Category: 2013 persecution incidents

Poisoned peregrine rescued in Northern Ireland

A farmer, an RSPB warden, a politician and a falconer/gamekeeper have joined forces in Northern Ireland this week to rescue a stricken peregrine falcon believed to have been poisoned.

The bird was found by a farmer in a field at Churchill, Derrygonnelly, County Fermanagh. The farmer contacted an RSPB warden who collected the bird and passed her over to Stormont politician Jim Wells, who also just happens to be a peregrine expert and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group.

Jim immediately recognised the symptoms of Alphachloralose poisoning (it thins the blood and causes death by hypothermia) and so he whacked up the car heater as he drove the victim towards Lisburn. Once there, the peregrine was passed to registered falconer/gamekeeper Alan Coates.The bird was put in an incubator and given a saline solution and appears to be making good progress, although it is still early days. She remains under Alan’s care and is currently enjoying strips of pheasant breast!

Young peregrine shot

peregrine shotPolice in Bristol are appealing for information after a young peregrine was found injured by the side of the road in Queen Charlton, near Keynsham earlier this month. An x-ray revealed the bird had been shot.

The bird, which had been ringed as a chick in July, is now in the care of a local rehabilitation expert.

More details in The Bristol Post here.

Red kite found shot at Leadhills

RK Leadhills 2013A juvenile red kite was found critically injured in the village of Leadhills on 8th August. It’s injuries were so severe the bird had to be euthanised. See here for an SSPCA press release, and well done to them for not only getting this info out in good time but also for saying it how it is – none of this ‘the bird’s death was not by natural causes’ rubbish that we saw Police Scotland put out a few months ago when a shot red kite had been found in Aberdeenshire (see here).

This latest incident will come as no surprise whatsoever to anybody who has been following this blog.

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know what happens to birds of prey at Leadhills, try reading this as a little introduction and for even more info just click on the Leadhills Estate tag and read on.

So, here we are again, reporting yet another crime against a bird of prey at Leadhills. Not to worry though, especially if you happen to be the RSPB Scotland Director – he has recently agreed to hold the 2014 Scottish Birdfair at Hopetoun House, returning for the third consecutive year. For those who don’t know, the Hopetoun family own Leadhills Estate and some of them live in Hopetoun House. The Earl of Hopetoun also happens to serve on the Board of Directors at Scottish Land & Estates.

Needless to say, we’ll be blogging some more in due course about the RSPB’s decision to return to Hopetoun House, and we still need to blog about the Leadhills Estate Game Book that has found its way into our hands. We’ve also got some other stuff about Leadhills to talk about…it’s just a question of finding the time…

More soon….

Suspected red kite poisonings: 4 in Northern Ireland this year alone

_69410526_deadkiteConcern is growing over the number of suspected red kite poisonings in Northern Ireland, following the discovery of a 4th bird last week in Castlewellan, County Down.

The birds were part of a reintroduction project, initiated by the RSPB in 2008 after persecution in the 18th century had caused their extinction. This reintroduction project has so far resulted in a small breeding population and this year it is believed seven pairs managed to successfully raise young. Three of the four birds found dead this year were breeding adults.

What is especially surprising, and shocking, about these deaths is that the RSPB do not yet know whether poisoning has been confirmed. Why not? Because they’re still waiting to receive the toxicology results from the lab…..one of these dates back to early January!

These toxicology results are crucial for understanding what’s going on in Castlewellan – we have been informed that three of the birds were picked up within the same valley – an area of approximately 1km2 – if the birds were poisoned, which seems likely, the team needs to know whether this was as a result of secondary poisoning (e.g. by eating rodents that have been poisoned with rodenticides) or whether the birds were deliberately and directly targeted with illegal poisons (such as Carbofuran). Without this information it is very difficult for the team to address the problem with the appropriate action.

The problem in Northern Ireland is not just limited to County Down –  watch out for a press release next week concerning another red kite victim elsewhere in the country…

BBC news article here

Peregrine shot, barn owl chick stolen, hen harriers remembered

It’s been quite a day. The so-called ‘Glorious 12th’ has been taken back by the conservationists and re-named Hen Harrier Day, in an inspired move by Alan Tilmouth (read his blog entry here).

