Category: Henry the Hen Harrier

Henry’s entering South Lanarkshire. You might know it from the annual raptor persecution maps – there’s usually a dirty great big red spot indicating that this is a raptor persecution hotspot.

You don’t need a map to tell you that, though. Just look at the landscape and the tell-tale muirburn strips of burnt heather on the hills will tell you all you need to know. This is driven grouse moor country.

Henry paid a visit (under heavily armed guard) to the RSPB’s Geltsdale reserve in Cumbria, scene of the latest hen harrier ‘disappearance’.

A team from Channel 4 News was also at Geltsdale to talk about ‘disappearing’ hen harriers – that programme aired on Tues evening (9th June). If you missed it, it’ll appear on Channel 4 Catch Up in the next few days.

It was good to see the issue of hen harrier persecution featuring on a national news programme and it was even better to see who the grouse-shooting industry had put forward as their spokesman – one Duncan Thomas, ex-Police Wildlife Crime Officer (Bowland) and currently working for BASC. Some of you may remember him from last year’s Countryfile – we blogged about his performance here.

Here’s what he had to say on last night’s programme:

“There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that these birds have been persecuted. They could merely have moved on or died from natural predation. We’ve had a horrendous spring up here, many many species have suffered as a result, as a direct result of that, and in all the time that I was [Police] Wildlife Crime Officer and doing this job [BASC], I’ve not seen direct evidence of human persecution. I’m confident that everybody up here is doing their bit to make this work. What we need is the Hen Harrier Recovery Plan to be able to reintroduce and to spread this species in to suitable habitat and to get the population back to a level where everybody’s comfortable with“.

‘No direct evidence’ is probably the line used by those defending Jimmy Savile for all those years. Truth will out in the end – it always does, and we are all well on the way to exposing that truth to a much wider audience than ever before.

What Mr Thomas forgot to mention is the management of the grouse moors adjacent to the Geltsdale reserve. Wonder who owns those and perhaps more interestingly, who the sporting agent is?

The presenter, Tom Clarke (Science editor, C4 News) chose his words carefully and did a reasonably good job, although he needs to check his research when he claims that ‘hen harriers are doing quite well in Scotland’ – they’re actually not – see here.

Henry called in to the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club HQ to talk about their efforts in the fight against illegal raptor persecution in Scotland.

Last year, the SOC joined the other increasing number of voices who are standing up to say enough is enough (see here and here).

This year they will play a prominent role in the support and planning of Hen Harrier Day events in Scotland. More news about those plans soon……save the date (Sunday 9th August 2015).

Henry paid a visit to the HQ of Scottish Land & Estates.

The lights weren’t on and nobody was in.

SLE is a representative body of 1,351 landowners who own 2.27 million hectares of Scotland (figures from Andy Wightman).

Here’s what SLE’s CEO, Doug McAdam, tweeted when he learned Henry had called by:

‘Over 500 pairs of hen harriers on Scottish moorland at last count’.

Here’s what he didn’t mention (see here for source) –

• The potential national hen harrier population in Scotland is estimated (conservatively) to be within the range 1467-1790 pairs.
• The current national hen harrier population in Scotland as recorded during the most recent (2010) national survey is 505 pairs, more than a 20% decline from the numbers recorded during the 2004 national survey.
• In Scotland, the hen harrier has a favourable conservation status in only five of 20 regions.
• Two main constraints on population growth have been identified: illegal persecution, and in one region, prey shortages.
• The species is particularly unsuccessful in the Central Highlands, Cairngorm Massif, Northeast Glens, Western Southern Uplands and the Border Hills. There is strong evidence in these grouse moor regions that illegal persecution is causing the failure of a majority of breeding attempts.

Has Doug McAdam been taking spinning lessons from an ex-England cricketer?

Henry’s gone north again, back to the badlands of North Yorkshire.

“Welcome to Richmondshire” (where, if you’ve got talons and a hooked beak, you can expect your body to be peppered with shotgun pellets, just like this sign).