Last Friday evening, Channel 4 News had another good piece exposing the dark side of the UK’s gamebird shooting industry.
It included some pretty gruesome undercover footage from gamebird rearing farms in England, including Westfield Farms near Pickering, North Yorkshire, who’ve featured on this blog several times over the years.
The piece also covered grouse shooting, again in North Yorkshire, and included information about the shot Marsh Harrier found critically injured on a grouse moor in the Westerdale area of the North York Moors National Park in August this year. She was about two months old. She didn’t survive her catastrophic injuries.
There’s an interview with Fiona Howie, one of the UK’s leading veterinary pathologists, discussing the damage caused to this Marsh Harrier and the wider issue of shot raptors, and Howard Jones from the RSPB’s Investigations Team, who repeats the society’s call for gamebird shoot licensing. There’s also an interview with Matthew Goodall from the GWCT who says he doesn’t think there’s a need for licensing as the industry can police itself. He said that with a straight face.
The timing of the piece was clearly intended to coincide with Defra’s Call for Evidence on gamebird rearing and shooting, designed to inform future policy which may include licensing. That consultation has now closed and we await Defra’s response.
The Channel 4 News piece is about 8 minutes long but be warned, it contains some distressing footage.
DEATH OF YET ANOTHER SEA EAGLE LINKED TO RAT POISON
The wildlife group Wildlife Poisoning Research UK (WPRUK) has established that another white tailed sea eagle, from the small population of these majestic birds in southern England, has been poisoned by the deadly toxin Brodifacoum.
This poison, which is approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is widely used by gamekeepers, farmers and pest controllers to kill rats on farms and shooting estates. However, dead and dying rats become easy meals for predators like eagles and other birds of prey and the toxin moves up the food chain – killing as it goes.
White-tailed Eagle (photo by Ronnie Gilbert)
News of a string of previous eagle poisonings in Dorset earlier this year caused a major public outcry. All these birds had been exposed to Brodifacoum and now it appears that this poison is still killing wildlife. Rising levels of this toxin in the environment may undermine Government-supported plans to release more of these iconic birds in England.
Examining Government records on the internet, WPRUK has identified that the latest eagle killed was in Hampshire in June this year. The summary on the internet states that: ‘A white tailed eagle was found dead in a woodland. Analysis has confirmed brodifacoum in the liver which is likely to be the cause of death’.
WPRUK has now sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Government for more information about the killing of this bird.
Dr Ed Blane from WPRUK said:
“The ongoing killing of these eagles and other wildlife by this poison shows, once again, that the Government’s efforts to safeguard wildlife simply aren’t working. They seem to have forgotten the damage done to wildlife by the disaster of DDT 50 years ago.
“We have the totally barking situation of one part of Government encouraging the re-introduction of sea eagles to the English countryside, while we have another Governmental body, the HSE, approving the use of poisons like Brodifacoum which are then killing the birds once they are released“.
Message from editor:Today (Sunday 1st November 2026) is the deadline for responding to Defra’s Call for Evidence on the impact of gamebird releases & shooting. Defra is asking anyone who has experiential evidence about the impact, whether positive or negative, to submit that evidence to the review. Experiential evidence is ‘lived experience’; what you’ve learned from the real world, rather than a theoretical concept.
I would argue that learning about what happened to the 154 Hen Harriers you’re about to read about is having an impact. It’s a lived experience, and therefore qualifies as experiential evidence and Defra needs to hear about it.
One of my colleagues described it to me as a sort of victim impact statement – the kind of declaration that’s presented in court from family and friends when someone has been murdered and they want the judge to consider the wider impact of the crime when deciding on a sentence.
If Defra Ministers are the judges, then it’s up to us to let them know what sort of impact these relentless crimes are having on us. Whether you’re disturbed by it, angered, upset, frustrated that raptor persecution is still happening and most of the time the perpetrators are still getting away it, then tell Defra, in your own words, about how this affects you, as a decent, reasonable, law-abiding member of society.
If you haven’t already sent in your submission, you have until 23.59hrs this evening to do it. It needn’t be onerous, you can simply send an email. Guidance is available here.
Thank you
_______________________________________________
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 (seehere). 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 revised to include the five young Hen Harrier chicks found dead in their nest on a grouse moor in County Durham with injuries consistent with being stabbed (see here).
There isn’t a one-stop shop (apart from this list) where you can find information about ‘missing’ or illegally killed Hen Harriers – the information for this list is sourced and cross-referenced from various places, including Natural England’s database, the RSPB’s database, the HSE’s database, police reports, RSPB Birdcrime reports and FoIs to various agencies. This list doesn’t include any Hen Harriers that have been listed as having a natural cause of death (e.g. known/suspected predation), or listed as ‘likely tag failure’, or known to have been lost abroad, or where the cause of death is inconclusive, unless there is additional information (e.g. from satellite tag data) which indicates suspicious or illegal activity. It is painstaking work that takes a lot of time to complete, but I consider it to be as accurate and comprehensive as it can be at the time of writing.
