White-tailed eagles: First breeding pair confirmed in Northern Ireland in over 150 years
White-tailed Eagles have bred in Northern Ireland for the first time in more than 150 years in Co. Fermanagh.
News of the discovery was welcomed by the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group (NIRSG) and RSPB.
White-tailed Eagles, a native component of Irish wildlife, were reintroduced to Ireland by the Golden Eagle Trust (GET) and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) between 2007 and 2011, with the aim of establishing a viable population following extinction from Ireland in the late 19th century.
White-tailed eagle photo by Dr Marc Ruddock
From 2007 to 2011, 100 eagle chicks were brought from Norway and were released in Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry. Phase 2 of the reintroduction, by NPWS, continued in 2020 with more young individuals released at a number of sites across Ireland to bolster the population. Released birds were wing-tagged, with tag colours relating to their year of birth and codes to identify individuals, and many were fitted with satellite tags to provide accurate details of their locations.
The pair that have bred in Northern Ireland are only four years old and were released on the shores of Lough Derg, Co Tipperary in 2020, having been brought from Norway in phase 2 of the Irish reintroduction programme. It is an incredible achievement that this pair of first-time breeders, have successfully fledged one chick. The success of this pioneering couple confirms that the wetlands, woodlands and farmlands of Co. Fermanagh provide ideal habitats for this species.
The White-tailed Eagle, or ‘sea eagle’, is the UK’s largest bird of prey, standing at almost 1 meter tall, with a huge wingspan of up to 2.4 metres and a distinctive white tail, as their name suggests. The wings are very broad, and the birds are often described as a ‘flying barn door’.
Young White-tailed Eagles often roam widely in their first few years of life, before finding a breeding territory and a mate. They are found near open water, either coastal or fresh. They can live to over 20 years of age, and usually begin breeding at 5 years old. They depend on the availability of large, mature trees in undisturbed areas in which to build their nests and good quality foraging and fishing habitats.
Dr Eimear Rooney from NIRSG said “The confirmation of this eagle species breeding in Northern Ireland corrects a multi-generational absence, symbolising the restoration of a once extinct species and highlighting the importance of wetlands, woodlands and farmland habitats on which many of our raptors depend”.
“From reviewing satellite data provided by NPWS we had an idea that the birds were nesting, but with young eagles nothing is guaranteed. I can’t describe the adrenalin rush the moment I saw the chick earlier this year and confirmed that the birds were not only nesting but had successfully reared a chick” she said.
The well camouflaged WTE chick on the nest. Photo: NIRSG
Dean Jones, Investigations Officer from RSPB NI said: “The return of breeding White-tailed eagles to Northern Ireland is a true testament to the power of conservation and really showcases the awe-inspiring resilience and adaptability of our natural world. The poisoning of the two White-tailed eagles in Glenwherry in May 2023 was devastating, however, to have this pair breeding successfully, under the protection of a caring local farmer, really illustrates how humans and birds of prey can exist in harmony.”
Dr Marc Ruddock, from the NIRSG said “We had been anticipating this for a few years and the reintroduction programmes, has resulted in real conservation successes across the Island of Ireland. It’s a great result for the dedication and hard work of many individuals for many years and testament to the resilience of nature and wildlife in its capacity for restoration and renewal if given the space and habitats to thrive.”
Gregory Woulahan, Operations Director from RSPB NI praised the efforts of the local farmer whose actions to keep the site private and minimise disturbance no doubt created the conditions for these young birds to rear their first chick. It is hoped this chick will reach adulthood and return to breed in 4-6 years boosting the population of these birds alongside creating tourism opportunities for the rural economy and the implementation of further efforts to boost and restore spaces for nature.
Blimey! I wasn’t expecting to hear this, but according to an article posted on the BirdGuides website (here), the Hawk & Owl Trust has finally decided to walk away from the hen harrier brood meddling sham.
I haven’t been able to find anything published about it on the Hawk & Owl Trust website but as Chief Operations Director Adrian Blumfield is quoted in the BirdGuides article we can assume there’s more substance to it than just rumour:
“While the Hawk and Owl Trust has supported the Brood-Management Trial to foster co-operation and dialogue between conservationists and land managers, it has always maintained a position that any approach must be guided by robust scientific evidence.
“As the licence comes to a natural conclusion, we believe it is the right time to redirect our efforts toward other conservation initiatives where we can continue to make a meaningful impact.
“The challenges facing Hen Harrier are indicative of broader issues impacting birds of prey and other wildlife across the UK. Looking ahead, the Hawk and Owl Trust remains dedicated to working collaboratively with partners and stakeholders, developing practical, long-term solutions that protect our most vulnerable wildlife species while balancing the interests of the people who share their environment“.
Many of you will remember the Hawk & Owl Trust’s shocking decision in 2014-2015 to get in to bed with the grouse shooting industry in support of hen harrier brood meddling (here). It not only got into bed with them, it pulled up the duvet and stuck in some heavy duty ear plugs, refusing to be budged.
It cost the Trust dearly, as their President (Chris Packham) resigned, a load of members cancelled their subscriptions, and the charity’s credibility has never recovered in conservation circles. Much of the Trust’s decisions seemed to be led by the then Chair, Philip Merricks, but Trust statements at the time claimed that the decisions had the full backing of the Board of Trustees (at least two of whom were directly involved with the brood meddling trial, which seemed a bit questionable).
