Ruabon Moor, the so-called ‘grouse capital’ of North Wales, has featured on this blog a few times in recent years.
Three satellite-tagged hen harriers ‘mysteriously vanished’ there (Heulwen in 2018; Aalin in 2018; Bronwyn in 2019) and a poisoned raven was discovered there in 2018 (here).
It seems that some other odd things have been happening on the moor, including the discovery of this quad bike, covered in camouflage netting ‘strewn with dead birds’ and an armed gamekeeper crouching in the heather nearby:
This, along with a dodgy-looking trap set near to a pigeon coop on the moor, have been discovered by a team called Wildlife Guardian and they’ve blogged about it all here.
Well worth a read.
Raptor Persecution UK 
I had not heard of them but looks like they’re doing excellent work. Nefarious activities indeed
Excellent work in uncovering more nefarious activities of a highly suspicious and dubious nature against our birds and wildlife. They belong to all of us to admire and enjoy. Not an elitist bunch of entitled cronies to selectively destroy for their own sadistic ‘pleasure ‘.
Well said
Yes to all of us not just too lefty woke folk who moan and cry if you stand on a cockroache stop moaning the keepers and hunters do more for for conservation than you wokeies will ever do, walking, chanting and carrying woke banners of all descriptions on your woke demo’s get real and come into the real world 🌎
Obviously I’ve rattled you. Could it be the Truth at work? I hope you see it one day.
“Woke”. A word thrown around like confetti, by imbeciles who don’t even know its meaning.
To quote Kathy Burke…
“I love being ‘woke’. It’s much nicer than being an ignorant f**king tw*t.”
In my personal opinion, it looks very much like a peregrine operation in full flow. Tumblers and white Fantail doves were always said to be the best for attracting peregrines. Great work by the investigators. I intend to return to this comments section in a couple of days, as it is another blog post where all those deniers & water-muddiers from previous blogs that say things (on less clear-cut cases) like “I would be the first to condemn anyone persecuting raptors…BUT…”, and then go on to postulate a one in a thousand excuse, etc, now have their chance to condemn this one without qualification. Or otherwise I can chuckle at any efforts to think up a scenario in which these activities (above) are explained away as being above board.
Indeed, my guess would be that trap is decoyed with a white pigeon or a magpie to catch a P or a G.
Thanks for your knowledgable insight. If you listen carefully to the gamekeeper in the video of the pigeon coops, near the beginning he clearly says “peregrine” but the context isn’t clear.
Report obstructed footpaths to The Ramblers, who will notify the relevant Local Authority. Assuming Welsh practice is like English.
Great to see groups like this popping up. More of them over Yorkshire and Scotland is what is required … and a social media site they can use to inform others. I, for one, would help publicise the site to all and sundry.
A development like this would really put the wind up them and go a long way to fotally undermine much of their propaganda. If only I had been a wee bit younger.
At last someone who recognises and reports exactly what devastation is being inflicted on this area under the screen of reintroducing black grouse.
Why have you deleted my comment that’s very woke and discriminatory, that’s it with you woke people you only want to hear your selfish woke selves
Jonjoe, your comment hasn’t been deleted, it’s posted above. Be warned though, if you continue to be abusive you will be banned from the site.
[Ed: ‘Peter Regan’ or ‘Jonjoe’ or whoever you’re pretending to be – you’re banned]
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx. I know this area as I used to live close to this at one time. I found a post online about a poisoned raven found there. I wonder whether North Wales Police arrested, or charged, anyone over this?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/raven-found-poisoned-on-ruabon-moor/
There is a general blurb about the history and set up of this estate here:
https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/15928245.tenant-sought-for-ruabon-moor-described-as-the-grouse-capital-of-north-wales/
Pretty obvious they are doing a fare bit of research into raptor traps from the past in order to use different methods ! There should be a blanket ban on grouse shooting. And stop all this persecution of both raptors and other birds on these moors ! Somebody is behind it all who stays in the background unseen and unheard who very likely stays in the shadows when keepers are caught and prosecuted ‘ some land owners are probably. No s or judges ect and don’t want to be seen as arseholes