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 154 Hen Harriers gone since 2018, and 28 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.
‘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 were, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it was significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). The loophole was eventually closed off via an amendment in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 (see here).
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 captured by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
2018
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). Tagged by RSPB.
5 February 2018: Hen Harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9 February 2018: Hen Harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
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). Tagged by RSPB.
8 August 2018: Hen Harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 August 2018: Hen Harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
3 September 2018: Hen Harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2018: Hen Harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2 October 2018: Hen Harrier Mabel (Tag ID 34342) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY851059. Tagged by NE.
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
23 October 2018: Hen Harrier Tom (Tag ID 161144) ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here). Grid ref SS906698. Tagged by NE.
26 October 2018: Hen Harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
1 November 2018: Hen Harrier Barney (Tag ID 34343) ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall (here). Grid ref SX140720. Tagged by NE.
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). Tagged by RSPB.
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). Tagged by RSPB.
2019
16 January 2019: Hen Harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here). Tagged by RSPB.
28 January 2019: Hen Harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
7 February 2019: Hen Harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
22 April 2019: Hen Harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 April 2019: Hen Harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
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). Tagged by Wildlands.
11 September 2019: Hen Harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M2-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref SD920943. Tagged by NE.
23 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M4-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY952103. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
24 September 2019: Hen Harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
10 October 2019: Hen Harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 October 2019: Hen Harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
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). Tagged by RSPB.
November 2019: Hen Harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
December 2019: Hen Harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2019: Hen Harrier Erin tagged on Isle of Man ‘disappeared’ (Stop No Malfunction) – location unknown (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020
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).
5 April 2020: Hen Harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 April 2020: Hen Harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
19 May 2020: Hen Harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
21 May 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M1-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here). Grid ref SD770877. Tagged by NE.
27 May 2020: Hen Harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male Hen Harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
14 August 2020: Hen Harrier Solo (Tag ID 201119) ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here). Tagged by NE.
7 September 2020: Hen Harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 September 2020: Hen Harrier Fortune (Tag ID 162150a) ‘disappeared’ from a confidential roost site in Northumberland (here). Tagged by NE.
19 September 2020: Hen Harrier Harold (Tag ID 57272) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY830036. Tagged by NE.
20 September 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M4-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE103956. Tagged by NE.
19 December 2020: Hen Harrier Lagertha (Tag ID 201126a) ‘disappeared’ in Christchurch, Dorset close to winter roost. Not to be confused with RSPB-tagged bird also called Lagertha (2023). Grid ref SZ161924. Tagged by NE.
2021
24 February 2021: Hen Harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12th April 2021: Hen Harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 May 2021: Untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 1) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 2) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen Harrier Asta (Tag ID 201117) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines after establishing a home range around Gilmonby Moor (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). Grid ref SE206937. Tagged by NE.
14th August 2021: Hen Harrier Josephine (Tag ID 213850) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY592841. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2021: Hen Harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213918) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ022667. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203003) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY959039. Tagged by NE.
12 December 2021: Hen Harrier Jasmine (Tag ID 213848) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE034733. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Maiden, tagged in Lancashire in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Awyr, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ on Ruabon grouse moor. Her tag/harness was recovered and an expert assessment concluded it had been cut off (here). Tagged by the RSPB.
2022
9 January 2022: Hen Harrier Ethel (Tag ID 213852) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY936632. Tagged by NE.
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). Tagged by RSPB.
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 (ringed) leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here). Tagged by NE.
April 2022: Hen Harrier Pegasus ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2022: An untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 1) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 2) ‘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’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY918019. Tagged by NE.
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 R1-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 232637) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD804893. Tagged by NE.
September 2022: Hen Harrier Sullis ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 October 2022: Hen Harrier R3-M2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213920a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY791016. Tagged by NE.
10 October 2022: Hen Harrier Sia ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
October 2022: Hen Harrier R1-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213919) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by NE.
1 December 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 55145a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD917620. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55144) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB. Later found dead on 26 June 2023 with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY730372. Tagged by NE.
14 December 2022: Hen Harrier R3-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213921a) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead on 10 April 2023 with two shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY708423. Tagged by NE.
15 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213931) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD847831. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Heath, tagged in Lancashire in 2019, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Syrcas, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2023
30 March 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY823039) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY823039. Tagged by NE.
March 2023: Hen Harrier (tagged), last transmission/sighting in Lancashire. No tag number provided. Reported in RSPB Birdcrime 2023, Appendix 4 (here).