The Trust claimed to have several ‘immoveable conditions’ attached to its participation in brood meddling, not least that it would pull out ‘if any member of the moorland management organisations were found to have illegally interfered with or persecuted a hen harrier on their moors’ (here). We later learned that the ‘immoveable conditions’ were actually very moveable indeed (see here) and weren’t worth the paper they’d been printed on.
Needless to say, persecution continued and even when one of the hen harriers (called Rowan), satellite-tagged by Natural England in association with the Hawk & Owl Trust, was found dead with clear shotgun injuries to its leg, the Trust did all it could to avoid admitting the bleedin’ obvious (e.g. see here, here, here).
Even when the shotgun injuries were proven on Rowan, the Hawk & Owl Trust continued its charade (see here, here and here).
So whilst the Hawk & Owl Trust’s withdrawal from the brood meddling sham doesn’t appear to be based on principle per se (if it was, they should have left years ago when it was obvious that illegal persecution was continuing), nevertheless their withdrawal will be seen as a blow to the grouse moor industry because they often used the Hawk & Owl Trust’s involvement as a signal that ‘raptor conservationists’ were supportive of the sham trial.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago (here), Natural England is currently ‘reviewing and analysing the data’ from the hen harrier brood meddling sham before making a decision about whether or not to roll out brood meddling as an annual so-called ‘conservation licence’. The findings of that review will apparently be available by the end of this year.
UPDATE 21 November 2024: More detail on Hawk & Owl Trust’s withdrawal from hen harrier brood meddling sham (here).
Press release from Wild Justice (26 September 2024):
Environmental campaign group Wild Justice has lodged a complaint to the Competition and Marketing Authority about false claims made by Waitrose and Marks & Spencer in relation to selling game meat contaminated with toxic lead shot.
Maximum legal lead levels are set for meats such as beef, pork, chicken etc. but not, utterly bizarrely, for game meat, even though the Food Standards Agency warns that, ‘Eating lead-shot game regularly can expose you to potentially harmful levels of lead. Those who eat lead-shot game should be aware of the negative health effects and try to minimise exposure.
Exposure to lead can harm the developing brain and nervous system. Minimising the amount of lead-shot game eaten is especially important for children, pregnant women and women hoping to conceive’.
Nevertheless, with a nod to growing concerns about the impact of toxic lead ammunition on public health, wildlife and the environment, in recent years both Waitrose and Marks and Spencer have stated publicly that they no longer stock gamebirds (Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges) that have been shot with lead ammunition.
However, research undertaken by Wild Justice during the last gamebird shooting season (1 September 2023 – 1 February 2024) shows that some of their products still contain high levels of lead contamination that would exceed the legal limit stipulated for other (non-game) meat, in some cases more than five times above the legal limit (Marks & Spencer’s Pheasants – here) and over 65 times above the legal limit (Waitrose’s game casserole mix – here).
Game meat products contaminated with toxic lead shot and ironically branded under Waitrose’s ‘No.1 The Best‘ range, on sale in January 2024. Photo: Ruth Tingay
The Competition and Marketing Authority (CMA) has a ‘green claims code’ that provides guidance for businesses making environmental claims about their goods and services. Wild Justice has provided evidence to the CMA that the claims being made by Waitrose and Marks and Spencer about no longer stocking game meat that has been shot with lead ammunition breaches the CMA guidance requiring marketing claims to be ‘truthful and accurate’ and ‘substantiated’.
Wild Justice said: “It is clear from our lab testing results that the repeated claims made by both Marks and Spencer and Waitrose that they no longer stock game meat that has been shot with lead ammunition are neither truthful or accurate.
“Our results also suggest that neither supermarket has undertaken independent testing to substantiate their claims that they no longer stock lead-shot game meat. Instead they appear to have relied upon assurances from their suppliers that the products are lead-free, and in the case of Waitrose this irresponsibility has continued even after we have made them aware of our results over a number of years.
“Marks and Spencer has now sold lead-contaminated game meat for two seasons since claiming to have gone lead-free and Waitrose has sold it for three seasons since making the same claim.
“Customers of these major supermarkets expect honesty and transparency about the products they buy, including the environmental impact of their purchases. They also expect not to be deceived about the risks to their health and that of their children by consuming poisonous meat.
“We look forward to the consideration of our findings by the CMA”.
A full ban on the use of snares was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2024 as part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act (here), although it wasn’t clear when the snare ban would actually begin.
This was a significant victory for animal welfare campaigners, especially the League Against Cruel Sports and OneKind, but also many others, who have spent decades putting forward evidence that these devices, cynically named ‘humane cable restraints’ by the game-shooting industry, are cruel, indiscriminate and inhumane and have no place in modern society.
A snare placed close to a ‘stink pit’ (a heap of rotting animals) designed to attract predators such as foxes. Photo: OneKind
Earlier this month, Green MSP Ariane Burgess lodged a parliamentary question asking the Scottish Government for clarity on the commencement date of the snare ban (see here).
Yesterday, Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie MSP provided a response and has stated that the snare ban is expected to come into force on 25 November 2024:
It appears from Jim Fairlie’s words that the ban will be immediate, with no ‘phasing-out’ period.
This is excellent news. Well done to everyone involved in this landmark legislation. That’s Wales and Scotland….England next?
Last week Natural England published its results of the 2024 hen harrier breeding season and has reported a drop in breeding attempts (here).
