In July 2024 Joe Morris, 28, of White Grove, Colne, Lancashire was charged with killing two wild birds with an air rifle after police received reports of someone seen dumping a Tawny Owl and a Woodpigeon in a wheelie bin in Colne in March 2024 (see here).
This case was heard in November 2024 but it missed my radar so here, for completeness, is a belated report, thanks to the court reporter Andrew Bellard at the Lancashire Telegraph who wrote the following article, published 18 November 2024:
DRUNK MAN SHOT TAWNY OWL AND WOOD PIGEON AT ALKINCOATS PARK
A drunk man shot two “beautiful” birds with an air rifle when he went shooting in a public park.
Blackburn magistrates heard Joe Morris was drunk when he went to the park and shot a tawny owl and a wood pigeon.
Morris, 28, of White Grove, Colne, pleaded guilty to possessing an air weapon in Alkincoats Park, Colne, and killing a tawny owl and a wood pigeon.
He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.
He was fined £40 with £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
District Judge Alexandra Preston said wildlife was priceless and Morris had killed two beautiful birds.
“It is alarming to think you were out with an air rifle and, by your own admission, you were drunk when you did this,” she said.
Henry Prescott, prosecuting, said police received an anonymous tip-off about a man returning to his home address and putting a tawny owl and a wood pigeon in his wheelie bin.
The caller said Morris regularly went to Alkincoats Park shooting wild birds.
When officers spoke to Morris at his home he admitted what he had done and recovered the birds from the bin.
Mr Prescott said the air rifle was not an illegal weapon and had not been seized by the police.
Mark Williams, defending, said his client had disposed of the air rifle and had no intention of replacing it.
“He is very embarrassed and ashamed of what he did,” said Mr Williams.
“He can’t and doesn’t wish to put forward any excuses. He accepts what he did was very inappropriate.”
Mr Williams said his client had problems with alcohol and had self-referred to Inspire.
For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of hen harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
This is the blog I now publish after every reported killing or suspicious disappearance.
“They disappear in the same way political dissidents in authoritarian dictatorships have disappeared” (Stephen Barlow, 22 January 2021).
Today the list has been updated to include the most recently reported victims, four female hen harriers (Dina, R3-F2-22, Bonnie, and Gill) who vanished at various locations between January and April 2025 (here).
I’ve been compiling this list only since 2018 because that is the year that the grouse shooting industry ‘leaders’ would have us believe that the criminal persecution of hen harriers had stopped and that these birds were being welcomed back on to the UK’s grouse moors (see here).
This assertion was made shortly before the publication of a devastating new scientific paper that demonstrated that 72% of satellite-tagged hen harriers were confirmed or considered likely to have been illegally killed, and this was ten times more likely to occur over areas of land managed for grouse shooting relative to other land uses (see here). A further scientific paper published in 2023 by scientists at the RSPB, utilising even more recent data, echoed these results – see here.
2018 was also the year that Natural England issued a licence to begin a hen harrier brood meddling trial on grouse moors in northern England. For new blog readers, hen harrier brood meddling was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England (NE), in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England.
For more background see here and for a critical evaluation of the trial after 5 years see this report by Wild Justice. In 2024 the brood meddling trial appeared to collapse for reasons which are not yet clear (see here) and the licence for the so-called ‘scientific trial’ expired. In March 2025 Natural England announced the end of the brood meddling trial (here) and in April 2025 announced that a licence application to continue brood meddling, submitted by the Moorland Association, had been refused (here).
Brood meddling was earlier described as a sort of ‘gentleman’s agreement’ by commentator Stephen Welch:
“I don’t get it, I thought the idea of that scheme was some kind of trade off – a gentleman’s agreement that the birds would be left in peace if they were moved from grouse moors at a certain density. It seems that one party is not keeping their side of the bargain“.
With at least 138 hen harriers gone since 2018, and 31 of those being brood meddled birds, there is no question that the grouse shooting industry was simply taking the piss. Meanwhile, Natural England pretended that ‘partnership working’ was the way to go and consecutive Tory DEFRA Ministers remained silent for all those years.
*n/a – no hen harriers were brood meddled in 2018. **Post mortem reports on a further seven hen harriers found dead in 2024/2025 are awaited. Those seven individuals are not included in this table.
‘Partnership working’ according to Natural England appeared to include authorising the removal of hen harrier chicks from a grouse moor already under investigation by the police for suspected raptor persecution (here) and accepting a £75k ‘donation’ from representatives of the grouse shooting industry with a contract clause that prevented Natural England from criticising them or the sham brood meddling trial (see here). This was in addition to a further £10k ‘donation’ that Natural England accepted, under the same terms, in 2021 (here).
Thankfully, the Scottish Government finally decided to act by introducing a grouse moor licensing scheme under the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. The intention behind this new legislation is that grouse shooting estates could have their licences suspended/revoked if, on the balance of probability, it is shown that any raptor persecution crimes (& some other associated offences) are linked with grouse moor management on that estate. There, are, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it’s been significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). Work is underway to address this.
