Category: News

Update on ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tracked raptors: hen harrier, Northern England

Last but not least in this mini-series of updates (well, five ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tracked raptors is plenty to be going on with) is the other Langholm hen harrier chick, ‘Barry’.

Barry managed to survive a couple of weeks longer than his sibling, Blae, but by all accounts he’s probably now dead, especially as “most of his previous movements were associated with grouse moors” (see here). His last signal was received on 2nd October and a search for him got underway. Three weeks later – no news.

So, there we have it. Five ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tracked raptors, and then let’s not forget the golden eagle recently found shot and severely injured on a grouse moor in Dumfries & Galloway (here).

Now, what was it Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse said recently about raptor persecution? Ah yes, here it is:

“The unlawful killing of any raptors has no place in today’s Scotland and we will continue to work hard to eradicate this criminal activity. We believe that the partnership approach with the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland, is bringing the reduction in bird of prey poisoning that can be seen in the statistics in recent years. However we are not complacent and if there is evidence of a switch to other methods of persecution we will take action to bear down on those methods”.

How much more evidence do you need, Paul? What action are you going to take? And no, industrial-scale sweeping doesn’t count!

Update on ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tagged raptors: hen harrier, Scottish Borders

Regular readers will know all about the Langholm hen harrier chick, ‘Blae’, who was alive for just a few short weeks. She was found dead ‘about’ 11th September 2012 in the Scottish Borders (see here).

It’s now 20th October and still there’s no word about the location where she was found dead, nor the circumstances of her demise.

It’s coming up to six weeks – just how long does it take to do a post-mortem? We understand that Rugs-R-Us are doing a roaring trade in Langholm High Street…

Update on ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tracked raptors: marsh harrier, Galloway

In July 2012, Roy Dennis and friends sat-tagged two marsh harriers at a nest in Moray.

The male, ‘Reed’, took the sensible option and by-passed the UK on his migration south, heading out across the North Sea before navigating towards Spain (view his flight map here).

His sibling, a female called ‘Willow’, chose a different route for her migration. It appears she didn’t even make it out of Scotland (see here). According to the last update on Roy’s Highland Foundation for Wildlife website:

“Willow’s last location was close to Whithorn at 10.45pm on 22nd September and there have been no signals since. We are afraid that the most likely reason is that shw [sic] has been killed bearing in mind the serious illegal persecution of harriers. We hope we are wrong and that her transmitter suddenly bursts back into life“.

Update on ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tagged raptors: buzzard, Angus Glens

In June 2012, Roy Dennis and friends attached a satellite tag to a young buzzard near Nethybridge. Named ‘Buzz’, he was thought to be the first sat-tagged buzzard in Scotland.

In August he set off on his travels and we were able to follow his movements via Roy’s Raptor Track website (see here).

Buzz didn’t last long. The last entry on the tracking website shows us that Buzz was on the NW side of Brechin in Angus (hmm, sound familiar?) on 19th September 2012. There are no further updates on his movements. Is that because he’s not moving anymore?

Update on ‘missing’ or dead satellite-tagged raptors: golden eagle, Grampian

Let’s start with the sat-tagged golden eagle that was found dead, with two broken legs, in a lay-by in Aboyne in May. This is the eagle whose death was not reported until four months after it was found dead (see here). The evidence suggests this bird was caught in a trap on a grouse moor near to Brechin, Angus and was moved, while still alive, in the middle of the night and dumped in a lay-by in Aberdeenshire and left to die.

This incident prompted widespread outrage and the new Environment Minister, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, was apparently inundated with letters of complaint. Most people who wrote have now received a response, probably all similar to this one (see here). The Minister’s response provoked almost as much fury as the actual death of this eagle, and particularly the second paragraph:

“I agree that the media reports were a terrible story of the suffering of a young golden eagle. The reports may suggest that the circumstances of this incident were suggestive of an offence however there is no hard evidence and it remains possible that there is an alternative explanation. It is therefore inappropriate for me to comment”.

We have since received unverified information (but from several independent sources) that the police have accepted the veterinary evidence that showed this eagle was indeed caught in a trap. We also understand that this veterinary evidence has been passed to the SGA and that apparently they are not disputing the findings (although they have yet to make a public statement – we wait with interest to hear about the findings of their own ‘inquiry’ (see here).

Why then did the Environment Minister’s response suggest that this eagle’s death was not neccessarily linked to a criminal offence? What possible “alternative explanation” is there to account for the death of this eagle? We’d like to hear it, and we’d also like to see details of the veterinary report. If these details can be released to the SGA then they should be released into the public domain for everyone to see. Send your email request to: ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

North Yorks gamekeeper arrested over alleged misuse of bird trap

A news article in today’s York Press reports that an un-named gamekeeper has been arrested over the alleged illegal use of cage traps.

North Yorks Police said a live buzzard was found caught inside a trap, which apparently was inside a pheasant pen (?!) in the Pickering area. The buzzard was released unharmed, and a second trap containing a live pigeon was found nearby.