This drop has been mainly attributed to poor weather, which is a reasonable assumption, although I’m pretty sure that it’s also been rainy in Northumberland (especially Kielder) and Bowland, where hen harriers continue to do well on land that isn’t managed for grouse shooting. Hmm, funny that.
And in the North Pennines, two pairs bred successfully on the RSPB’s Geltsdale reserve producing eight fledglings, the most successful breeding season there since the 1990s (here) and thanks in no small part to the round-the-clock nest protection provided by the RSPB. It also helps that none of the breeding males were found dead with shotgun injuries on the neighbouring grouse moor.
Disappointingly, Natural England’s end-of-season blog does not even mention any of the ongoing police investigations into dead/’missing’ hen harriers this year (currently 8 that we know about), let alone provide any level of detail about the causes of death. This lack of transparency has become Natural England’s hallmark.
Nor does the blog say anything about the collapse of its hen harrier brood meddling sham trial, other than ‘No nests were brood managed in 2024‘. We already knew that (see here) but I suppose it was a bit much to expect NE to admit to being mugged off by the grouse shooting industry in which it had ludicrously placed so much trust.
The blog does say that NE is “currently reviewing and analysing the data” [from the brood meddling sham trial] and that this is “a process which will be concluded later this year“. NE intends to use its findings to assess whether brood meddling will be rolled out as an annual so-called ‘conservation licence’. This seems an utterly untenable proposition given that (a) at least 128 hen harriers have been illegally killed or gone ‘missing’ in suspicious circumstances, mostly on or close to grouse moors, since brood meddling began (here) and (b) Andrew Gilruth, the CEO of NE’s main brood meddling partner, the Moorland Association, has recently been booted off the national police-led effort to tackle raptor persecution for “wasting time and distracting from the real work” of the Hen Harrier taskforce (here).
I look forward to NE’s brood meddling analysis with great interest. I wonder whether it’ll be as shabby as NE’s behaviour revealed in two examples this morning (see here and here)?
Last week 51-year old Dylan Boyle was found guilty at Kirkaldy Sheriff Court in connection with the digging and blocking of an active badger sett during an outing with the Fife Fox Hunt in January 2023 (see Police Scotland press statement here, where the police describe Boyle’s actions as “reckless and deplorable“).
This is an interesting case, not just because Boyle is reportedly an ex-gamekeeper but because part of his (unsuccessful) defence was apparently based upon testimony from an expert witness who just happens to be the ‘chief’ of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s (SGA) ‘training centre’.
Why is that important? Well, because the SGA is positioning itself to provide the mandatory training courses as required by those operating grouse moor licences under the new Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.
I’ll come back to that. First, here’s some more important background information about the case, as provided in a press release by the League Against Cruel Sports (Scotland) –
Man found guilty on two charges for wildlife crimes
Charge 1, digging a badger sett. Contrary to the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Charge 2, blocking a badger sett. Contrary to the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
A former terrier man with the Berwickshire and Fife Fox Hunts, Dylan Boyle, has been found guilty on two charges related to the destruction of a badger sett, by digging into an active badger sett and deliberately blocking entrances to the sett with rocks, nets and earth using a spade. The conviction was supported by covert film evidence captured by the animal charity, League Against Cruel Sports.
Dylan Boyle, aged 52, a transport officer who lives in Avonbridge, pled not guilty at a three-day trial which concluded on Friday 13th September 2024 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Sentencing was deferred until the 13th of March 2025, but potential penalties for interfering with a badger sett include a maximum of 12 months imprisonment and / or a £40,000 fine.
The incident, which took place in January 2023 near Cupar, was witnessed and filmed by a Field Research and Investigations Officer for the League Against Cruel Sports who was monitoring the activities of the Fife Fox Hunt, which the terrier man was operating alongside at the time.
During the three-day trial the court was shown video footage of Boyle digging a badger sett. The League Against Cruel Sports investigator also gave verbal evidence relating to the blocking of the badger sett entrances.
On the second day of the trial three other charges were dropped. Two of these related to the treatment of a fox, in which it had been alleged Boyle had pulled a fox out from underground, shot it twice and encouraged his dog to attack and bite at the fox.
Screen grab from video footage of Boyle taking photos whilst a dog savages a fox that Boyle had dug out from a badger sett
The third charge to be dropped was the entering of a dog into an active badger sett, a serious offence concerning the welfare of the protected badgers as well as the dog. According to the Sheriff, the evidence that was presented in court by the Fiscal Prosecutions Officer was not sufficient to bring about a conviction on this occasion. During the final day’s trial, Boyle admitted entering his dog underground.
Sheriff Mark Alan found Boyle guilty on the charges of digging a badger sett and blocking a badger sett, both contrary to the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
The Sheriff, in summing up, commented that he was very satisfied with the evidence given by the experts from the League Against Cruel Sports, stating that he was “satisfied that Boyle knowingly dug and blocked an active badger sett with disregard to the welfare of the badgers”.
The Sheriff also stated that if Boyle is caught committing further crimes between now and his sentencing in March 2025, then he could be facing jail time.
Robbie Marsland, Director of Scotland and Northern Ireland for League Against Cruel Sports, welcomed the guilty verdict and said:
“I’m very pleased that the League Against Cruel Sports’ vigilant fieldworkers were able to provide Police Scotland with video evidence that led to this successful conviction.
