) on 25 July 2020. Listed as ‘missing fate unknown’.

Tag #201118, female, unnamed, tagged in Northumberland (site 1) on 15 June 2020. Last known fix on 9 July 2020 in Northumberland, ‘site confidential nr goshawk nest’. Listed as ‘missing fate unknown’.

Tag #201126, male, unnamed, tagged in Northumberland (site 2) on 15 June 2020. Last known fix on 6 July 2020 in Northumberland, ‘site confidential nr goshawk and peregrine nest sites’. ‘Remains of bird and tag recovered near the nest site post-fledging – most likely avian predation’.

Tag #201119, male, Solo, tagged in Lancashire on 31 July 2020. Last known fix on 14 August 2020 in Lancashire ‘in nest area (confidential)’. Listed as ‘missing, fate unknown’.

It’s not known how many of the three ‘missing, fate unknown’ hen harriers are being investigated as suspicious incidents by the police and without knowing the details or circumstances of the disappearances, it would be unwise to speculate at the moment. We’re not aware of any appeals for information in any of these three cases. We’ll be asking the respective police forces for information on each of them so that the running total of ‘43 dead or missing hen harriers in the last two years‘ can be updated if necessary.

It’s also worth pointing out that one of the ‘missing, fate unknown’ birds was fitted with a Lotek tag rather than the usual MTI tag….we’ve blogged about the apparent unreliability of this tag type previously (see here) and another blog will be published shortly with even more damning commentary on its suitability for tracking hen harriers.

Perhaps the biggest question to ask right now is why Natural England (and its ‘partners’ in the grouse shooting industry) failed to mention in this morning’s press statement the disappearances of three of this year’s cohort?

Can we trust anything Natural England tells us about hen harriers?

Multi-award-winning author Gill Lewis has neatly summarised the view of many of us with this rather telling cartoon:

 

‘Illegal persecution remains most serious threat to hen harriers’ – RSPB statement on 2020 breeding season

Following the news earlier today that deluded Natural England thinks the 2020 hen harrier breeding season was a ‘wonderful result’ (see here), the RSPB has now issued a statement:

‘The news that 60 hen harrier chicks have fledged in England this year is encouraging, and testament to the crucial monitoring from raptor workers. However, while 24 nests monitored is an improvement on the 7 nests in 2017, there is enough habitat and prey to support more than 12 times this year’s total. The science is clear that illegal persecution remains the most serious threat to this species  –  since 2018, 43 hen harriers are known to have been killed or “gone missing”, after fledging. The sad reality for those who passionately protect these birds is that some of this years’ fledglings risk being killed. If this painfully slow recovery is to gather pace, and these beautiful and enigmatic birds are to become as common across our landscapes as they should be, the illegal persecution must stop’.

It’s now pretty clear why the RSPB didn’t sign up to the laughably optimistic joint press statement from Natural England, GWCT and the Moorland Association.

 

Deluded Natural England claims 2020 hen harrier breeding season a ‘wonderful result’

Natural England has announced that a total of 19 hen harrier nests were successful in England this year.

Strangely, Natural England didn’t mention the number of hen harriers that have disappeared in suspicious circumstances this year, or those that members of the public witnessed being shot (see here).

[A dead hen harrier that was caught in an illegally-set trap on a Scottish grouse moor – see here. Nobody was prosecuted for this barbaric crime. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

With a straight face, Natural England’s Chairman Tony Juniper has declared this year’s hen harrier breeding season a ‘wonderful result’ (since when has a 5% success rate been ‘wonderful’?) and, along with his good old pals from the grouse shooting industry (the very industry responsible for this species’ appalling conservation status), has issued a joint press release as follows:

A record-breaking year for hen harrier breeding

Natural England has recorded the best year for hen harrier breeding in England since Natural England’s Hen Harrier Recovery Project was established in 2002, with 60 chicks fledged from 19 nests across Northumberland, Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria and Lancashire in early summer 2020.

The success has been down to a number of factors including high numbers of voles which are a key food source, good weather, and strong partnership working between Natural England, RSPB, Forestry Commission, the Moorland Association, United Utilities, the National Trust, and others.

Hen harriers were once found across upland and lowland Britain including throughout many English counties, however after 1830 it became an exceptionally rare breeding bird in England due to raptor persecution, which was then made illegal in 1954. The hen harrier is now one of England’s rarest birds of prey.

Hen harriers are one of our most distinctive birds, with a characteristic owl-like face and stiff facial feathers that direct sound toward their ears to enable them to hunt more effectively.