1 April 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY846027) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY846027. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Hen Harrier Lagertha ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB. Not to be confused with Lagertha tagged by NE & disappeared in 2020).
April 2023: Hen Harrier Nicola (Tag ID 234078) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SD831860. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 3) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 4) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Co Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Hen Harrier Rush ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9/10 May 2023: Hen Harrier Dagda tagged in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘disappeared’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
17 May 2023: Hen Harrier Wayland ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
31 May 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213932) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY765687. Tagged by NE.
11 June 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213922) ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY757000. Tagged by NE.
12 June 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203004) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY976322. Tagged by NE.
6 July 2023: Hen Harrier Rubi (Tag ID 201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY911151. Tagged by NE.
23 July 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55154a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where Rubi disappeared) (here). Grid ref NY910126. Tagged by NE.
9 August 2023: Hen Harrier Martha ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier Selena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier R3-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 201118a) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NZ072136. Tagged by NE.
15 August 2023: Hen Harrier Hepit ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 August 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55155a) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY679863. Tagged by NE.
August-Sept 2023: Hen Harrier Harmonia ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). ‘Stop No Malfunction’. Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Saranyu, tagged in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Inger, tagged in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
15 September 2023: Hen Harrier Rhys (Tag ID 213847a), tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD798896. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2023: Hen Harrier R2-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213929) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY888062. Tagged by NE.
26 September 2023: Hen Harrier Hope, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD801926. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M3-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55153) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham (here). Grid ref NY935192. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R4-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213925a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SE003981. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2023: Hen Harrier Hazel’ (Tag ID 240292) tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man (here). Grid ref SC251803. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55146a) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham. Grid ref NY963211. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2023: Hen Harrier Aurora, tagged in Dumfries & Galloway in 2022, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2024
12 February 2024: Hen Harrier Susie (Tag ID 201122), found dead in Northumberland. Later revealed to have been the victim of shooting (here). Grid ref NY759585. Tagged by NE. Susie’s chicks were stamped to death at nest on moor at Whernside in 2022 (here).
15 February 2024: Hen Harrier 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). Tagged by RSPB.
24 April 2024: Hen Harrier Ken (Tag ID 213849a) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland (here). Grid ref SD684601. Tagged by NE.
17 May 2024: Hen Harrier R2-M2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213928) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale (here). Grid ref SE043754. Tagged by NE.
7 June 2024: Hen Harrier Edna (Tag ID 161143a). Decomposed corpse found next to a wind farm nr Otterburn, Northumberland. Listed as ‘suspected illegally killed’. There has been a suggestion she was killed elsewhere & dumped at the wind farm as a ploy to cover up the crime (here). Grid ref NY910827. Tagged by NE.
25 June 2024: Hen Harrier R2-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213923) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY985082. Tagged by NE.
July 2024: Hen Harrier Helius, tagged in Lancashire in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 July 2024: Hen Harrier (Tag ID 254843) tagged in Northumberland on 5 July 2024, decomposed corpse not suitable for post mortem but forensics work on her satellite tag showed shot damage (here). Grid ref NY824937. Tagged by NE.
October 2024: An un-tagged Hen Harrier was apparently shot on a grouse moor at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen Harrier Dreich (Tag ID 254842) ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire (here). Grid ref NS826020. Tagged by NE.
15 October 2024: Hen Harrier Baldur (Tag ID 240291) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ038961. Tagged by NE.
19 October 2024: Hen Harrier Margaret (Tag ID 254844) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). It was later reported that her tag had been found (‘removed’) but no sign of the carcass (here). Grid ref NY878497. Tagged by NE.
2025
15 January 2025: Hen Harrier 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). Tagged by RSPB.
January 2025: Hen Harrier Ataksak was found poisoned close to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Apparently a police investigation is ongoing. Tagged by RSPB.
3 February 2025: Hen Harrier R3-F2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213924) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Grid ref SE759996. Tagged by NE.
27 February 2025: Hen Harrier Sita, tagged on behalf of Hen Harrier Action in Bowland in 2024 ‘disappeared’ from a roost site on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
4 April 2025: Hen Harrier Bonnie (Tag ID 254841) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Moorfoots, Scotland (here). Grid ref NT415575. Tagged by NE.
10 April 2025: Hen Harrier Gill (Tag ID 240294) ‘disappeared’ in south Scotland (here). Grid ref NT440344. Tagged by NE.
1 May 2025: Hen Harrier Pete (Tag ID 213843) ‘disappeared’ in Cumbria (see here). Grid ref NY309418. Tagged by NE.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 5) with an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Another untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 6) with another active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Hen Harrier Dynamo with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here).