“Crimes against wildlife are all too common in Scotland and I hope this case will serve to remind people like Mr Boyle that our cameras can be anywhere.”
ENDS
The League Against Cruel Sports has published its video footage of the crime scene which provides an insight of Boyle’s offences:
As mentioned above, it’s reported that the defence called Alan Tweedie as an expert witness to defend Boyle’s actions. Alan Tweedie is the SGA’s Training Centre ‘chief’ (here).
According to a member of the public who attended the trial, Tweedie told the court he was an ex-gamekeeper and is now self-employed and works for the SGA providing training courses for gamekeepers.
Tweedie was asked whether he had seen the video evidence, and he told the court that he had. He was asked whether he’d seen anything in the video footage that he thought was wrong and Tweedie reportedly told the court that he saw nothing wrong in Boyle’s actions.
Given Boyle’s subsequent convictions, based on the League’s video evidence, it’s of significant concern that Alan Tweedie didn’t spot the wildlife crime offences described by Police Scotland as “reckless and deplorable”.
If this is the view of the SGA’s ‘training centre chief’ what confidence can be placed in the SGA’s ability to provide suitable training that would meet the requirements of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024?
I should say here that I’m far as I’m aware, it hasn’t yet been decided who will provide the training requirements brought in under the new legislation. I understand that NatureScot has been consulting with a number of organisations (including animal welfare and conservation groups) about its proposed plans but that these discussions have so far mostly focused on the training content rather than who will deliver it. Although if you look on the SGA’s website, the SGA is quite clearly positioning itself to deliver the training elements associated with corvid and spring trap use (see here).
One to watch.
UPDATE 17.00hrs: There’s more commentary on the trial written by Jamie McKenzie in an article posted on 18 September in The Courier, although it sits behind a paywall. Here are the interesting bits:
Former gamekeeper Dylan Boyle, 51, was filmed by investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) at a farm at Letham, near Cupar, on January 10 last year.
During a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court he had denied two charges of interfering with a badger sett by digging and damaging it and obstructing access by blocking an entrance with rocks.
Boyle, of Avonbridge near Falkirk, told the trial he had been there with a terrier dog to control foxes that day.
He insisted it was not an active badger sett and he only saw fox holes.
The trial heard an ecologist and police officer went to the site the next day and found tell-tale signs of an active badger sett, as had an LACS investigator on the day of the offence.
The court heard key indicators included D-shaped entrance holes – fox holes are more oval-shaped – and badger hair, scratch marks, bedding material and latrines.
Prosecutor Gerard Drugan put to Boyle he was suggesting experts were wrong about the presence of badger holes, to which the accused replied: “That could have happened the night before – they (experts) were there the following day.”
Mr Drugan said: “Your position is that somehow, overnight, badgers moved into the locus and reshaped the holes?”
Boyle replied: “Yes.”
The fiscal depute said: “But (the LACS investigator) saw they were badger holes?”
Boyle, who said he had studied gamekeeping and wildlife management at college, said: “He could be wrong.”
The fiscal said: “People who have spent a long time being involved with badgers are wrong?
“(The LACS investigator) was wrong,” Boyle responded.
Sheriff Mark Allan said he was satisfied it was an active badger sett on the key date and found Boyle guilty of two charges in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
The sheriff told Boyle: “I am satisfied you both dug the badger sett and obstructed the sett and did so with reckless disregard as to the consequences of your actions.”
Making reference to Boyle’s own background, education and knowledge, the sheriff said: “You should take care, you should not show reckless disregard for what it was you were doing on that particular occasion.
“You require to be careful and ensure what you are not doing is interfering with a badger sett.”
Sentence was deferred for six months, until March 13, for Boyle to be of good behaviour.
ENDS
UPDATE 18 March 2025: Former Scottish gamekeeper receives pathetic sentence for digging Badger sett (here)
For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of hen harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise.
[This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay]
This is the blog I now publish after every reported killing or suspicious disappearance.
“They disappear in the same way political dissidents in authoritarian dictatorships have disappeared” (Stephen Barlow, 22 January 2021).
Today the list has been updated to include the most recently reported victims, comprising five of eight reported incidents on Natural England’s latest sat tag update (August 2024) and that I blogged about here a couple of days ago. Three of the hen harriers have, like so many others, ‘disappeared’ without trace and two others have been found dead and are, according to an FoI response I received from Natural England in June, the subject of police investigations. The three of the eight that I’m not including on the list yet have all been found dead but Natural England has not yet reported on the post mortem results nor stated whether they are under police investigation so it’s not yet clear whether they are the victims of illegal persecution.
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 is 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. This year the brood meddling trial appears to have collapsed for reasons which are not yet clear (see here).
Brood meddling has been 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 128 hen harriers gone since 2018, and 30 of those being brood meddled birds, there is no question that the grouse shooting industry is simply taking the piss. Meanwhile, Natural England pretends that ‘partnership working’ is the way to go and DEFRA Ministers remain silent.
*n/a – no hen harriers were brood meddled in 2018
‘Partnership working’ according to Natural England appears 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 that prevents Natural England from criticising them or the sham brood meddling trial (see here). This is in addition to a £10k ‘donation’ that Natural England accepted, under the same terms, in 2021 (here).
Thankfully, the Scottish Government has 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.
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?