Tony Juniper, Chairman of Natural England, said:

“2020 has seen the best breeding season for England’s hen harriers in years and I thank all those who’ve helped achieve this wonderful result, including landowners and managers, campaigners, conservation groups, police officers and our own Natural England staff and volunteers.

“Despite the great progress there is though no cause for complacency. Too many birds still go missing in unexplained circumstances and I urge anyone who is still engaged in the persecution of these magnificent creatures to cease at once.

“Hen harriers remain critically endangered in England and there is a long way to go before the population returns to what it should be.”

This year’s success means that 141 hen harrier chicks have fledged over the past three years alone. Natural England’s Hen Harrier Recovery Project was established in 2002 to monitor hen harriers and work towards improving their numbers in England.

Although persecution is thought to be the main factor limiting hen harrier numbers in England, other factors including the suitability of local habitats and food availability are also significant in some areas.

Natural England is involved in a number of initiatives to help ensure hen harriers recover including through Defra’s hen harrier joint action plan.

These include:

  • satellite tracking to improve understanding of the bird’s movements and behaviour;
  • supporting wildlife friendly habitat management in the uplands; and,
  • working with a range of partners to protect the current population and extend its range across England.

Dr Adam Smith of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), said:

“This is a very promising result for a pragmatic conservation project. Management options for bird of prey conservation rather than just legal enforcement is very forward thinking approach. The GWCT has studied the very real tension between harrier conservation and grouse shooting for over 30 years. Until this managed approach was adopted – at no small risk to the reputations of all involved – there was a damaging deadlock.

“If this trend can be maintained and hen harrier conservation status further improved, whilst supporting the red grouse management that best delivers our unique heather uplands, it will be a real breakthrough for practical, working conservation.”

Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, added:

“Yet again, it has been a fantastic year for hen harriers and we have now seen significant increases in successful nests and chick numbers for three years running as part of the hen harrier Recovery Plan which includes the innovative Brood Management Scheme trial.

“Twelve of the nests reported today are on land managed for grouse shooting and this reflects a genuine commitment from moor owners and managers to work with others and help rebuild the harrier population.”

Hen harriers lay 4-6 eggs during late April–May, with incubation lasting 30 days. Hen harrier chicks then fledge in 28-32 days. Both females and males attend the young, with the males providing food which is often passed mid-air to the female in a distinctive display of ‘throw and catch’.

A high proportion of this year’s chicks have been fitted with satellite tags, which will allow Natural England to monitor the progress of the birds as they move away from their nest areas.

ENDS

What this press statement amounts to is nothing more than a cynical ploy to disguise the tragic reality of this species’ downfall at the hands of the driven grouse shooting industry.

It’s hard to know where to start with this latest piece of deliberately crafted propaganda. Isn’t it interesting though, that the only other organisations quoted are the GWCT and the Moorland Association? Where’s the RSPB quote? The Police? Forestry Commission, United Utilities, National Trust, and the ‘others’ that were mentioned as ‘partners’ by Tony Juniper (presumably he means the Northern England Raptor Forum)? Weren’t they asked? Or were they invited to comment but refused to have any part in this conservation sham?

And then there’s the actual results – 19 successful nests in the whole of England is nothing like a ‘wonderful result’. It’s bloody pitiful – just 5% of the potential English breeding population estimate of 330 pairs. The fact it’s been the ‘best breeding season since 2002’ says an awful lot about how long and how severely this species has been a victim of illegal persecution, doesn’t it?

And then there’s Tony Juniper telling us, ‘Persecution is thought to be the main factor limiting hen harrier numbers in England…’ No, Tony, it’s not thought to be the main factor, it’s known to be the main factor and has been known for many, many years. Natural England’s own data have been used to evidence this time and time and time again! [see update 14 Sept below]

It’s hardly worth dissecting the quotes from GWCT and the Moorland Association. It could be argued that these organisations have about as much credibility on hen harrier conservation as the Kremlin has on the destruction of its stockpiles of Novichok.

It is worth noting though that back in 2002, the very same year that Natural England first implemented its so-called ‘Hen Harrier Recovery Project’, that the then Chairman of the GWCT’s Scottish Committee and later Vice Chair of the national GWCT was proposing an opt-out from the European Birds Directive to enable grouse moor owners to cull hen harriers that threatened red grouse stocks for shooting (see here). Perhaps today’s quote from the GWCT, talking about ‘management options’ for birds of prey, is a more carefully-worded version of the same principle?

It’s also worth noting that in this latest press statement, both the Moorland Association and GWCT appear to be keen that the grouse shooting industry deserves recognition for this ‘record-breaking season’. Yes, the industry does deserve recognition, but only for keeping the English hen harrier population at such a critically low level for so many years.