31 August 2025: An unnamed Hen Harrier, hatched and tagged on National Trust-owned moorland in the peak District National Park in 2025, ‘disappeared’ from Ruabon grouse moor, north Wales after arriving there three days earlier. Her tag data indicated she was dead on 31 August. Her tag/harness were recovered on 2 September and an expert assessment concluded it had been “intentionally severed” (here). Tagged by RSPB on behalf of National Trust.
9 September 2025: Hen Harrier Maria (Tag ID 281718) tagged in Northumberland on 25 July 2025, ‘disappeared’ near Belford in Northumberland. Grid ref NU125340. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2025: Hen Harrier Beatrix, who fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ from an area dominated by grouse moors near Allendale in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
27 September 2025: Hen Harrier Wadrew, who fledged from the RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor near Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (see here). Tagged by the RSPB.
30 September 2025: Hen Harrier Morrigan ‘disappeared’ in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 October 2025: Hen Harrier Circe, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2025 and tagged on behalf of charity Hen Harrier Action, ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoots, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
To be continued…
You’ll probably have noticed that list ends in October 2025. That’s not because no other Hen Harriers have ‘disappeared’ or been killed illegally since then – they definitely have – but the authorities haven’t yet made the details public.
Of these 154 incidents, only one has resulted in a conviction – Head gamekeeper Racster Dingwall pleaded guilty at York Magistrates Court in January 2026 to conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on the Conistone & Grassington Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in October 2024 (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 FIFTY FOUR 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 in North Yorkshire) 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 32 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).
Detective Inspector Mark Harrison of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) who leads on the national Hen Harrier Taskforce gave a live online presentation on 27 January 2026 for the charity Friends of the Dales, about the work being undertaken to tackle the ongoing illegal killing of Hen Harriers in the UK. You can watch it on YouTube, here.
For new blog readers, an RSPB report Hen Harriers in the Firing Line, published last year provides a good overview of the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, as does this news reel from Channel 4 News:
North Wales Police have confirmed that two men from Wrexham have been charged with illegally setting snares on Ruabon Moor, the only driven grouse moor in Wales.
Head gamekeeper Stuart Hart, 50, of Penycae, and underkeeper Jack Yates, 23, of Overton Road, Ruabon, are both charged with setting a snare to injure a wild animal.
Hart is charged in connection with two incidents that are alleged to have taken place on Ruabon Moor in August 2025 and July 2026.
Yates is charged in connection with an alleged incident in the same location in July 2025.
They will both appear before Llandudno Magistrates Court on 18 November 2026.
The use of snares is illegal in Wales, having been banned under the Agricultural (Wales) Act 2023.
I believe this blog post from October 2025 relates to some of the charges.
NB: Comments are turned off as criminal proceedings are live.
Another shooting season is underway and that means incidents of dumped/fly-tipped gamebirds have also started again.
Here’s one from this month, with dead Woodpigeons and Red-legged Partridges dumped in a lay-by in Keyingham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire (thanks to the blog reader who sent the screen grab from social media).
Regular blog readers will know that the dumping of shot gamebirds is a common and widespread illegal practice that has been going on for years, despite the repeated denials by the shooting industry. The disposal of animal by-products (including shot gamebirds) is supposedly regulated and the dumping of these carcasses is an offence.
Previous reports include dumped/fly-tipped birds found in Cheshire (here), Scottish borders (here), Norfolk (here), Perthshire (here), Berkshire (here), North York Moors National Park (here) and some more in North York Moors National Park (here) and even more in North Yorkshire (here), Co. Derry (here), West Yorkshire (here), and again in West Yorkshire (here), N Wales (here), mid-Wales (here), Leicestershire (here), Lincolnshire (here), Somerset (here), Derbyshire’s Peak District National Park (here), Suffolk (here), Leicestershire again (here), Somerset again (here), Liverpool (here), even more in North Wales (here) even more in Wales, again (here), in Wiltshire (here) in Angus (here), in Somerset again (here), once again in North Yorkshire (here), yet again in West Yorkshire (here), yet again in mid-Wales (here), even more in mid-Wales (here), more in Derbyshire (here), Gloucestershire (here) more in Cheshire (here), some in Cumbria (here), some more in the Scottish Borders (here) and again in Lincolnshire (here), in Nottinghamshire (here), even more in Lincolnshire (here), even more in the Scottish Borders (here), in Dorset (here), in Cambridgeshire (here), in South Lanarkshire (here), in Inverness-shire (here) and in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Lord Christian Brighty (‘The Mr Darcy of the Internet’), who recently made this brilliant spoof video about Pheasant shooting, has created another one, this time a short video specifically about the dumping of shot gamebirds. Press the arrow to play:
At the end of the video, viewers are urged once again to submit evidence to Defra’s Call for Evidence on gamebird shooting. It closes at one minute to midnight on Sunday 1st November 2026.