In England a new Hen Harrier Taskforce was established in 2024, led by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, to use innovative techniques to target hen harrier persecution hotspots (locations where hen harriers repeatedly ‘disappear’ or are found illegally killed). It’s too early to judge the Taskforce’s success/failure and it’s been met with considerable resistance from the Moorland Association, the grouse moor owners’ lobby group (e.g. see here). So far though, it’s quite clear that the the illegal killing continues.
So here’s the latest gruesome list of ‘missing’/illegally killed hen harriers since 2018. Note that the majority of these birds (but not all) were fitted with satellite tags. How many more [untagged] harriers have been killed? We now have evidence that gamekeepers are specifically targeting untagged hen harriers, precisely to avoid detection (see here for extraordinary footage/audio by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
February 2018: Hen harrier Saorsa ‘disappeared’ in the Angus Glens in Scotland (here). The Scottish Gamekeepers Association later published wholly inaccurate information claiming the bird had been re-sighted. The RSPB dismissed this as “completely false” (here).
5 February 2018: Hen harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here).
9 February 2018: Hen harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here).
18 April 2018: Hen harrier Lia ‘disappeared’ in Wales and her corpse was retrieved in a field in May 2018. Cause of death was unconfirmed but police treating death as suspicious (here).
8 August 2018: Hen harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here).
16 August 2018: Hen harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
29 August 2018: Hen harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
3 September 2018: Hen harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
24 September 2018: Hen harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
2 October 2018: Hen harrier Mabel ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here).
23 October 2018: Hen harrier Tom ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here).
26 October 2018: Hen harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 November 2018: Hen harrier Barney ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor (here).
10 November 2018: Hen harrier Rannoch ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Her corpse was found nearby in May 2019 – she’d been killed in an illegally-set spring trap (here).
14 November 2018: Hen harrier River ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (here). Her corpse was found nearby in April 2019 – she’d been illegally shot (here).
16 January 2019: Hen harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here).
28 January 2019: Hen harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here).
7 February 2019: Hen harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here).
22 April 2019: Hen harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
26 April 2019: Hen harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here).
11 May 2019: An untagged male hen harrier was caught in an illegally-set trap next to his nest on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire. He didn’t survive (here).
7 June 2019: An untagged hen harrier was found dead on a grouse moor in Scotland. A post mortem stated the bird had died as a result of ‘penetrating trauma’ injuries and that this bird had previously been shot (here).
5 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 1 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor nr Dalnaspidal on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park (here).
11 September 2019: Hen harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
14 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here).
23 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here).
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
24 September 2019: Hen harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here).
10 October 2019: Hen harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here).
12 October 2019: Hen harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here).
18 October 2019: Member of the public reports the witnessed shooting of an untagged male hen harrier on White Syke Hill in North Yorkshire (here).
November 2019: Hen harrier Mary found illegally poisoned on a pheasant shoot in Ireland (here).
November 2019: Hen harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (RSPB pers comm).
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here).
December 2019: Hen harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (RSPB pers comm).
27 January 2020: Members of the public report the witnessed shooting of a male hen harrier on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
23 March 2020: Hen harrier Rosie ‘disappeared’ at an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
1 April 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183703) ‘disappeared’ in unnamed location, tag intermittent (here).
5 April 2020: Hen harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
8 April 2020: Hen harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
19 May 2020: Hen harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here).
21 May 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here).
27 May 2020: Hen harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here).
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male hen harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
9 July 2020: Unnamed female hen harrier (#201118) ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed site in Northumberland (here).
25 July 2020: Hen harrier Harriet ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
14 August 2020: Hen harrier Solo ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here).
7 September 2020: Hen harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
16 September 2020: Hen harrier Fortune ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
19 September 2020: Hen harrier Harold ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 September 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2020, #55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here).
24 February 2021: Hen harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here)
12th April 2021: Hen harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here).
18 May 2021: Adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen harrier Asta ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here). We learned 18 months later that her wings had been ripped off so her tag could be fitted to a crow in an attempt to cover up her death (here).
14th August 2021: Hen harrier Josephine ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here).
17 September 2021: Hen harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here)
24 September 2021: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2021, R2-F-1-21) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
15 November 2021: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F1-20) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Val ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Percy ‘disappeared’ in Lothian, Scotland (here).
12 December 2021: Hen harrier Jasmine ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here).
9 January 2022: Hen harrier Ethel ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
26 January 2022: Hen harrier Amelia ‘disappeared’ in Bowland (here).
10 February 2022: An unnamed satellite-tagged hen harrier ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated area of the Peak District National Park (here). One year later it was revealed that the satellite tag/harness of this young male called ‘Anu’ had been deliberately cut off (see here).
12 April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Free’ (Tag ID 201121) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Cumbria (here). It later emerged he hadn’t disappeared, but his mutilated corpse was found on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here).
April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Pegasus’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
May 2022: A male breeding hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another breeding male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
14 May 2022: Hen harrier ‘Harvey’ (Tag ID 213844) ‘disappeared’ from a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #1 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #2 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #3 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #4 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
17 August 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sullis’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here).