It’s funny, isn’t it, that the industry wants credit when hen harriers are allowed to breed on a grouse moor but it refuses to accept any responsibility for the hundreds of vacant breeding territories right across the English (and Scottish) uplands, nor responsibility for the suspicious disappearance of at least 72% of satellite-tagged hen harriers that are, according to Natural England’s own data, presumed to have been illegally killed on grouse moors.

Talking about disappearing and illegally killed hen harriers is something the Natural England press statement doesn’t do. Why not? Well, because if it admitted that at least 43 hen harriers have disappeared in suspicious circumstances (or been found illegally killed) on or close to driven grouse moors in the last two years alone (see here), then it would be blindingly obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense that the 19 successful hen harrier nests recorded in 2020 are totally irrelevant to the conservation recovery of this species if those recently-fledged young birds are subsequently shot, poisoned or trapped on grouse moors. Which, long experience has shown, is what will happen to many of them, probably before Xmas.

UPDATE 10.30hrs: ‘Illegal persecution remains most serious threat to hen harriers’ – RSPB statement on 2020 breeding season (here)

UPDATE 19.00hrs: Four of this year’s satellite-tagged hen harriers already dead or ‘missing’ (here)

UPDATE 12 September 2020: Northern England Raptor Forum statement on 2020 hen harrier breeding season (here)

UPDATE 14 September 2020: It’s been pointed out to us that we’ve wrongly attributed the quote, “Persecution is thought to be the main factor limiting hen harrier numbers in England…” to Tony Juniper. Our mistake. It is, though, still a quote attributable to Natural England, of which Tony Juniper is Chair.

Update on parliamentary motion on ‘disappearances of birds of prey over driven grouse moors’

Three weeks ago we reported that Alex Rowley MSP (Scottish Labour) had lodged a parliamentary motion relating to the ‘disappearances of birds of prey over driven grouse moors’ (see here).

This motion was triggered not only by the suspicious disappearance of satellite-tagged golden eagle Tom, who vanished in to thin air during lockdown in May this year, along with his fully-functioning satellite tag, with his last known location being on a driven grouse moor in Strathbraan, a well-known raptor persecution hotspot (see here), but also the suspicious disappearance of seven other satellite-tagged golden eagles in the same area, the disappearance of another satellite-tagged hen harrier on another Scottish driven grouse moor (here), the illegal poisoning of a satellite-tagged white-tailed eagle found dead on another Scottish grouse moor (here), and the 43 hen harriers that have either gone missing or have been killed in the UK in the last two years, mostly on or close to driven grouse moors (here).

A quick check today on the progress of this parliamentary motion has revealed it has full cross-party support, with MSPs from all parties signing up:

There are 26 supporters to date, from Scottish Labour, SNP, the Greens, the Lib Dems, an independent, and, surprisingly, the Conservatives. Well done Peter Chapman MSP (Scottish Conservatives, NE Scotland) for being the sole supporter (so far) from this party.

The motion needs four more supporters before it reaches the threshold of 30 MSPs from at least two different political parties to qualify for a Parliamentary debate.

Parliamentary motions are ‘live’ for six weeks before they’re culled (if they haven’t attracted sufficient support) so this one still has about three weeks to run.

If your MSP is not listed, please consider dropping them an email and encourage them to support this motion. If they refuse, it’d be interesting to hear their explanations. NB: Ministers and Cabinet Secretaries are not eligible to support these motions.

If you’re unsure about who your elected representatives are, you can find them here.

Thank you

British Mountaineering Council publishes position statement on driven grouse shooting

Well, this is interesting.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has written a blog (here) and published a position statement on the management of driven grouse moors.

This is really encouraging. Even though the BMC is advocating the ‘regulation’ of driven grouse shooting, which presumably means licensing rather than a ban, and there are well rehearsed arguments for and against this approach, that’s not the point here.

The point is, the BMC has felt the need to first consider and then publish a position statement and its position is very clearly against the status quo. That’s brilliant.

The BMC is the national representative body that champions the interests of climbers, hill walkers, mountaineers and ski mountaineers in England and Wales. It’s an organisation with over 85,000 members including individuals and more than 250 BMC-affiliated clubs. That’s quite a substantial reach.

Which organisation, beyond the usual conservation bodies, will be the next to make a stand?

‘Scotland’s grouse shooting estates waging a war on wildlife’ – opinion piece in Scotsman

Following the recent publication of a new report from the Revive coalition documenting the extent of wildlife-killing on Scottish grouse moors (up to a quarter of a million animals killed in traps and snares each year – see here), there’s an opinion piece in today’s Scotsman from Robbie Marsland, Director of the League Against Cruel Sports (Scotland) and a member of the Revive coalition.