February 2018: Hen harrier Saorsa ‘disappeared’ in the Angus Glens in Scotland (here). The Scottish Gamekeepers Association later published wholly inaccurate information claiming the bird had been re-sighted. The RSPB dismissed this as “completely false” (here).
5 February 2018: Hen harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here).
9 February 2018: Hen harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here).
18 April 2018: Hen harrier Lia ‘disappeared’ in Wales and her corpse was retrieved in a field in May 2018. Cause of death was unconfirmed but police treating death as suspicious (here).
8 August 2018: Hen harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here).
16 August 2018: Hen harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
29 August 2018: Hen harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
3 September 2018: Hen harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
24 September 2018: Hen harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
2 October 2018: Hen harrier Mabel ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here).
23 October 2018: Hen harrier Tom ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here).
26 October 2018: Hen harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 November 2018: Hen harrier Barney ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor (here).
10 November 2018: Hen harrier Rannoch ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Her corpse was found nearby in May 2019 – she’d been killed in an illegally-set spring trap (here).
14 November 2018: Hen harrier River ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (here). Her corpse was found nearby in April 2019 – she’d been illegally shot (here).
16 January 2019: Hen harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here).
28 January 2019: Hen harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here).
7 February 2019: Hen harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here).
22 April 2019: Hen harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
26 April 2019: Hen harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here).
11 May 2019: An untagged male hen harrier was caught in an illegally-set trap next to his nest on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire. He didn’t survive (here).
7 June 2019: An untagged hen harrier was found dead on a grouse moor in Scotland. A post mortem stated the bird had died as a result of ‘penetrating trauma’ injuries and that this bird had previously been shot (here).
5 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 1 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor nr Dalnaspidal on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park (here).
11 September 2019: Hen harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
14 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here).
23 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here).
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
24 September 2019: Hen harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here).
10 October 2019: Hen harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here).
12 October 2019: Hen harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here).
18 October 2019: Member of the public reports the witnessed shooting of an untagged male hen harrier on White Syke Hill in North Yorkshire (here).
November 2019: Hen harrier Mary found illegally poisoned on a pheasant shoot in Ireland (here).
November 2019: Hen harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (RSPB pers comm).
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here).
December 2019: Hen harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (RSPB pers comm).
January 2020: Members of the public report the witnessed shooting of a male hen harrier on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
23 March 2020: Hen harrier Rosie ‘disappeared’ at an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
1 April 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183703) ‘disappeared’ in unnamed location, tag intermittent (here).
5 April 2020: Hen harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
8 April 2020: Hen harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
19 May 2020: Hen harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here).
21 May 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here).
27 May 2020: Hen harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here).
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male hen harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
9 July 2020: Unnamed female hen harrier (#201118) ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed site in Northumberland (here).
25 July 2020: Hen harrier Harriet ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
14 August 2020: Hen harrier Solo ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here).
7 September 2020: Hen harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
16 September 2020: Hen harrier Fortune ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
19 September 2020: Hen harrier Harold ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 September 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2020, #55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here).
24 February 2021: Hen harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here)
12th April 2021: Hen harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here).
18 May 2021: Adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen harrier Asta ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here). We learned 18 months later that her wings had been ripped off so her tag could be fitted to a crow in an attempt to cover up her death (here).
14th August 2021: Hen harrier Josephine ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here).
17 September 2021: Hen harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here)
24 September 2021: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2021, R2-F-1-21) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
15 November 2021: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F1-20) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Val ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Percy ‘disappeared’ in Lothian, Scotland (here).
12 December 2021: Hen harrier Jasmine ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here).
9 January 2022: Hen harrier Ethel ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
26 January 2022: Hen harrier Amelia ‘disappeared’ in Bowland (here).
10 February 2022: An unnamed satellite-tagged hen harrier ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated area of the Peak District National Park (here). One year later it was revealed that the satellite tag/harness of this young male called ‘Anu’ had been deliberately cut off (see here).
12 April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Free’ (Tag ID 201121) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Cumbria (here). It later emerged he hadn’t disappeared, but his mutilated corpse was found on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here).
April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Pegasus’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
May 2022: A male breeding hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another breeding male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
14 May 2022: Hen harrier ‘Harvey’ (Tag ID 213844) ‘disappeared’ from a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #1 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #2 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #3 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #4 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
17 August 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sullis’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here).
5 October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-M2-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
10 October 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sia’ ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here).
October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-F1-21) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here).
December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in Cumbria (here).
1 December 2022: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
14 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here).
15 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
30 March 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-F3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
1 April 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Lagertha’ (tagged by RSPB) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Nicola’ (Tag ID 234078) ”disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Satellite-tagged male hen harrier called ‘Rush’ ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here).
9/10 May 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Dagda’, tagged by the RSPB in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘vanished’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here).
17 May 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Wayland’ ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here).
31 May 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, tag #213932, name: R2-M3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (grid ref: NY765687) (here).
11 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, tag #213922, name: R2-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
12 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, tag #203004, name: R1-M2-20) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY976322) (here).
6 July 2023: Satellite-tagged female hen harrier named ‘Rubi’ (tag #201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY911151) (here).
23 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55154a, name: R1-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where ‘Rubi’ vanished), grid ref: NY910126 (here).
29 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, tag #55144, name: R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the North Pennines. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Dead. Recovered – awaiting PM results. Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
9 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Martha’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here).
11 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Selena’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
11 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #201118a, name: R3-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (grid ref: NZ072136) (here).
15 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Hepit’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
24 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55155a, name: R1-F2-23) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in Northumberland. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
August-Sept 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Harmonia’ ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Saranyu’, tagged by the RSPB in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (no further details available yet – just outline info provided in 2022 Birdcrime report) (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Inger’, a female tagged by the RSPB in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here).
15 September 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Rhys’, tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Grid ref: SD798896 (here).
24 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R2-F2-23’) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines, grid ref: NY888062 (here).
25 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name: ‘R1-F4-22’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE077699 (here).
26 September 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hope’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SD801926 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, name: ‘R1-M3-20’) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham, grid ref: NY935192 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R4-F1-23’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE003981 (here).
14 October 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Cillian’, tagged in Cumbria on 1 August 2023, ‘disappeared’ in south west Scotland, grid ref: NY051946 (here).
15 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hazel’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man, grid ref: SC251803 (here).
27 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Gill’, tagged in Northumberland on 10 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ at a confidential location in Teeside (here).
12 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Susie’, Tag ID 201122, found dead at a confidential location in Northumberland and the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
15 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Shalimar’, tagged on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge estate in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens (here).
7 March 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M1-23) found dead in Devon. According to an FoI response from Natural England in June 2024 this death is the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
24 April 2024: Hen harrier male called ‘Ken’, Tag ID 213849a, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland, grid ref SD 684601 (here).
17 May 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M2-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale, grid ref SE043754 (here).
25 June 2024: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref NY985082 (here).
To be continued…….
Not one of these 128 incidents has resulted in an arrest, let alone a prosecution. 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 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT hen harriers, and still Govt ministers remain silent. They appear not to give a monkey’s. And yes, there are other things going on in the world, as always. That is not reason enough to ignore this blatant, brazen and systematic destruction of a supposedly protected species, being undertaken to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of a minority of society.
And let’s not forget the response from the (now former) Moorland Association Chair (and owner of Swinton Estate) Mark Cunliffe-Lister, who told BBC Radio 4 in August 2023 that, “Clearly any illegal [hen harrier] persecution is not happening” (here).
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).
It remains to be seen whether DEFRA Ministers under the new Labour Government will be prepared to tolerate such blatant criminality. Watch this space.
James Kempster, 37, of Bury Brickfield Park, Totton appeared at Southampton Magistrates Court on Tuesday 10th September 2024 to face charges in relation to the dumping of approximately 50 hares, a shot barn owl and a shot kestrel outside Broughton community shop near Stockbridge, Hampshire in March this year.
Hampshire Police charged Kempster in August with possessing live/dead Schedule 1 wild bird or its parts, possessing live/dead non-Schedule 1 wild bird or parts, and causing £5,000 worth of criminal damage to the shop window.
The shot kestrel and shot barn owl had been impaled on the shop door handles and blood & guts had been smeared over the windows. Photo: Broughton Community Shop
Kempster spoke only to confirm his name and address and did not enter a plea. The case was adjourned and will continue on 23 September 2023. Kemspter’s bail conditions ban him from entering Broughton.
In July this year many of you supported a crowdfunder set up by the Stobo Residents Action Group who were taking a judicial review against the Scottish Government agency Scottish Forestry’s decision to approve a commercial woodland project, including a large sitka spruce plantation, on valuable moorland habitat in the Scottish Borders, a site important for many species but particularly for black grouse and golden eagles. The main premise of the legal challenge was that Scottish Forestry approved the work application after wrongly determining that an Environmental Impact Assessment was not required (see here).
Photo by Stobo Residents Action Group
This evening the Stobo Residents Action Group has published an update about its legal challenge on its crowdfunder page. Part of it is replicated here:
Stobo Hope: taxpayer funded £2 million forestry grant contract cancelled.
Court of Session rescinds £2 million contract, all funding, EIA decision and grant of consent
We are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached between Stobo Residents Action Group Ltd (the Petitioner in the judicial review) and the Scottish Ministers (the Respondent in the judicial review) which has resulted in the reduction (legal cancellation) of the grant contract for the Stobo woodland creation scheme managed by True North Real Asset Partners Ltd.
The screening decision by Scottish Forestry dated 18 January 2024 (which determined that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was required) and the grant of consent by Scottish Forestry dated 27 February 2024 have also been reduced by the court.
As a result of the court’s order, any continuation of forestry development at Stobo Hope is, until a new decision on consent has been made, unlawful.
The Scottish Ministers have, in effect, agreed to the granting of the remedies sought by the petitioner (on the basis that there was a failure to consider the impact of blanket spraying four square kilometres with herbicide) rather than contesting our petition through to a substantive hearing in the Court of Session. As a result, the court is not required to determine if the Respondent had acted lawfully.
We continue to believe the decision to forego an EIA was unlawful for other reasons, including but not limited to:
A failure to properly consult NatureScot and give weight to its recommendation that the woodland scheme should be an EIA project, in part due to the likely significant effects on the National Scenic Area; and
A failure to address cumulative impacts of multiple forestry schemes nearby.
The court is, however, no longer required to determine those matters because of the agreement mentioned above. Should Scottish Forestry repeat its decision to not have an EIA for the Stobo woodland creation scheme a second time, we will examine that decision very closely and it is probable we will lodge a new petition to challenge that decision where there are grounds to do so.