If you’ve ever found piles of shot and dumped gamebirds in lay-bys on lanes in your local area, or found them stuffed inside bin bags and dumped in the woods, or chucked in rivers, or tipped into giant pits on grouse moors, please send in your information to Defra’s Call for Evidence on the impacts of gamebird shooting. The consultation closes at one minute to midnight on Sunday 1st November 2026. You can find guidance about how to do it on Wild Justice’s website, here.
Following Bob Berzins’ recent guest blog about a so-called ‘controlled burn’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (see here), another blog reader has sent the following:
I thought you might appreciate a bit more information on the photos of the burning moor on Bob Berzin’s blog. I am a frequent visitor to that area, often a passenger in a car or bus looking over that landscape where the smoke is. I was driving past that site on the weekend of the 10th and 11th October. On the 10th I saw the smoke coming from muirburn and assumed it was a routine heather burning. I also drove past on the next day, the Sunday, and was surprised to see smoke still coming from the area. No one seemed to be in attendance (viewing through binoculars from Mortimer Road).
Then the next weekend, about 8 a.m. 17/10/26 I was driving past again and was really surprised that the same place was still smouldering, smoke still drifting towards High Bradfield as in Bob’s photos. An hour or so later viewing the moor from Ughill Moor (to the SE of the burn site) with my binoculars this time I could see three fire engines, what looked like a vehicle with a water tank, a fire service lorry and a fire service van. I took the photos attached.
By the following Monday or Tuesday a friend told me that the smoke had finally stopped, and the fire service was no longer there. Last time I drove past, on 22/10/26, and could no longer see smoke from Foulstone/Moscar Moor. It seems to be properly out now.
This episode leaves me with a few questions. For one thing, I wonder who pays for all those public services going out to attend to a fire that was started deliberately? Another is, how come gamekeepers are burning the moors when they are clearly still rather dry and perhaps it’s likely the fire will get out of control? These are rhetorical questions, I don’t expect you to answer them.
I find it ironic that the grouse shooting industry is claiming to know all about managing vegetation to prevent wildfires and yet they cause this by carrying out a supposedly a “controlled burn“.
Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Lord Christian Brighty (The Mr Darcy of the Internet’) has produced an entertaining video about Pheasant shooting.
This is the perfect antidote to the current hysteria from the gamebird shooting industry about how the ‘countryside is under attack’.
As Christian says, it is under attack, but not in the way the shooters would have you believe!
At the end of the video, viewers are urged to submit evidence to Defra’s Call for Evidence on gamebird shooting. Christian says the Call for Evidence closes on 6th November – it actually closes at one minute to midnight on Sunday 1st November (that’s this coming Sunday).
If you haven’t yet submitted your evidence, hopefully you’ll take inspiration from Christian’s video and you can also find some guidance on Wild Justice’s website, here.
This is a guest blog written by conservation campaigner and author Bob Berzins who has written previously on this bloghere,here,here,here,here,here, here, here and here.
Introduction
In 2026 a dry, hot summer with drought conditions declared in many areas led to a huge number of wildfires. It was no surprise to read a constant diatribe from the shooting industry calling for increased prescribed burning with restrictions removed.
Arguments against grouse moor burning have centred around damage to peatlands, particularly damage to blanket bog which tends to be defined by peat depth with figures of 50cm, 40cm and most recently 30cm defined in the Heather and Grass Burning Management Code 2025 Section 4 – The Law. So generally any burning in England where peat depth is greater than 30cm is illegal.
Greenwashing from the shooting industry tries to tell us they only ever conduct “Cool Burns” with no smoke and moss layers under the heather undamaged and somehow only burning the top leafy part of heather plants. They’ve fooled Natural England because most Management Plans, in place to protect conservation sites, tell us they won’t allow “Hot burns” which incinerate the vegetation and the underlying peat. But there’s no enforcement and we the public are left to cope with huge clouds of smoke and incinerated, damaged moorlands which increase flood risk.
This deceit has been going on for decades and it took catastrophic levels of air pollution in Sheffield three years ago to make everybody listen. The burning occurred on the Duke of Rutland’s Moscar Estate.
After the 2025 burning consultation and new legislation what’s happening now?
Burning on Moscar Estate, October 2026
Sheffield University produced a detailed analysis of how the smoke from October 2023 burning spread across the city with citizen science and government air monitors all recording huge spikes in dangerous air pollution.