5 October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-M2-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
10 October 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sia’ ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here).
October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-F1-21) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 December 2022: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
7 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse.
14 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with two shotgun pellets in corpse.
15 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
30 March 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-F3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
1 April 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Lagertha’ (tagged by RSPB) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Nicola’ (Tag ID 234078) ”disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Satellite-tagged male hen harrier called ‘Rush’ ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here).
9/10 May 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Dagda’, tagged by the RSPB in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘vanished’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here).
17 May 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Wayland’ ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here).
31 May 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, tag #213932, name: R2-M3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (grid ref: NY765687) (here).
11 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, tag #213922, name: R2-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
12 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, tag #203004, name: R1-M2-20) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY976322) (here).
6 July 2023: Satellite-tagged female hen harrier named ‘Rubi’ (tag #201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY911151) (here).
23 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55154a, name: R1-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where ‘Rubi’ vanished), grid ref: NY910126 (here).
29 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, tag #55144, name: R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the North Pennines. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Dead. Recovered – awaiting PM results. Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
9 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Martha’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here).
11 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Selena’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
11 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #201118a, name: R3-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (grid ref: NZ072136) (here).
15 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Hepit’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
24 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55155a, name: R1-F2-23) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in Northumberland. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
August-Sept 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Harmonia’ ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Saranyu’, tagged by the RSPB in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (no further details available yet – just outline info provided in 2022 Birdcrime report) (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Inger’, a female tagged by the RSPB in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here).
15 September 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Rhys’, tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Grid ref: SD798896 (here).
24 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R2-F2-23’) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines, grid ref: NY888062 (here).
25 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name: ‘R1-F4-22’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE077699 (here).
26 September 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hope’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SD801926 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, name: ‘R1-M3-20’) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham, grid ref: NY935192 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R4-F1-23’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE003981 (here).
14 October 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Cillian’, tagged in Cumbria on 1 August 2023, ‘disappeared’ in south west Scotland, grid ref: NY051946 (here).
15 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hazel’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man, grid ref: SC251803 (here).
27 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Gill’, tagged in Northumberland on 10 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ at a confidential location in Teeside (here).
12 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Susie’, Tag ID 201122, found dead at a confidential location in Northumberland and the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
15 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Shalimar’, tagged on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge estate in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens (here).
7 March 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M1-23) found dead in Devon. According to an FoI response from Natural England in June 2024 this death is the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
24 April 2024: Hen harrier male called ‘Ken’, Tag ID 213849a, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland, grid ref SD 684601 (here).
17 May 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M2-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale, grid ref SE043754 (here).
25 June 2024: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref NY985082 (here).
July 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Helius’ satellite tagged by the RSPB ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here).
October 2024: An un-tagged hen harrier was seemingly shot on a grouse moor by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Dreich’, Tag ID: 254842, ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
15 October 2024: Hen harrier male named ‘Baldur’, Tag ID: 240291, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
19 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Margaret’, Tag ID: 254844, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
12 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Dina’, Tag ID: 254837, ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in the Lammermuirs, south Scotland (grid ref: NT 681512). Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
15 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Red’, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2024, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in County Durham in the North Pennines, in the same area another tagged hen harrier (Sia) vanished in 2022 (here).
3 February 2025: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name R3-F2-22) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
4 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Bonnie’, Tag ID: 254841, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
10 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Gill’, Tag ID: 240294, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
To be continued…….
Of these 138 incidents, only one has resulted in an arrest and a subsequent prosecution (ongoing – gamekeeper due in court in May 2025, see here). I had thought that when we reached 30 dead/missing hen harriers then the authorities might pretend to be interested and at least say a few words about this national scandal. We’ve now reached at least ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT hen harriers, and still Govt ministers remain silent on the illegal persecution issue. They appear not to give a monkey’s. And yes, there are other things going on in the world, as always. That is not reason enough to ignore this blatant, brazen and systematic destruction of a supposedly protected species, being undertaken to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of a minority of society.
And let’s not forget the response from the (now former) Moorland Association Chair (and owner of Swinton Estate) Mark Cunliffe-Lister, who told BBC Radio 4 in August 2023 that, “Clearly any illegal [hen harrier] persecution is nothappening” (here), in the year when a record 33 hen harriers had been confirmed ‘missing’ and/or illegally killed.
Nor should we forget the response from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Director of Policy Dr Alistair Leake who wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper in November 2023 stating that the hen harrier brood management [meddling] scheme “is surely a shining example of human / wildlife conflict resolution that would be the envy of other countries trying to find similar solutions“ (I kid you not – here).
Wild Justice has launched another petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting. This latest petition is intended to gauge the view of the new Labour Government, as previous petitions were all lodged under the Conservative Government with its well-documented vested interests. Labour issued an appallingly pathetic interim response to the petition, via DEFRA, in January 2025 after the petition had reached 10,000 signatures, and indicated it had no intention of banning driven grouse shooting (see here).
The petition is live until 22 May 2025. It has already passed the 100,000 signature threshold required to qualify for a debate in Westminster Hall so now we wait to find out if the Government will call it and if/when it does, how on earth it’s going to defend the status quo.