Unfortunately, works were continuing yesterday on site (10 September 2024) notwithstanding the lack of any consent, causing further destruction, including ground preparation works on Penvalla (picture below). Scottish Ministers have been made aware of this.
Photo by Stobo Residents Action Group
We are extremely grateful to our solicitors, Balfour and Manson, for all their hard work, support and patience over the last eight months in achieving this outcome for the Stobo Residents Action Group. We are confident that this will lead to better, more transparent decision-making about sustainable rural landuse across Southern Scotland and result in the better use of scarce public funds to support rural communities and protect their natural environment.
Adverse environmental impacts of inappropriately sited commercial conifer plantations.
The £2 million of taxpayer funds were seemingly meant to subsidise returns for the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund, a registered collective investment scheme based in the tax haven of Guernsey, through developing an appreciable Sitka spruce plantation and the sale of carbon credits.
The intended pecuniary gains from this scheme appear to be correlated with the extent and intensity of destruction of Stobo Hope’s unimproved grasslands, wetlands and internationally important dry dwarf shrub heath, with the consequential extirpation of fauna including the black grouse, threatened with extinction in the Southern Uplands.
Similar taxpayer-funded schemes cumulatively costing hundreds of millions of pounds in the past decade alone have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of semi-natural habitats across Scotland. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and current Scottish forestry policy (permitting the wrong tree in the wrong place) is at odds with Scottish Government pronouncements to reversing biodiversity loss. Section 1 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act, 2004 places a general duty on public bodies and office holders (who include Scottish Forestry) to further the conservation of biodiversity. It is not evident that this has been a consideration with this project.
Pryor and Rickett Silviculture Ltd, the forestry developers, submitted an application to Scottish Forestry for a screening opinion to determine if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was required for the Stobo Woodland Creation Scheme in June 2023.
Pryor and Rickett Silviculture Ltd failed to disclose to Scottish Forestry that four square kilometres of land would be blanket sprayed with herbicide, killing all plant life and associated dependent fauna. It was also confirmed that blanket spraying of herbicide was contrary to good forestry practice and the UK Forestry Standard. As a direct result of our judicial review, after the petitioner provided the respondent in August 2024 with photographs of the landscape-scale destruction of unimproved grasslands, wetlands and heather moorland, a prompt investigation was conducted. It was established that a large area had been blanket sprayed with herbicide in August 2023, apparently unnoticed by Scottish Forestry.
Given the unauthorised works in August 2023 and other factors, it seems to us that investors and forestry managers were confident that approval by Scottish Forestry of the proposed Stobo woodland creation scheme in its then current iteration (or virtually identical subsequent iterations) would be a foregone conclusion. This approval would be irrespective of past, ongoing or yet-to-take-place consultations with others, including NatureScot, the RSPB or members of the public.
A new ecological impact assessment of the proposal should be undertaken in line with the Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment in the UK and Ireland (CIEEM, 2018) and importantly assess the values of ecological features present on the site at the time of the ecological surveys undertaken by Nevis Environmental Ltd (now Mabbett & Associates Ltd) in support of the scheme in 2021, rather than after blanket herbicide treatment and other works.
Fundraising – a special thanks to Wild Justice
We are very grateful for your generous donations, notably £5,000 from Wild Justice, an organisation dedicated to wildlife through challenging government decisions in the courts, campaigning for legislative improvements and providing others with support to protect nature. Wild Justice raised our campaign profile through the highly recommended Raptor Persecution UK blog.
Wild Justice is run by Dr Ruth Tingay, with thirty years of expertise in raptor research and conservation, Dr Mark Avery, conservationist and scientist, and Chris Packham CBE, naturalist, film maker and presenter.
The Raptor Persecution UK blog written by Dr Ruth Tingay focuses on campaigning against the illegal killing of birds of prey, including in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, where golden eagles continue to be killed.
Campaigns by Wild Justice include returning tens of thousands of hectares of internationally important heathland to a favourable condition on Dartmoor’s commons. We would be grateful if you could donate to Wild Justice and read more about their work. Thank you.
What happens next in our campaign?
Our campaign hopes that Scottish Forestry will not approve the Stobo Hope woodland creation scheme. We hope to engage constructively with Scottish Forestry, with a genuine participatory role for charities, public and private bodies, benevolent landowners and the local community. The saving of £2 million of taxpayer funds arising from our success so far in this campaign creates a greater opportunity for an alternative woodland creation project at Stobo Hope under different ownership with social and economic benefits. Such a project could be a visionary one with a moderate amount of native woodland and natural regeneration while retaining large areas of contiguous moorland, grassland and wetland habitats for traditional cattle grazing with mutual benefits for conservation and nature friendly agriculture.
We will keep you informed of forthcoming developments.
Future Donations?
Donations to this crowdfunder (net of crowdfunder fees) are only for our legal costs, which will be published in a future update. The Stobo Residents Action Group are unpaid volunteers. If you are considering donating or have already donated, we would be grateful if you could consider the following:
At present there is uncertainty about future legal costs because we do not know how the current situation at Stobo will develop.
We may have significant future legal costs for further legal action, such as a new petition if Scottish Forestry attempt to approve the existing or a modified woodland creation scheme without an EIA.
However, we may not have significant future legal costs, if at all, if a favourable outcome for Stobo can be achieved without the need for further legal action.
The overview section of our crowdfunder campaign expressed our intention that the decision by Scottish Forestry to approve the woodland creation project be reversed. To date we have successfully cancelled the decision to approve this project without an EIA. We hope to achieve a position where the current woodland project or a modified project will never be approved.
We will keep our position under review and at a future juncture any remaining funds will be donated to the Borders Forest Trust (Scottish Charity No. SC024358). This charity has an excellent record in woodland and biodiversity restoration, such as its 3,100 hectares of ‘Wild Heart’ land in the Southern Uplands. If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us through this crowdfunder page.
ENDS
This is a brilliant result. It’s even more so because it was achieved by a small group of knowledgeable and committed volunteers rather than a massive NGO with all the associated resources. The Stobo Residents Action Group, along with its lawyers, have put together a strong case that has forced Scottish Ministers to cancel the contract rather than face costly court proceedings. They deserve this win and I applaud the considerable time and effort they’ve put in to get it.
Thanks also to everyone who supported the group by contributing to the crowdfunder. I’d encourage you to visit the crowdfunder page to read more background about the legal challenge and to keep an eye on the group’s next moves.
UPDATE 10 December 2024: Investment firm applies for judicial review against decision to halt commercial forestry plantation at Stobo Hope, Scottish Borders (here).
Natural England has published its latest update (Aug 2024) on the fates of the satellite-tracked hen harriers it has tagged and subsequently been following, which reveals that eight more have either been found dead (and are listed as ‘awaiting post mortem’) or have gone ‘missing’ in suspicious circumstances.
Strangely (but not really), I haven’t seen a single press release from Natural England and/or the police about any of these 2024 incidents.
I mentioned two of them in a blog in early August (here) after Natural England told me in response to an FoI request in June that they were withholding information about the two cases so as not to jeopardise police investigations. Since then, the number has risen.
It has now emerged from Natural England’s August 2024 update that five of the eight have been found dead and are listed as ‘awaiting post mortem’, with one of these now upgraded to a full blown police investigation, and three others are listed as ‘missing, fate unknown’. The last known transmissions of these eight harriers were in February, March, April, May, June, July and August and three of them are brood meddled youngsters.
Here’s the list:
FOUND DEAD, AWAITING POST MORTEM:
Hen harrier ‘Susie’, female, 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).
Hen harrier R2-M1-23 (brood meddled in 2023), male, Tag ID 213927a. Last known transmission 7 March 2024, Devon. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘. I can’t believe the post mortem hasn’t been conducted six months on. This bird, along with Susie, is apparently the subject of a police investigation, according to Natural England’s earlier FoI response to me in June. [UPDATE 18 Dec 2024: Natural England has now reported this HH died of natural causes].
Hen harrier ‘Edna’, female, Tag ID 161143a. Last known transmission 7 June 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘. Three months later and no post mortem result?
Hen harrier, female, Tag ID 254843. Last known transmission 29 July 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
Hen harrier, male, Tag ID 254839. Last known transmission 5 August 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
MISSING FATE UNKNOWN:
Hen harrier ‘Ken’, male, Tag ID 213849a. Last known transmission 24 April 2024, Bowland. Grid Ref: SD684601. ‘Missing, fate unknown‘. Very close to a grouse moor.
Hen harrier R2-M2-23 (brood meddled in 2023), male, Tag ID 213928. Last known transmission 17 May 2024, Nidderdale. Grid Ref: SE043754. ‘Missing fate unknown‘. Right next to a grouse moor. Apparently this is Yorkshire Water-owned land, where the shooting is rented out to Middlesmoor Estate – some of you may remember a previous blog about Middlesmoor Estate and a now former Moorland Association Director – here for those who want a reminder.
Hen harrier R2-F1-23 (brood meddled in 2023), female, Tag ID 213923. Last known transmission 25 June, Yorkshire Dales National Park. Grid Ref: NY985082. ‘Missing fate unknown‘. On a grouse moor, apparently on the Arkengarth Estate owned by the Duke of Norfolk.
These eight are in addition to the hen harrier ‘Shalimar’ who disappeared in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens in February 2024 (here) and the list also doesn’t include any of the RSPB’s tagged hen harriers – we’re waiting to hear about how many they’ve lost so far this year. And it’s only September – we’re now in peak hen-harrier-killing-season so I’m sure there’ll be more added to the list by the end of the year.
Not all of the most recent eight may turn out to be the victims of crime – we need to wait for the post mortem results to be published before they can be assigned, but some of them definitely can now be added to the running tally of illegally killed/’missing’ hen harriers, which currently stands at 123 harriers since brood meddling began in 2018.
You know, brood meddling, the so-called partnership (sham) where grouse moor owners gave Natural England a ‘gentlemens’ agreement’ that hen harriers wouldn’t be killed as long as Natural England/DEFRA removed hen harrier chicks from grouse moors during the breeding season. Given the number of harriers that have been killed during the partnership (sham), that ‘gentlemens’ agreement’ turned out to be utter tosh. And now the ‘partnership’ has gone belly up because the grouse moor owners are in a rage about the police wanting to catch the armed criminals responsible for all the killing, which the grouse moor owners claim have nothing to do with them but strangely don’t seem concerned about the apparent armed trespassers visiting their private estates to commit serious firearms offences and other crime!
I’ll be updating the hen harrier death list shortly…
Raptor Persecution UK 