Although he only came up with the idea yesterday, Twitter has been alive today with hundreds of people using the #henharrier tag to celebrate these spectacular birds and to express their anger at the virtual extermination of the species on grouse moors across England. Unsurprisingly, the game-shooting organisations were conspicuously absent.

Mark Avery also came up with a plan to help hen harriers. He’s called it BanGS – see here.

Meanwhile, news came through that police in Bolton are appealing for information after an injured and distressed peregrine was found by the side of a road. It had been shot. Full details here.

Elsewhere, the Suffolk Wildlife Trust is appealing for information after a barn owl chick was stolen from the Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve last night. Information here.

In other news, we’ve been having a look at some VERY interesting literature – a copy of the Leadhills Estate gamebook (don’t ask how we got hold of it!!) – which very helpfully documents annual counts of killed ‘vermin’ over a considerable number of decades. ‘Vermin’ in Leadhills-speak includes hawks, badgers, otters, cats and ravens amongst others. It’s fascinating. We’ll be writing more on this in due course…

Leadhills game book vermin lists

3 peregrines shot: 2 dead, 1 severely injured

Three peregrines have been found shot in South Tipperary, Ireland over the last few weeks.

The first, a breeding female, was found shot dead under her church ruin nest site in mid-June.

The second, an adult male, was found injured a few days later near to another nest site close by. This bird is being treated at a rehabilitation centre but it is feared it will not recover well enough to be released.

The third, a breeding male, was found shot dead in July at the nest site where the adult female had been shot dead.

Full details on the BirdWatch Ireland website here.

The photograph shows the adult female found shot dead in June. Photo by Kevin Collins.

Dead_female_Peregrine_Falcon_(Kevin_Collins)_500

Buzzard shot in the throat in North Ayrshire

shot buzzard hessilheadAnd so it continues….

An injured buzzard was delivered to a wildlife resecue centre near Beith, North Ayrshire on Sunday. It had been shot in the throat.

Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre had this to say:

“Today a buzzard was delivered to us, and we were disappointed to see it had been shot. A pellet had punctured the buzzard’s crop, and some of its last meal was oozing out. We cleaned it up, stitched up the wound, and hope that the pellet hasn’t gone right through the crop. The bird will need antibiotics, and we are hopeful of a full recovery“.

Another raptor persecution incident, another victim, another wildlife crime for which no-one will be brought to justice. This case is just the latest in a string of incidents in Scotland this year: there has been at least one (recorded) raptor persecution incident every single month so far this year.

Police appeal after 2 buzzards found poisoned in April

buzzardpoisonedchittlehamptonThe police are appealing for information after the discovery of two poisoned buzzards in Chittlehampton, North Devon. The birds were found in April.

More information here, but very little detail given.

Kestrel shot in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for information after a kestrel was found shot on Monday. The bird was found near the High Batts Nature Reserve at North Stainley, near Ripon, its wing shattered by shotgun pellets. It had to be euthanised by a vet.

North Yorkshire is one of the worst areas for raptor persecution crimes in the UK.

We’re impressed that North Yorkshire Police Wildlife Crime Officer PC Gareth Jones got the appeal for information out, in the media and on the North Yorks Police website, within 4 days of the bird being found. Really well done to him.

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to contact PC Gareth Jones – his details available in the following links:

Press release on North Yorks Police website here

Article in the Northern Echo here

Photo of kestrel hovering by davidchapman.org.uk

Another shot buzzard found in the Scottish Borders

A dead buzzard found in the Heriot area of the Scottish Borders had been shot, according to the BBC.

Police Scotland are appealing for information after the bird’s decomposed body was discovered close to Carcant Hill on 30th June. A forensic analysis revealed the bird had been shot although it’s not known whether this was the cause of death.

Well done to the new Police Scotland WCO in the Borders, PC Hannah Medley, for publicising this incident within a couple of weeks of the bird being found (her second one this year, following the discovery of a shot buzzard at St Mary’s Loch in March, which she also publicised pretty quickly – see here).

BBC article on latest shot buzzard in Heriot here.