Last Friday afternoon, Natural England quietly published its latest sporadic update on the status of its satellite-tagged hen harriers. This is essentially an excel spreadsheet that provides the public with little more than the bare minimum of data about tagged individuals.
The latest update was done without fanfare; indeed NE appears to have said absolutely nothing at all about it. I’m not surprised, given what the data show. NE was probably hoping that nobody would notice but that’s a gross underestimation of the level of public interest in this species, and the illegal persecution of it, on many driven grouse moors across the UK.
It won’t come as a surprise to any regular reader of this blog that Natural England’s April 2025 update reveals that four more satellite-tagged hen harriers have ‘vanished’ since the start of this year.
That’s four more in addition to the one we already knew about this year – a young female hen harrier called ‘Red’, named by local schoolchildren. Red had hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve at Langholm in 2024 and was being tracked by the RSPB until she ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Janaury 2025, on a grouse moor in Co Durham, from where another tagged hen harrier had also previously vanished a few years earlier in 2022 (see here).
Here are the details of the latest four to ‘disappear this year’:
Female hen harrier named ‘Dina’, Tag ID 254837. Date of last contact: 12 January 2025 at grid reference NT 681512, near a grouse moor in the Lammemuirs, south Scotland.
Female hen harrier, brood meddled in 2022 (R3-F2-22), Tag ID 213924. Date of last contact: 3 February 2025 at grid reference SE 759996, a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park.
Female hen harrier named ‘Bonnie’, Tag ID 254841. Date of last contact: 4 April 2025 in Scotland. ‘Site confidential – ongoing investigation’.
Female hen harrier named ‘Gill’, Tag ID 240294. Date of last contact: 10 April 2025 in Scotland. ‘Site confidential – ongoing investigation’.
I haven’t seen any publicity about these four disappearances – no press releases, no appeals for information, just silence.
I’ll shortly be adding these four to my rolling list of dead/missing hen harriers.
In addition to these four ‘missing’ birds, a hen harrier has been found dead in the Yorkshire Dales National Park this spring and is listed as ‘awaiting post mortem’. This is another female, brood meddled in 2022 (R1-F4-22), Tag ID 232636. The date of last contact was 2 April 2025.
This death may or may not be suspicious/confirmed persecution – we’ll have to wait for the results of the post mortem. But don’t anyone hold your breath – there are six other hen harriers, found dead in 2024, and yet are still listed on Natural England’s spreadsheet as ‘awaiting post mortem’. One of them, ‘Susie’, was found over a year ago. Those six are:
Female hen harrier named ‘Susie’, Tag ID: 201122. Last known transmission 12 February 2024, Northumberland. Found dead. Site confidential. In NE’s April 2024 update, Susie was listed as, ‘recovered, awaiting post mortem‘. Now her listing says, ‘Ongoing police investigation, final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request‘. You might remember ‘Susie’ – she’s the hen harrier whose chicks were brutally stamped on and crushed to death in their nest on a grouse moor in Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in June 2022 (here).
Female hen harrier named ‘Edna’, Tag ID: 161143a. Last known transmission 7 June 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
Female hen harrier, Tag ID: 254843. Last known transmission 29 July 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
Male hen harrier, Tag ID: 254839. Last known transmission 5 August 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
Male hen harrier named ‘Chance’, Tag ID: 254840, last known transmission date 8 August 2024 in Cumbria. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered awaiting PM‘.
Female hen harrier named ‘Sofia’, Tag ID: 34346, last known transmission date 3 October 2024 in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered awaiting PM‘.
Again, I haven’t seen any publicity about any of these deaths – no press releases, no appeals for information. Why is that? How come the RSPB can put out timely press releases/appeals for information about the hen harriers they’re tracking but Natural England can’t/won’t?
Surely the post mortems on these birds would have been completed months ago? And if they showed the birds had died of natural causes then surely the NE spreadsheet would have been updated to indicate this by now? The fact they are all still showing as ‘recovered awaiting PM’, months and in once case, over a year later, suggests to me that either NE needs new admin staff or that those hen harriers were illegally killed and NE and/or the police are withholding this information. It would be understandable if this was for operational purposes and in the case of the dead hen harrier found earlier this month, then ‘awaiting post mortem’ is obviously reasonable. But I find it very hard to believe that investigations into wildlife crimes that happened between six and 14 months ago are going to be jeopardised by telling the public that an offence was committed and an investigation is underway.
There’ll (hopefully) be a debate in Westminster Hall later this year following Wild Justice’s petition passing the 100,000 signature threshold. It would be helpful if up to date persecution figures were available to inform that debate.
Last month satirical magazine Private Eye published a full-page advert post by Wild Justice which highlighted the absurd release of 50 million non-native pheasants into the UK countryside every year (see here).
It was one of three adverts that Wild Justice had placed (and paid for) in Private Eye, with the second one due for publication in the following edition.
However, at short notice and without explanation, Private Eye decided to pull the remaining two adverts and repaid the publication fees to Wild Justice. That decision sparked a lot of online commentary and caused something of a Streisand Effect (here).
