Category: News

Four more satellite-tagged hen harriers have ‘gone missing’ since January 2025

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.

Hen harrier photo by Pete Walkden

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’:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Female hen harrier named ‘Bonnie’, Tag ID 254841. Date of last contact: 4 April 2025 in Scotland. ‘Site confidential – ongoing investigation’.
  4. 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:

  1. 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).
  2. Female hen harrier named ‘Edna’, Tag ID: 161143a. Last known transmission 7 June 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
  3. Female hen harrier, Tag ID: 254843. Last known transmission 29 July 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
  4. Male hen harrier, Tag ID: 254839. Last known transmission 5 August 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
  5. Male hen harrier named ‘Chance’, Tag ID: 254840, last known transmission date 8 August 2024 in Cumbria. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered awaiting PM‘.
  6. 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.

Private Eye ‘explains’ (sort of) its reasons for pulling Wild Justice adverts

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!

Ticks found in pheasant-release woods 2.5 times more likely to carry Lyme disease bacteria

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 paper, published in the journal Ecology Letters, is entitled: “The release of non-native gamebirds is associated with amplified zoonotic disease risk.”

ENDS

The paper is open access and can be read/downloaded here:

Ecology Letters – 2025 – Michels – The Release of Non‐Native Gamebirds Is Associated With Amplified Zoonotic Disease RiskDownload

‘In Britain, we burn precious peatland for sport’ – article in Prospect magazine about grouse moor burning

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.

ENDS

Tim Smedley is an environmental writer and author of books including The Last Drop: Solving the World’s Water Crisis (Picador). He is editor of the New Climate, and writes about climate change and the environment for Prospect.

Vengeful shooter laid poisoned baits in attempt to frame a Scottish estate for raptor persecution

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).

UPDATE 6 June 2025: Burgoyne sentenced here.

Ban driven grouse shooting petition passes 100,000 signatures & now eligible for Westminster debate

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.

The petition remains open until 22 May 2025.

We await a decision on if/when a debate will happen.

87-year old man due in court on 11 charges relating to alleged raptor persecution in Lincolnshire

Photo: Ruth Tingay

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)

OPERATION EASTER – 28 years of stopping egg thieves

Press release from National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU)

The national enforcement campaign to protect our nesting wild birds is underway for 2025.

The taking of wild bird eggs is a serious crime which threatens bird populations across the UK and internationally.  However, this activity remains an illicit hobby for some determined individuals. Whole clutches of eggs can be taken from some of the UK’s rarest birds and stored in secret collections.

In 2024, Operation PULKA dismantled a transnational egg trading network and highlighted the harm caused by this illegal activity.  In the region of 20,000 eggs were seized in coordinated warrants from nominals throughout the UK.  High value collections were also seized in Australia and Norway. 

Police forces and partner agencies will be working hard this nesting season to protect wild birds from criminals.  Information from the public is a vital part of identifying suspicious activity and catching criminals.  

Detective Inspector Mark Harrison from the UK NWCU said: 

“At this time of year one of my favourite things to do, is stand outside in the morning with a brew and listen to the birds singing as the breeding season gets underway. 

“But for some people this is when they are plotting, planning, visiting areas and checking for nests, getting their cameras, drones and climbing equipment ready. They may have to prepare a hide in their vehicle or check incubators are working correctly. For them this is a busy time of year.  Their interest in birds is far removed from mine.

“At the end of 2024 my team led Operation Pulka and worked with police forces across the UK to execute warrants at numerous addresses during which thousands of bird’s eggs were seized. This highlighted that egg collecting is still a threat to our wildlife.

“Add to this the threats to birds at this time of year from criminals wanting to take wild birds and launder them into the pet and falconry trades, criminals who want to kill certain birds due to some conflict with their hobby or business. Even overly keen bird photographers can disturb nesting birds and commit offences.

“Operation EASTER is one of the NWCUs longest standing operations for the protection of wild birds at this crucial time of year. We will help to co-ordinate the policing response, ensuring dedicated Police Wildlife Crime Officers receive up to date intelligence, operational support and access to specialist investigators from the NWCU. With the help of our partners and the public we can make a difference.

“We need the public and people who spend time out and about in our countryside to be our eyes and ears. To be aware of this criminality and to take the time to report anything suspicious or any information about this criminal activity to the police”.

If you have any information on egg and chick thieves, or those who disturb rare nesting birds without a licence, you should contact your local police by dialing 101 – ask to speak to a wildlife crime officer if possible. Get a description/photo and vehicle registration if safe to do so. Nesting will be in full swing in April so please contact the police if you see anyone acting suspiciously around nesting birds.