Travel any distance in the Pennines on a fine winter day and you’ll see multiple fires on the moors. Last week a mile from the Moscar burning we had this on the adjacent Fitzwilliam Estate:
Spilling smoke over the plantation and down to Bradfield village and Sheffield beyond:
Leeds University recently published this paper that shows peak fire events affecting up to 2.3 million people in Yorkshire, North East England, East Scotland and North Scotland. And between 2017/18 and 2021/22 moorland burning generated 1300 tonnes of PM2.5 particulates per year which is equivalent to a third of UK annual transport emissions. Pollution from prescribed or rotational burning is a huge problem yet the shooting industry wants to burn more.
Is smoke from Moorland Burning dangerous?
According to the Breath of Fresh Air Report by the Royal College of Physicians, air pollution affects all age groups leading to slow development of lung function in the young and accelerated decline of lung function in the old as well as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), lung cancer, diabetes, dementia, heart attack and stroke – every part of the body is affected.
And DEFRA’s Public Health Overview tells us poor air quality is a significant public health issue with air pollution estimated to cause 29,000 to 43,000 deaths a year in the UK – that is 5% to 7% of all deaths.
In England, the total cost due to PM2.5 to the NHS and social care is estimated to be £1.5billion in 2025.
What’s the mechanism for particulates affecting our health?
PM2.5 is tiny and this allows it to bypass upper airway filters, deposit deep into the lung alveoli, and cross into the bloodstream reaching the heart, brain, and other major organs where it causes chronic inflammation. The particles are not just harmless dust but often contain toxins such as carcinogens and heavy metals raising the risk of heart attacks, strokes, irregular heartbeats, and high blood pressure. Along with triggering or worsening asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, and reducing overall lung function.
What is a safe level of air pollution?
At a recent conference organized by Public Health Sheffield we heard there is no safe level of air pollution so we must strive to reduce it as close to zero as possible. Shooting is a hobby for rich people not a necessity. Moors are burnt to produce more grouse and landowners must have convinced their gamekeepers that a dose of particulates is good for the health:
Any safety equipment would be an admission of the damage to health
Alternatives
There is of course mowing, which is now common on Peak District moors and very obviously reduces “fuel load” with many mowers cutting then shredding the brash. We don’t hear anything about this from the Greenwashers. So we continue to see mown and burnt patches side by side:
Ewden Valley – Mown area in foreground and burnt patches behind
Tractor – all estates seem to have these now
Conclusion
Air pollution kills us and there is absolutely no justification for the grouse shooting industry producing thousands of tonnes of harmful particulates just so there’s a few more grouse to shoot.
ENDS
UPDATE 28 October 2026: Fire crews in attendance on grouse moor in Peak District National Park (here)
Earlier this summer I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Natural England, asking for information on the causes of death, including post mortem reports, of all Hen Harrier nestlings (i.e. pre-fledging) in nests monitored by Natural England between 2018 and 2026.
That requested information has just been released and I have to say I’m pretty shocked by it, on a number of levels, which I’ll explain below.
I probably shouldn’t be shocked at all. We’ve all seen how depraved some gamekeepers can be. Whether they’ve been caught setting pole traps and leaving a trapped Tawny Owl, Buzzard or Red Kite to suffer a prolonged and painful death, hanging upside down with catastrophic leg injuries; or catching Red Kites by the legs in moss-covered spring traps placed next to a bait and then beating them to death with a shinty stick; or trapping a Peregrine in a spring trap set on a nest ledge and leaving it there to suffer for hours before retrieving it under cover of darkness; or casually using a wooden stick to beat to death trapped Goshawks and Buzzards inside crow cage traps.
And then there are the seriously depraved, who like to leave the evidence of their brutality in full view, knowing how distressing that’s going to be for the person finding it. For example, killing an entire brood of Hen Harrier chicks by stamping on them in their nest; or twisting and pulling off the head and leg of an adult Hen Harrier whilst he was still alive, leaving his mutilated corpse on a hillside knowing that his satellite tag would lead researchers to his discovery.
What I’m about to describe falls well within this second category of being seriously depraved. If you’re likely to be upset by reading the details, I suggest you stop reading now.
The response to my Freedom of Information request contained details of a number of gruesome cases. Today, I’m just writing about one of them. I need to do a bit more background research before I write about the others.
This case is about the deaths of five recently-hatched Hen Harriers, found dead in their nest on a grouse moor in County Durham in June 2024.
Recently hatched Hen Harriers in a nest. Photo by Peak District Raptor Monitoring Group. NB: This image is for illustrative purposes only – these Hen Harriers were not stabbed to death.
As far as I’m aware, this is the first public report of this incident in the almost two-and-a-half years since it was discovered. I think I’d remember if I’d read about Hen Harrier chicks being stabbed to death. Natural England has remained silent about it, Durham Constabulary has remained silent about it, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s Hen Harrier Task Force has remained silent about it.