The following edition of Private Eye in early April contained three letters from readers, including one from BASC’s deputy director of communications and public affairs, that focused on slagging off Wild Justice and/or its Directors but, tellingly, didn’t/couldn’t address the absurd reality of releasing 50 million non-native pheasants into the countryside. It’s almost as though their letters were knee-jerk responses to the acute embarrassment of having this truth told (see here). It was disappointing that Private Eye chose to publish them without providing any alternate views.
However, this week, the current edition of Private Eye features more letters about Wild Justice’s advert, this time from WJ supporters:
There’s also an explanation, of sorts, from the Private Eye editor, about why the other two Wild Justice adverts had been pulled.
He claims, “…The decision was taken purely because we felt the advertisement blurred the line between advertising and editorial. And we did not want to continue with this…“.
Hmm. This might be more believable if Private Eye had made this decision prior to accepting the first advert for publication, rather than in the days following publication when some of the pro-gamebird shooting organisations were getting themselves all hot, bothered and indignant.
Ah well, at least the subject of mass pheasant releases was prominent in three editions of Private Eye, all for the price of one!
Press release from Exeter University (21 April 2025)
MORE TICKS CARRY LYME DISEASE BACTERIA IN PHEASANT-RELEASE AREAS
Ticks are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in areas where pheasants are released, new research shows.
Pheasants are not native to the UK, but about 47 million are released here each year for recreational shooting.
Released pheasants on an English game shoot. Photo by Ruth Tingay
Researchers studied ticks in 25 woodland areas in South West England where pheasants are released – and 25 nearby control sites where no pheasants are released.
They found that Borrelia spp. – the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease – was almost 2.5 times more common in ticks in the pheasant-release areas.
The research was carried out by the University of Exeter and the UK Health Security Agency.
“Borrelia bacteria can live in a wide range of hosts, including pheasants, wild birds and mammals – and humans,” said Emile Michels, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
“Pheasants are known to be ‘competent’ hosts of Borrelia – meaning they have a relatively high likelihood of contracting and retransmitting the bacteria.
“More research is needed, but our findings suggest there may be an increased risk of potential exposure to Borrelia-infected ticks for people – such as gamekeepers – who work in woodlands where pheasants are released in numbers.”
Researchers tested ticks at different life stages (nymphs and adults) and found that, overall, the proportion containing Borrelia was 7.8% in pheasant-release woodlands, and 3.2% where pheasants were not released.
Dr Barbara Tschirren, also from the University of Exeter, said: “Our findings are evidence of ‘spillback’ – where non-native species increase the prevalence of native pathogens.
“This can be an important route for the emergence of zoonoses (diseases that animals can give to humans).”
Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of the Medical Entomology and Zoonoses Ecology team at UKHSA, said:“While we have observed an increase in the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in ticks, we do not have data on the resulting impact on human health, including evidence of Lyme infection.
“Following these findings, we continue to work with academic partners to better understand what drives Borrelia transmission, including the roles of climate and environmental change.”
The control sites in the study were one to two kilometres from the pheasant-release sites, so more research would be required to see if Borrelia in ticks declines further at greater distances.
Emile Michels’ PhD is funded by the NERC GW4+ DTP scheme.
The following article written by Tim Smedley was published in Prospect magazine yesterday, which is available to read free online (here) and has been reproduced below:
“To keep this moor viable we have to raise 6,000 grouse a season, which we do by killing everything else that moves,” says Viscount Deveroux, the alter-ego of comedian Henry Morris.
Walking a moor, dressed in tweed and with 12-gauge shotgun in hand, he continues: “Do you know there are people who say that driven grouse shooting is a screamingly elitist anachronism whose main proponents own the majority of our countryside yet have absolutely no interest in our shared natural history? And to those people I would simply say this: why don’t you bugger off and inherit your own 10,000-hectare estate?”
The video was released to coincide with a new consultation [Ed: RPUK blog here] by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on grouse moor management, which closes on 25th May. In particular, the practice of heather burning in England is under scrutiny—because this very British elitist anachronism, to borrow a phrase, has global consequences.
According to Defra, the UK has 13 per cent of the world’s blanket bog, but 80 per cent of its peatland is now degraded. Over the past 200 years, since driven grouse shooting became a gentleman’s pursuit and was popularised by Queen Victoria and Albert, the upland peatlands of England and Scotland have been drained and annually burnt. Grouse prefer to feed on young heather which is more nutritious, and which grows back after each fire.
Peat bogs, however, shouldn’t be dry or dominated by a single shrub. They are England’s largest carbon store, covering about 11 per cent of the country and holding an estimated 584m tonnes of carbon. To put that in perspective, if all that carbon were released it would be more than five times England’s total annual emissions. Advocates for driven grouse hunting claim that their management techniques actively protect that carbon store; opponents such as the conservationist and Springwatch host Chris Packham say such arguments are just hot, smoke-filled air. The Defra consultation is the latest attempt to resolve the argument.