The article can be read here. There’s no mention of who the gamekeeper is, nor the name of the estate/farm/land which was searched under a police warrant. There’s also no information about when these alleged incidents took place. No information is available on the North Yorks police website either.

A statement attributed to investigating police officer PC Stewart Ashton appears in the newspaper article:

“Police are receiving a growing amount of evidence that raptors are being routinely shot, trapped and poisoned by gamekeepers throughout the Ryedale area. This is just the latest incident in what appears to be a persistent breaking of the law by a significant number of gamekeepers. This is a hidden crime which usually goes unreported. Sadly, what we are seeing is just the tip of a very big iceberg“.

An earlier blog entry from March 2012 about a poisoned red kite found in this area can be read here. Again the story was published in the York Press but precious few details were released.

In May 2011, a gamekeeper from Ryedale was convicted of shooting a badger. David Stephen Welford pleaded guilty at Scarborough Magistrates Court and was fined £385 and ordered to pay £100 court costs. York Press news article here.

Overview of parliamentary wildlife crime report

Regular readers will have been aware of the cross-party parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into the extent of willdife crime in the UK (see here, here, here and here for previous blog entries on this topic).

Yesterday, the EAC published what can only be described as a damning report. You can read it here, and the supplementary written evidence here. Apparently, DEFRA will be responding to the report in December.

Much has been written about these findings so rather than repeat what has already been printed we thought it might be useful to provide all the links in one place so you can read it for yourselves.

BBC News article here

RSPB press release here

The Guardian article here

The Independent article here

Mark Avery’s blog here

We’ve looked for press releases from the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, Moorland Association, Countryside Alliance and BASC (all of whom gave evidence to this inquiry) but so far we haven’t found anything.

Appeal for info after Marsh harrier poisoned (in May!)

The RSPB has put up a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction after a marsh harrier was found poisoned on Goxhill marshes in Humberside. Their reward money is probably quite safe, as the harrier was found poisoned on 27th May 2012!

It’s worth noticing again that it’s the RSPB putting out the news of this latest poisoning incident, and not the police, and yet again it’s many months (almost five) too late. Isn’t it strange that we have to rely upon a charity to inform us about these crimes. Where are the police and where is the sense of urgency??

Full details of this poisoning can be read here

Er, about that Langholm raven-killing licence

A couple of days ago we blogged about those raven-killing licences that have been issued by SNH and the well-dodgy procedures in place to ensure these licences are issued all above board and in line with the regulations, e.g. issued for ‘livestock protection’ as opposed to game management (see here). We also mentioned the raven-killing livestock protection licence that had apparently been issued at Langholm this year.

Since then, someone has been in touch (thank you – you know who you are!) to tell us that the raven-killing livestock protection licence at Langholm needs closer scrutiny. Why? Well, remember that these raven-killing livestock protection licences are issued under the pretext of protecting livestock (i.e. in this case, sheep)? Well, according to our informant, the sheep have been removed from Langholm as part of the heather regeneration scheme!

We tried to find verification of this but all we could find were two pieces of information:

1. Simon Lester, head gamekeeper at Langholm, quoted on the Langholm Moor blog on 10th Sept 2012: “The silver birch is encroaching on to the moor now the sheep have been removed to help heather regeneration” (blog link here).

2. A statement in a recent MSc disseration: “Since 2009, a programme of sheep stock reductions and off-wintering has been implemented across the Moor (SNH, 2010). This has resulted in a zero-stocking density for a large proportion of the central and southern areas of the Moor” (Donald Scott, Sept 2012, “Habitat Condition Assessment for Langolm Moor”, MSc Imperial College London, see link here).

The SNH publication cited is this: SNH (2010). Stock changes in Langholm Moor under the Scottish Rural Development Scheme. Briefing Note.

Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find an on-line copy of this document. If anyone has a copy we’d be interested in reading it.

Let’s assume that the information we’ve received is accurate and the sheep have indeed been removed from Langholm – in that case we might be asking why would SNH, who are project partners in the Langholm Project (and therefore presumably know what’s going on), issue a raven-killing livestock protection licence if there weren’t any sheep left to ‘protect’?

According to the Langholm Project website (see here), the SNH contact is Des Thompson. Here’s his email address if anyone wants to get clarification about this situation: Des.Thompson@snh.gov.uk

RSPB shows its teeth over Walshaw grouse moor management

The RSPB has lodged a formal complaint to the European Commission over the way Natural England has (mis?)handled its dealings with the Walshaw Moor Estate near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, concerning moor management regimes.  A couple of previous posts on this here and here).

Brilliant news! Well done RSPB – nice to see your teeth bared – good on you!

RSPB Conservation Director Martin Harper explains the decision to lodge this complaint here

An excellent summary (and detailed history) of the Natural England / Walshaw Moor fiasco can be found on Mark Avery’s blog here.