Over 15 months, a professional surveyor spent 128 days walking 404 square kilometres of land on seven Scottish shooting estates. As he walked, he counted, photographed and recorded the GPS position of traps and snares that were deployed to kill foxes, stoats and weasels. The data from the survey was [sic] sent to a recently retired professor of environmental science at Bristol University for analysis.

The analysis revealed that between 120,000 and 260,000 animals are killed each year by these devices in Scotland alone. The analysis also revealed that the more an estate was intensively managed for the shooting of grouse, the more intensive was the killing.

The Scottish Government has a chance to show that they want to end this killing when they respond to a report from the Grouse Moor Management Review Group. Due in the autumn, this response will be able to reference the results of our survey and announce what steps it plans to make to end the circle of destruction that surrounds grouse moors, including the killing of hundreds of thousands of animals so that more grouse can be shot for “sport”.

The League Against Cruel Sports Scotland commissioned the survey and published the analysis of the data and a summary report, ‘Calculating Cruelty’. The Scottish Gamekeepers Association reacted to the report with scurrilous attacks on the professor who did the analysis, describing, without any explanation, his work as “back of fag-packet calculations and wild extrapolations”.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), advisers to the shooting industry, had a more measured response. They pointed out that a new type of trap had recently been introduced that made our report “out of date”. They also said that the wide range of management practises on shooting estates made extrapolations “questionable”. Finally, they denied that the purpose of all the killing was for the benefit of increasing numbers of grouse to be shot.

There is a circle of environmental, social and wildlife destruction that surrounds Scottish grouse moors. For an extremely modest return of around £23 million a year, vast swathes of Scotland are managed to produce a surplus of grouse to be shot for sport in the four months after 12 August.

“Managed” in this context mainly involves destruction. The heather is burned, often on deep peat, to provide better habitat for the grouse. Medicated grit is left out in the open in the hope that it will protect the grouse from worms. No one knows what impact the medication has on other flora or fauna. Unplanned tracks and roads scar the landscape and make it easier for the shooters to get about. An average of 26,000 mountain hares are shot each year because it is thought that this protects the grouse from ticks (although there is no science to back this up). Anything that threatens the grouse is described as a pest and destroyed. Hence the huge deployment of effort against foxes, stoats and weasels.

So, what of those comments by the GWCT? Firstly, the introduction of a new type of trap is immaterial. A better way of killing hundreds of thousands of animals so there can be more grouse to shoot is not a solution. It is a distraction from the main event. So too is the suggestion that the variety of levels of management intensity make extrapolation “questionable”.

Of the seven estates surveyed, they ranged from one highly intensively managed estate all the way down to two that were practically unmanaged for grouse. And finally, the suggestion that the circle of destruction surrounding grouse moors is done for the benefit of all ground-nesting birds, and not just to increase grouse numbers, tests credulity.

The survey reveals that around 40 per cent of the animals found in traps and snares were “non target”, such as hedgehogs, thrushes and dippers. This could be described as “collateral damage”. If so, the impact on other ground-nesting birds could be described as a “collateral benefit”. It is no surprise that when you manage land to increase the number of grouse, a ground-nesting bird, other ground-nesting birds also do well.

But do they? It looks like we are heading into the third “poor year for grouse shooting” in a row. Weather conditions are said to have been bad for the grouse and “sporting bag numbers” (the numbers of grouse shot) are feared to be very low this season. Before this survey was done, no one knew the extent of predator control on Scottish shooting estates. But we did know that it had all the chances of being a “free for all” because there is no duty on anyone to report to anybody on the number of animals being killed. Our 15-month survey was the first quantitative study of a very sizable proportion and range of shooting estates. We may not have the resources of the shooting industry but we have this [sic] data. It seems strange that they try to cast doubt on our survey but they cannot come up with their own number of animals being killed each year.

At the end of the day, I think it is unconscionable to kill just one animal to make sure that there are more other animals to kill for “sport”. It’s important to remember that our reports only looked at traps and snares. We still don’t know how many other foxes and crows are shot each year. I was on a grouse moor the week before the start of the season and the ground was routinely littered with spent shotgun cartridges – each representing a dead animal.

Fag packets and wild extrapolations aside, it seems clear to me that there is a war against wildlife going on in our highlands and the Scottish Government now has the chance to stop it.

ENDS

Robbie was recently in conversation with Chris Packham about the future of Scotland’s grouse moors. If you missed it, you can watch it here: