Category: News

Sea eagles blamed for destroying wildlife on Mull

Is this really 2012, or are we back in 1912?

A community councillor on the Isle of Mull has accused sea eagles of destroying wildlife on the island. In the same article, reported in the Herald (see here), a farmer says the sea eagles are killing his and his neighbour’s lambs.

We’ve been here so many times before (e.g. see here and links within, that point to several scientific studies that have demonstrated sea eagles have a ‘minimal impact’ on lamb survival). Perhaps the councillor and the farmer would like to read the latest (2010) SNH commissioned report on the impact of sea eagles on lambs on the Gairloch peninsula; a study that was commissioned after farmers claimed eagles [three pairs] had eaten 200 lambs between them! Unsurprisingly, the evidence from the subsequent study did not support these claims. SNH report here.

Most islanders on Mull are well-known for their outstanding long-term support and protection of the reintroduced sea eagles; perhaps they might want to look carefully at the list of candidates in the next round of councillor elections. Although it’s not just councillors with strange opinions on sea eagles (see here)!

Bits and blogs

Some sad news from the Irish Republic – the white-tailed eagle pair who were the first sea eagles to attempt to breed in Ireland for over 100 years (see here) has failed. The birds abandoned their nest on Tuesday evening. In a double blow, the remains of a young satellite-tagged sea eagle have been discovered in County Mayo. The cause of death is still being investigated (see here for a report in the Irish Examiner).

In other news…Mark Avery has come out fighting over the English hen harrier debacle. This morning’s blog (here) focuses on Natural England’s lack of transparency over the results of their ten-year hen harrier satellite tracking project. Good for him, and much stronger than the blog he wrote on Monday (here) where he discussed the poisoned red kites found in the Chilterns. He asked readers to connect the dots but when they did, he claimed he couldn’t see the same picture. Perfectly understandable of course but totally improbable that Mark hadn’t joined the dots within about five seconds flat.

There’s another blogger in town. Stuart Housden is the Director of RSPB Scotland and has kicked off his own [RSPB] blog this month. It was pleasing to see that his third post was about wildlife crime sentencing in Scotland (see here). We’re waiting to see whether he blogs about this weekend’s inaugral Scottish Birdfair. As RSPB Scotland Director, it was probably Stuart’s ill-informed decision to co-host the event at Hopetoun; we’ve blogged before about this incredible lack of judgement (see here and here).

If anyone is attending the Scottish Birdfair this weekend, you might want to pay a visit to the Scottish Land and Estates table (the Scottish landowners’ representative body) and ask them whether any of the following are (a) members of their organisation and (b) signed up the Wildlife Estates Initiative:

Aswanley Estate, Auch Estate, Blythe Farm, Breconside Farm, Culter Allers Farm, Dunecht Estate, Edradynate Estate, Farr and Kyllachy Estate, Glenbuchat Estate, Glenlochy Moor Estate, Glenogil Estate, Glenturret Estate, Innes House Estate, Invercauld Estate, Inverinate Estate, Lawesknow Farm, Leadhills Estate, Lindertis Estate, Lochindorb Estate, Millden Estate, Morvich Estate, Moy Estate, Raeshaw Estate, Redmyre Estate, Seafield Estate, Skibo Estate, Sluie Estate….

Why these particular estates? Oh no special reason, just randomly selected from across the country…If the SLE is unable to give you a credible answer you could always ask them to explain why the organisation supports government-issued licences to kill buzzards.

The real reason English hen harriers are on brink of extinction

The news media are full of stories today about the dire situation for breeding hen harriers in England. With only a single known breeding pair this year, we are about to lose this species. Many think that persecution by gamekeepers is to blame, but we can now exclusively reveal that blade-wielding eagle thugs are responsible for wiping out hen harriers.

Undercover operatives from the Modern Poisoners’ Society have sent us photographic evidence of a knife-handling training camp where hundreds of eagles gathered last year to sharpen their blades and practice stabbing and slicing actions. Readers will be shocked to learn that this secret camp was not in Yemen or Pakistan, but was actually in the heart of England. Squadrons of eagles secretly practised their low-level night flights over the Derwent reservoir in preparation for Operation Chastise: their revenge on hen harriers for eating all the red grouse. Unfortunately there weren’t any hen harriers in the area so the eagles stabbed all the Upper Derwent goshawks instead. The bodies of the dead goshawks were wrapped in carpet and weighted down with stones before being dumped in the reservoir. The sneaky eagles then removed the goshawk eggs from the nests and smashed them on the ground to make it look like gamekeepers had been responsible.

Albert Hogburn, Head of Truth at the Modern Poisoners’ Society said: “Gamekeepers have been vindicated. Perhaps now people will see eagles for the vermin they really are, destroying all biodiversity in their path. The best way to teach eagles about knife crime is to poison them. Once they’ve stabbed all the harriers they’ll just move on to innocent children. It’s basic ecology. We’ve applied for lottery funding so we can put rings of poison around every school in England. It’s the only way to keep our children safe”.

Donald Spewing-Moore from the Royal Bird Protection Society said: “I wish that twat Hogburn would cut it out. Cut it out, geddit? Did you see what I did there? Did you? But in all seriousness, I can think of better uses for that knife, although I would prefer to use a triple X30 stainless steel model with an official Rockwell hardness rating of 52 + 2 and combine 0.3% carbon and 13% chrome for long-lasting cutting performance and high corrosion resistance”.

English hen harriers right on the brink

The RSPB has issued a press release warning that the future for England’s most threatened raptor – the hen harrier – is looking perilous as the species teeters on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird.