Information can also be passed in confidence to Crimestoppers via 0800 555 111.

ENDS

Gamekeeper from a Yorkshire Dales grouse moor charged in relation to alleged shooting of hen harrier (as featured on Channel 4 News in October)

In October last year, Channel 4 News featured incredible footage secretly filmed by the RSPB’s investigations team of three gamekeepers plotting to kill, and then allegedly killing, a hen harrier on an unnamed grouse moor in the north of England (see here).

If you missed the piece on Channel 4 News you can watch it here:

The audio quality on the footage was remarkable, allowing viewers to listen to the three gamekeepers discussing what not to shoot (a hen harrier with a satellite tag) and what to shoot (an untagged hen harrier, whose death would not be revealed to the wider world, or so they thought).

They were also heard discussing what else they’d apparently casually shot that afternoon – a buzzard and a raven, both protected species.

An untagged hen harrier. Photo by Pete Walkden

According to one of my media sources, a gamekeeper has now been charged in relation to this incident for an alleged offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

At this stage I’m not publishing the name of the accused, or the name of the grouse moor where the footage was captured, although I understand this information is widely known within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The accused is due in court for a first appearance next month.

NB: As an individual has now been charged, comments are disabled on this blog until criminal proceedings have ended to avoid prejudicing the case.

Natural England / DEFRA turns down licence application for hen harrier brood meddling in 2025

Some excellent news, for a change!

Natural England / DEFRA have turned down a licence application for hen harrier brood meddling in the 2025 breeding season, following the recent closure of the seven-year hen harrier brood meddling ‘trial’.

For new blog readers, the hen harrier brood meddling trial was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England between 2018 – 2024, in cahoots with the grouse shooting industry, the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involved the removal of hen harrier chicks from grouse moors, they were reared in captivity, then released back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season where many were illegally killed. It was plainly bonkers. For more background see here and here.

Male hen harrier. Photo by Pete Walkden

In autumn last year, the Moorland Association (grouse moor owners’ lobby group in England) lodged a licence application with Natural England, seeking to continue hen harrier brood meddling in 2025 albeit with some significant changes from the ‘trial’ conditions.

Those proposed changes included removing the requirement to satellite tag brood meddled hen harriers, presumably because the data from current satellite-tagged hen harriers have been so very effective at revealing the devastating extent of ongoing hen harrier persecution (e.g. see here and here). 

The other main change was that the Moorland Association wanted “a single release site” [for brood meddled hen harriers], “irrespective of the location from where they’d been removed from their nests”, presumably to get around the problem of there not being sufficient receptor sites willing to take the brood meddled harriers. I understand that the proposed single release site would have been of great interest to readers of this blog!

In March this year, Natural England announced the end of the hen harrier brood meddling trial but said it had not yet made a decision on whether to roll out brood meddling more widely (see here).

Today, Natural England has updated its hen harrier brood meddling blog with the following statement:

NE hasn’t provided any more detail about how it came to this very welcome decision but I have submitted an FoI and will publish NE’s response when it arrives.

Meanwhile, the Moorland Association has issued its own version of events about why its licence application was refused. I take everything the MA says with a dumper-truck-full of salt, given the reputation of its CEO for distorting and manipulating facts (e.g. see here and here).

According to this statement, the Moorland Association’s refusal to satellite tag brood meddled hen harriers was a factor in NE’s decision-making process. The Moorland Association says this:

“We proposed using high visibility leg tags because we have serious concerns about using satellite tags – particularly the added cost and complexity. We also have concerns about how satellite tracking data is [sic] being used to damage trust and increased [sic] tension“.

Er, nope. Satellite tag data are being used to demonstrate the ongoing and widespread criminal killing of hen harriers in and around many driven grouse moors. It’s the illegal killing (undertaken by gamekeepers on grouse moors) that’s damaging trust and increasing tension, not the use of satellite tag data!

At least 134 hen harriers ‘disappeared’/were illegally killed during the brood meddling trial, mostly on or close to grouse moors, and they’re just the ones we know about.

Incidentally, there’s news about a recent, very high profile case, coming shortly…

Meanwhile, I’m raising a glass to the end of hen harrier brood meddling (for this year, at least). It should never have started in the first place. Well done to all those who have campaigned so hard against it over the last seven years and shame on the individuals and organisations who facilitated this conservation sham.

Wild Justice’s petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting is nearing its 100,000-signature goal. It currently stands at 91,439. If you’d like to help it over the line, for the sake of future generations of hen harriers, please click here.