Both Natural England and the NWCU’s HH Task Force will both say it’s the local police force’s decision about when to publicise a suspected crime. Some of them might claim, ridiculously, that the case is still under active investigation so they can’t talk about it. I’d like to hear an explanation from all three agencies about why it’s taken a Freedom of Information request, almost two-and-a-half years later, for the details to emerge. Had an FoI not been submitted, would we ever have been told about it?
The discovery of the five dead Hen Harrier nestlings was considered to be sufficiently suspicious to warrant submitting the chicks for post mortems. These were undertaken by pathologists at ZSL, the Institute of Zoology in London, who are highly experienced having been examining dead Hen Harriers for a very long time (e.g. see here and here).
Here are the findings:
This is the cover form at the front of each of the five post mortem reports. They are all identical except for the reference number and the biological data of each individual carcass. Two x-rays were taken of each carcass, with no shot or fractured bones detected in any of them.
HEN HARRIER CHICK 1
HEN HARRIER CHICK 2
HEN HARRIER CHICK 3
HEN HARRIER CHICK 4
HEN HARRIER CHICK 5
I expect, now you’ve had a chance to read the pathologist’s necessarily cautious conclusions, that you’re as shocked as I am. It is difficult for sane, humane individuals to even begin to conceive stabbing a live animal, let alone five tiny, helpless nestlings.
I’ve spoken with a few people about this case, including a retired veterinarian (thank you!), to double check my reading and interpretation of these post mortems. Our thought processes followed a similar thread:
First thought: No, surely someone didn’t stab them, did they?
Second thought: Well, every other plausible explanation seems to have been ruled out – no fractured or broken bones, no evidence of shotgun pellets, no sign of disease, no evidence of predation, negative for Avian Influenza.
Third thought: They all appeared to be healthy, they all died at the same time in the same nest, something has clearly happened, but stabbed? Really? And when they were alive?
Fourth thought: If you look at the size and shape of some of the traumatic lesions (stab wounds), they appear to be quite rounded and not what you’d expect from a knife (especially on chicks 1 and 2). So what might have been used to stab the chicks?
Fifth thought: A screwdriver?
Sixth thought: No, surely not. What type of sadistic psychopath do you have to be to do that?
Seventh thought: The type of sadistic psychopath who chose not to remove the evidence of the crime, but instead chose to leave the stabbed corpses in the nest to be found.
Eighth thought: I can’t think of any other explanation other than they’ve been stabbed, and the pathologist wrote on every report that,
“The injuries were consistent with those that may be expected from a sharp implement used to stab the hen harrier, or a projectile weapon. No signs of ammunition were noted on radiography nor could be found during examinations, and therefore use of a sharp implement is more likely“.
Ninth thought: WTF?
If any of these thoughts resonate with you, then you’re also quite likely to be incensed by this point.
Incensed that whoever stabbed those chicks, in that nest, on that grouse moor, will not be held to account. They’ve got away with it, and will know that they could probably do it again and get away with it, again. And again. And again. Who’s stopping them?
And also incensed that the news of this case has been kept secret for all this time by a number of different agencies. Why? In whose interest is it to keep this under wraps?
And does this level of secrecy extend to Defra Ministers? Do the people who are in a position to bring about change, and indeed who have indicated that a change may be on the cards, do they know about this?
I think this horrific case provides us all with a beautifully serendipitous opportunity to channel our anger.
Defra’s Call for Evidence on the impact of gamebird shooting is open until 1st November 2026. Defra is asking anyone who has experiential evidence about the impact, whether positive or negative, to submit that evidence to the review. Experiential evidence is ‘lived experience’; what you’ve learned from the real world, rather than a theoretical concept.
I would argue that learning about what happened to those five Hen Harrier chicks is having an impact, it’s a lived experience, and therefore qualifies as experiential evidence and Defra needs to hear about it.
One of my colleagues described it to me as a sort of victim impact statement – the kind of declaration that’s presented in court from family and friends when someone has been murdered and they want the judge to consider the wider impact of the crime when deciding on a sentence.
If Defra Ministers are the judges, then it’s up to us to let them know what sort of impact these relentless crimes are having on us. Whether you’re disturbed by it, angered, upset, frustrated that raptor persecution is still happening and most of the time the perpetrators are still getting away it, then tell Defra, in your own words, about how this affects you, as a decent, reasonable, law-abiding member of society.
You don’t need to fill in the technical Call for Evidence submission form; you can simply write an email to Gamebirds@defra.gov.uk and write ‘Call for Evidence’ in the subject line.
As a way of directing your anger and getting justice for those five stabbed Hen Harrier chicks, it’s remarkably satisfying.
The Call for Evidence closes at midnight on 1st November 2026.