The last such attempt came in a set of 2021 regulations, which prohibited burning on peat more than 40cm deep within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England. It takes around 10 years for each centimetre of peat to form, meaning such depths amount to 400 years’ worth of carbon capture and storage. Worth protecting during a climate crisis, you might think. The 40cm rule was seen as a step forward, but there was scepticism over whether moorland managers would abide by it—and according to the RSPB, they didn’t, with more than 200 illegal burns reported via their Survey123 app suspected of being illegal.
The latest Defra consultation is on its proposal to expand the protection to peat of 30cm depth, and beyond SSSI boundaries. This would mean covering a further 146,000 hectares of habitat—taking the total to 368,000 hectares, equivalent to the size of Greater London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands combined. “That’s great news for peatland, peatland processes, nature, climate and people,” Patrick Thompson, uplands lead at RSPB, enthuses.
Not everybody is as happy. The grouse shooting community is “up in arms and readying to fight the proposals”, says Thompson, who was raised in the uplands and says the issue “runs through my veins”. Adrian Blackmore, the Countryside Alliance’s director of shooting, claims that, “The possibility of wildfires has grown due to climate change, yet the RSPB is wanting to stop an essential management practice that can help both prevent and reduce their devastating impact.” The British Association for Shooting and Conservation argues that controlled burning in the uplands is “an essential tool” for “improving habitat”. Rather than burn less, they say, we should learn from the United States and Spain and do more controlled burning.
But, counters Thompson, “A healthy bog is already resilient to fire.” Peatlands should be wet even at the surface, and should not just have woody heather growing on them, but also mosses. “It’s only ones that have been drained, dried and annually burned—for the management of driven grouse hunting—that are a wildfire risk.”
Core samples taken of peat bogs show a dominance of heather only emerging in the past 100 years, after driven grouse hunting had become fashionable. A dominance of dry heather becomes a wildfire risk, and so it is burned off to reduce the wildfire risk—it is a circular argument and an endless task.
Each side accuses the other of lacking evidence to back up their position. However, the latest Defra consultation comes with a handy new 322-page Evidence Review by Natural England. It finds that “a large proportion (76-80 per cent) of aboveground carbon stock [is] lost via combustion, followed by gradual re-accumulation over several decades”. As for controlled burning in the US, Spain and elsewhere, there is “limited evidence” that this transfers to “the UK peatland context”. Meanwhile, the 2021 40cm rule didn’t work as hoped, with evidence that SSSI sites and “areas of deep peat have been burned at a similar frequency as other areas”.
One measure the Defra consultation doesn’t include, however, is a total ban on the managed burning of heather; something that Packham, the campaign group Wild Justice and the Raptor Persecution UK website are calling for. The parliament.uk petition to “Ban driven grouse shooting” recently passed the 100,000 signatories mark needed to be considered for a parliamentary debate.It isn’t official RSPB policy, but “if people are not prepared to adhere to the regulations, then the next step is complete legislative control”, says Thompson. “And then there’s no grey areas. It says you can’t do that anymore.”
Grouse moors have been found littered with veterinary medication to boost grouse numbers; their predators or competitors—chiefly raptors and hares—have been indiscriminatingly snared or shot. It is a sport, after all, and these are sports fields which require upkeep. Only, their playing—or rather killing—fields cover half of England’s globally important peatlands. Perhaps it is time to debate in parliament whether this is a recreation activity we still deem necessary and acceptable during a climate crisis.
What of the rural economy? Grouse shooting is believed to contribute £23m a year to small local businesses across Scotland alone—but that figure seems a massive underachievement for what UK Nature Minister Mary Creagh describes as “this country’s Amazon Rainforest… capable of storing as much carbon as all the forests in the UK, France and Germany combined”.
The government has pledged up to £400m for tree planting and peatland restoration as part of its Nature for Climate Fund. Rural jobs would not only remain but grow, in rewetting and restoring peat bogs, fire prevention, even eco-tourism. A survey from the Rewilding Network showed that, in Scotland, full-time equivalent jobs across 13 major rewilding projects (including the Langholm Initiative, which saw the largest ever community buyout of a former grouse estate) rose from just 24 before rewilding to 123, an increase of more than 400 per cent. In England and Wales, jobs across 50 sites increased from 162 to 312 (a rise of 93 per cent). A removal of grouse hunting could trigger a rural jobs boom.
This isn’t a war on the countryside. It’s the rejuvenation of it.
The following article was published in The Courier yesterday:
A twisted Angus shooting enthusiast planted poisoned pheasants at an estate he wanted to frame for crimes against birds of prey.
Clive Burgoyne sought revenge against bosses at The Guynd near Carmyllie when they revoked his family’s right to shoot there.
The spiteful 38-year-old and his late father Antony returned to the Angus estate in early 2023 where dad-of-three Burgoyne planted four gamebird carcases laced with rodenticide.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard that estates can be docked grants and suffer from bad publicity if their workers are convicted of offences towards raptors.
A veterinary pathologist who studied the toxic bait concluded that none had been feasted on by any birds.
Feud
Prosecutor Karon Rollo said landowner Elliot Ouchterlony had been in dispute with the Burgoyne family and had told them to keep off his land.