Early reports suggest that only one pair is showing signs of nesting in England this year, down from the heady heights of four known breeding pairs last year.

The reason? Well you already know it – persecution. For the persecution deniers,  the government-funded report that spells it out can be found here.

RSPB press release here

Gonshaw: banned from Scotland for life (during breeding season)

Top, top, top news! Serial egg collector, Matthew Simon Gonshaw, has today been jailed for his latest egg-theft crimes but more importantly, he has been banned from entering Scotland during the bird breeding season, FOR LIFE!

Gonshaw, recently the recipient of an ASBO giving him a ten-year ban from Scotland, was also sentenced to six months in jail (his 5th jail term!) after he was caught nicking bird eggs off the Isle of Rum last year.

BBC news release here

COPFS press release here

Well done to everyone involved and massive kudos to Sheriff Margaret Neilson at Inverness Sheriff Court for finally delivering a decent sentence for a persistent wildlife crime offender. Now let’s see if other Sheriffs can start to follow suit…

Previous Gonshaw posts here, here and here.

Another golden eagle mysteriously ‘disappears’

Thanks to Dave (contributor) for highlighting this one:

http://www.raptortrack.org/category/golden-eagle/angus-26/

Crow traps: what you should know part 1

Without even the tiniest weeniest hint of irony, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association is complaining about ‘criminal activity in the countryside’ in reference to the recent alleged release of crows from a trap on a Scottish sporting estate.

Oh and it gets better…. according to the SGA, in response to this criminal activity Northern Constabulary has “issued an appeal for information”. Although we should point out that we’ve been unable to find any public record of this ‘appeal for information’ so we only have the SGA’s word to rely upon. But let’s assume the SGA is telling the truth…

Is this the same Northern Constabulary who apparently failed to fully investigate the suspected decapitation and shooting of a white-tailed eagle on Skye (see here) and the discovery of a poisoned red kite on the boundary of Skibo Estate (see here)?

That’s not the end of the irony either – the SGA goes on to suggest that cameras could be installed at crow traps, presumably to film any member of the public who may be inclined to interefere with the trap (which may amount to a criminal offence). Wouldn’t it be interesting to see whether that film footage would be considered as acceptable evidence in any subsequent prosecution, especially after recent film footage showing the activities of a Scottish gamekeeper using a stick to beat crows to death inside a crow trap on a Speyside sporting estate (see here), was deemed inadmissable evidence?

One rule for one but not the other? Surely not!

In light of the SGA’s recent one-sided promotion of crow traps and their encouragement to SGA members to report suspected trap interference (see here for their article) as well as the landowners’ representative body, Scottish Land and Estates, encouraging their members to do likewise (see here), we thought it only fair that we provide an alternative view on the use (and more importantly the mis-use) of crow traps on Scottish sporting estates and give the public the neccessary information about how to recognise the difference between a legal and an illegal trap, and what to do if you find an illegal one.

Watch this space…

Red kites found poisoned in Chilterns

The RSPB and Hertfordshire Police are appealing for information following the discovery of two poisoned red kites in the Chilterns.

The first bird was discovered by a member of the public in January 2012, close to a public footpath near the village of Hexton. The second bird was also found by a member of the public, hanging in a bush in March 2012 less than one mile away on the Pegsdon Hill Nature Reserve run by Bedfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Tests have apparently revealed both birds had been poisoned with a highly toxic banned pesticide, although the name of the poison has not been given. On May 2nd, a multi-agency search of the area recovered a number of samples that have been sent for analysis.

The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

It’s interesting to note that neither of these poisoned kites were mentioned in the national press at the time they were discovered, nor is there an explanation for why it took four months from the first discovery for a search to be conducted. There is no mention of this investigation on the Hertfordshire Police website – the only publicity appears to be on the RSPB website. Whilst the investigation and (rather late) publicity is to be welcomed, the chances of anybody being charged for these offences now seem pretty slim.

RSPB news release here

More delay in case against Inverness man accused of buying/selling raptor eggs

The long-running case against Keith Liddell, first reported on this blog in July 2011 (see here) has been continued at Inverness Sheriff Court, again.

Liddell is alleged to have bought or offered for sale 202 eggs, including those of Egyptian vultures (a listed endangered species) and tawny owls. He is further accused of having 136 wild birds’ eggs in his possession. These charges, which Liddell has denied, relate to alleged offences between 2004 – 2009. The case has dragged on and on and on with numerous hearings in November and December 2011, and in February and May 2012. The next hearing will be in June 2012.

Outrage at (more) Peak District bird of prey persecution

The RSPB and Severn Trent Water have today expressed their outrage at the ‘wanton destruction’ over the last few days of the nest of one of Britain’s most persecuted raptors. Goshawk eggs, only days from hatching, were found smashed underneath a nest in the Upper Derwent Valley on land managed by Severn Trent Water.

It is the latest in a long line of raptor persecution incidents in the Peak District (see here for a 2006 RSPB report aptly named Peak Malpractice, and here for a 2007 updated report). The last reported incident was the case of gamekeeper Glenn Brown, who was convicted last year after RSPB investigators filmed him using a caged pigeon to lure raptors into a trap on National Trust-owned Howden Moor (see here). This latest incident demonstrates just how ineffective Brown’s sentence was (100 hours community service ‘ain’t gonna deter anybody – sure, he also had to pay costs but do you really think he’ll be paying those from his own pocket?). That this latest attack has happened at all should come as no surprise to anybody.

The RSPB says this now leaves only one known active goshawk nest in the entire Derwent Valley, which previously had held six pairs. The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

RSPB press release here