Natural England has finally published data for the 2026 Hen Harrier breeding season, showing yet again that Hen Harriers are not tolerated on most English grouse moors.
Of 45 recorded breeding attempts this year, only nine were on privately-owned grouse moors: the rest were on land managed for conservation.
And although the number of breeding attempts showed a slight increase this year (39 attempts were recorded in 2025), 33 of this year’s 45 attempts were successful, the same as last year.
When you consider that there are estimated to be between 150-190 grouse moors in England (there’s no official register for a precise number), with an estimated capacity for 330 pairs of breeding Hen Harriers, then only having nine breeding attempts (2.7% capacity) is really nothing to celebrate.
Although to be fair, that capacity for 330 breeding pairs doesn’t just include grouse moors – there are other types of moorland available. But even when that’s all included, then current breeding numbers still only amount to 13.3% of that capacity – so still nothing to be proud of.
Skydancing Hen Harriers – a rare sight on most English grouse moors. Photo: Pete Walkden
Natural England has published a blog about this year’s results, attributed to Matthew Heard, National Delivery Director, but just as last year, it’s either carelessly worded or deliberately designed to let the criminal grouse shooting industry off the hook.
Here’s a copy of Natural England’s blog, with commentary from me below:
My commentary:
It’s telling, I think, that the words ‘persecution’ or ‘illegal killing’ do not feature anywhere in Natural England’s blog, despite illegal persecution, over many decades, being the sole cause of this species’ precarious conservation status.
Instead, Natural England describes the cause as “conflicting land management priorities“.
Nope, it’s crime, committed by criminals, on grouse moors.
Natural England’s opening sentence says, “Hen Harriers… after decades of decline, have gradually returned to northern England as their population has recovered“. The population hasn’t recovered, it’s still recovering, and it’s only returned to parts of northern England – it’s still missing as a breeding species in vast areas of grouse moor in the North Pennines, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Nidderdale, and the Peak District.
As last year, once again Natural England has listed a regional breakdown of HH breeding attempts, but has failed to distinguish between those attempts on privately-owned grouse moors and those on moorland managed for conservation.
So for example, the figures for Bowland this year are 11 breeding attempts. That looks quite good, until you realise that nine of those breeding attempts were on land managed by the RSPB for United Utilities. So how many breeding attempts were there on the nearby and much larger Abbeystead Estate, for example?
Figures for the North Pennines are 8 breeding attempts; we know that at least three of those were on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve, where unusually this year the breeding males didn’t ‘disappear’ or weren’t found shot on neighbouring grouse moors, probably because the RSPB used diversionary feeding to try and keep the males on the reserve.
In Northumberland, there were 22 breeding attempts. I’d guess that, like last year, the vast majority of those were on land managed by Forestry England, not on privately-owned grouse moors.
In the Peak District there was a single breeding attempt (that subsequently failed), and once again this was on land owned by the National Trust. There was also another pair prospecting on NT land this year but they vanished in April before a breeding attempt got underway – again, a familiar pattern in this National Park.
In the whole of the Yorkshire Dales, there were only three breeding attempts, and not one in the whole of Nidderdale. I’d be interested to learn whether any of those breeding attempts in the Yorkshire Dales were successful.
Last year I provided a table to show the differences between HH breeding attempts on land managed for grouse moors and land managed for conservation:
This year I don’t yet have the data to be able to distinguish between the different types of land use but I’ve asked Natural England to provide it. I’ll blog when I receive it.
The funniest part of Natural England’s blog has to be this statement:
“The relatively small number of breeding attempts on grouse moors could be due to the reduced monitoring of grouse moors in 2026 in comparison to previous years“.
Yes, I suppose that might be plausible, if you’re six years old with no previous knowledge of this subject and willing to accept anything you’re told.
Does Natural England honestly think that grouse moor owners wouldn’t be shouting from the rooves of their stately homes if they were hosting breeding Hen Harriers on their grouse moors?!
Raptor persecution, and especially Hen Harrier persecution, is one of the biggest criticisms against the grouse shooting industry and these are crimes that they simply can’t justify, so industry leaders usually just deny it’s happening, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
If Hen Harriers were nesting on grouse moors all over northern England, the industry would make sure every single media outlet and every single Defra minister knew about it!
If you’re a raptor fieldworker, or a birdwatcher, and you’ve spent any time fruitlessly looking for breeding Hen Harriers on grouse moors, then this is the type of evidence/experience you could submit to Defra’s Call for Evidence on gamebird shooting. All the better if you can provide dates and locations. You don’t need to fill in the technical Call for Evidence submission form; you can simply write an email to Gamebirds@defra.gov.uk and write ‘Call for Evidence’ in the subject line. The Call for Evidence closes at midnight on 1st November 2026.