On the morning of February 3 in 2023, the family set out for revenge.
At 10.45am, a farmer at Milton Farm noticed a car with two or three people inside heading towards Dusty Drum Farm.
About 10 minutes later, another worker saw a man near Guynd Lodge “behaving shiftily” and trying to hide his face.
Half an hour after the vehicle was first spotted, the estate manager noticed it on the B9127, parked at the side of a field.
He spotted the late Antony Burgoyne in the driver’s seat.
Early in the afternoon, the manger messaged Burgoyne to say his party had been seen, but it wasn’t until 40 minutes after that that the offender’s handiwork was discovered.
Revenge served blue
Another estate worker stumbled upon a dead pheasant with its breast cut open, covered with seed, grain and a bright blue liquid.
He photographed this and posted it on an online agricultural workers forum.
The estate manager arrived ten minutes later and photographed then bagged up the bird, following police advice.
Three other identical poisoned pheasants were discovered 30 feet away.
Ms Rollo said: “The witnesses believed the blue liquid to be a type of toxin, to have been on the dead pheasants as bait in attempt to poison wildlife in the area, particularly raptors.”
All were sent to the Scottish Government Agency SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) for examination.
The blue substance was found to be an anticoagulant rodenticide with active ingredient difenacoum.
Ms Rollo added: “It is toxic to birds and if consumed causes haemorrhaging.
“A single feed from a carcase would have proved fatal to a raptor.”
A veterinary pathologist confirmed that thankfully the laced bait hadn’t been fed on.
Motive
Ms Rollo added: “Birds of prey can be regarded as problematic on estates as they can kill smaller animals.
“There are well-documented examples of them being poisoned by estate workers to combat this.
“Estates can receive government grants which, on conviction for such offences, can result in withdrawal and adverse publicity for the estates.”
She said the crown believed this was the accused’s bid to “discredit” the estate.
Didn’t operate alone
Clive Burgoyne’s DNA was found on the legs of all four pheasants.
He told police: “I don’t use none of that,” then gave a mostly no comment interview.
Burgoyne admitted that between 30 January and 3 February 2023, he set out a poisonous, poisoned or stupefying substance, specifically pheasant carcase birds covered with a rodenticide formulation, at the pond area at Home Farm, Guynd, Carmyllie.
He admitted these carcases could be likely to cause injury to any wild birds coming into contact with the contaminated pheasants he’d laid out in open for consumption by other birds.
Burgoyne’s father Antony was also been charged with the same offence, but died after the case first called in court.
Solicitor Billy Rennie said: “He accepts what the crown have narrated in terms of a long-standing feud because of prior rights in this area.
“His father was the co-accused but sadly passed away earlier this year.
“He wasn’t working alone.
“At the minute, he’s off work due to mental health issues.
“He accepts the reference that this was done in a way to cause problems for the estate. That’s the acceptance.”
First offender Burgoyne, of Caledonian Way, Forfar, will be sentenced on June 5 once reports have been prepared.
ENDS
Oh god, the irony! Many within the game-shooting industry have long made unsubstantiated allegations that conservationists and animal rights activists have ‘planted evidence’ of poisoned baits in order to frame estates for alleged raptor persecution but as far as I’m aware, none have ever been proven. Now that a case has been proven, it turns out it was a spurned shooter who decided to try and get revenge after the estate had revoked his shooting rights. You couldn’t make it up!
Great work by the forensics team to detect Burgoyne’s DNA on the pheasant legs – not dissimilar to the case in Suffolk in 2023 where gamekeeper Francis Addison’s DNA was found on the legs of five dead goshawks that had been shot and then dumped in a car park at Kings Forest (see here).
Press release from Police Scotland and RSPB (23 April 2025)
POLICE & RSPB SCOTLAND APPEAL FOR INFORMATION AFTER PROTECTED SPARROWHAWK FATALLY SHOT
The bird was found dead in Inverness and was later confirmed to have been shot with a shotgun.
Anyone with information which could help identify a suspect is encouraged to contact Police Scotland and the RSPB.
POLICE Scotland and RSPB Scotland are appealing for information after a male Sparrowhawk was found shot in the Cradlehall area of Inverness.
On 6 March 2025 a member of the public reported to the RSPB Scotland that they had noticed a bird of prey dead on the ground. The next day, in agreement with Police Scotland, an RSPB Scotland Investigations Officer then collected the bird’s body and sent it for testing to establish the cause of death.
A post-mortem by a vet revealed a pellet lodged within the bird’s chest, and concluded that the bird had been shot with a shotgun. It added that the bird could have died some distance from where it was shot, before later dying from an infection and starvation as a result of the shooting.
The shot Sparrowhawk. Photo RSPB Scotland
All wild birds are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Anyone found to have killed or injured a bird of prey faces an unlimited fine or even jail.
Police Scotland are appealing to anyone with information in connection with this incident to come forward.
Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Investigations, said:
“Sparrowhawks are one of the birds of prey you or I are most likely to encounter, as they live alongside us in parks and gardens. They hunt small birds by stealth and can be identified by their brilliantly piercing yellow eyes. The presence of Sparrowhawks and other birds of prey is a good indicator of a healthy and balanced ecosystem. This bird was shot with a shotgun, resulting in a drawn-out and painful death. Few people have access to such weapons, with even fewer motivated to shoot at protected birds of prey. We ask that if anyone has information about this incident, to please get in touch with Police Scotland or ourselves.”
Thomas Plant, Bea Ayling and Shona Rüesch of the Inverness Urban Sparrowhawk Project have been studying the Sparrowhawk population in Inverness since 2020. They commented: “We are absolutely devastated to hear that someone has shot one of these beautiful and majestic birds: one we may have been monitoring this year here in Inverness. As part of our voluntary monitoring we have been checking nest sites and colour-ringing Sparrowhawks (with support and funding from the Highland Raptor Study Group (HRSG)). We hope that this will help to improve understanding of the local Sparrowhawk population, their movements, lifespans and the threats that they face.”
If you have any information relating to this incident, call Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference number CR/0132125/25.
The last shot sparrowhawk in this area that made the headlines was the one shot and killed by a gamekeeper on Moy Estate, a grouse moor to the south of Inverness. The RSPB filmed him using a plastic decoy owl, presumably to draw raptors in close as they come to mob it, whilst he hid behind a nearby bush with his shotgun. The gamekeeper was subsequently convicted in 2023 for killing a sparrowhawk (here).
Here is a quote I’ve just given to a journalist who asked for my opinion about the latest shooting of a sparrowhawk in the region and about whether the Government’s strategy on tackling raptor persecution is effective:
“It’s unusual to find a dead bird of prey in an urban area with shotgun injuries – typically urban raptors are killed with air rifles. Although the post mortem report on this particular bird suggests it had probably succumbed to an infection and subsequent starvation, indicating it may have been shot some distance from where it actually died.
“Shamefully, the illegal killing of raptors is still prevalent in Scotland, particularly in rural areas being used for gamebird shooting because birds of prey are still perceived as a ‘threat’ to gamebird stocks, even though raptors have been legally protected since 1954. These crimes are so frequent and widespread that the Scottish Government finally decided to introduce new legislation last year (the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024) in an attempt to bring an end to raptor persecution on driven grouse moors. The idea is that grouse moor owners now have to operate under a licence and if there’s evidence of ongoing raptor persecution that licence can be revoked, preventing any more shooting of Red Grouse on the moor for a specified period.
“Having the new legislation in place is certainly progress, but legislation is only effective if it is properly monitored and enforced. Unfortunately the new legislation was subsequently watered-down by nature conservation agency NatureScot in December last year, following threats of a legal challenge from the representatives of the grouse shooting industry. The legislation as it currently stands is not worth the paper it’s written on because NatureScot has introduced a massive loophole that means it is virtually impossible to connect the killing of raptors with grouse moor management and this is a situation that will be readily exploited by those who wish to continue killing birds of prey. Indeed, since the legislation was enacted numerous birds of prey have been shot and killed on grouse moors in Scotland (e.g. an Osprey, a Peregrine, a Red Kite) and there haven’t been any consequences for those responsible.
“The Scottish Government has acknowledged that there are ‘issues’ with the current legislation and work is underway by campaigners to address this unsatisfactory situation“.
This morning, Wild Justice’s petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting passed 100,000 signatures, which means the Westminster Government will now consider it for a debate in Westminster Hall.
There are loads of reasons why driven grouse shooting should be banned, but one of the main ones is the ongoing illegal persecution of birds of prey that is directly linked to this filthy so-called ‘sport’.
Raptors have been legally protected in the UK, at least on paper, since 1954, and yet 71 years later, criminal gamekeepers continue to shoot, trap, poison, stamp on, pull the heads off, pull the wings off, pull the legs off species such as golden eagles, red kites, hen harriers, white-tailed eagles, buzzards, peregrines, short-eared owls, goshawks etc because they’re perceived as a threat to the hundreds of thousands of red grouse that their paying clients want to shoot for a bit of a laugh. Wild Justice chose a few case studies to highlight these crimes as part of the campaign and these were well-received on social media. For those who are not on social media you can watch the eight short videos on YouTube here.
Many, many thanks to all this blog’s readers who supported the campaign, by not only signing the petition, but also by sharing it with others.
Statement from Lincolnshire Police (18 April 2025)
SUMMONS TO COURT FOR BIRD OF PREY OFFENCES
Brian Chorlton, aged 87, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham has been summoned to court following reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.
He faces eleven charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoners kit, possession and use of four pole traps.
He has been summoned to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 8 May 2025.
ENDS
NB: Comments are turned off as this case is live.
UPDATE 9 May 2025: 87-year-old man pleads not guilty to 11 charges relating to alleged raptor persecution in Lincolnshire – case now goes to trial (here)
UPDATE 26 September 2025: Trial of 87-year-old man accused of 11 offences relating to raptor persecution is put on hold as defence applies for Judicial Review of judge’s ruling (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 