A group of activists called the Moorland Monitors has posted some video footage on social media showing disturbing gamekeeping activities at some pheasant rearing pens at Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Screengrab from Moorland Monitors’ video of gamebird rearing pens at Grimwith Reservoir, Yorkshire Dales National Park
The video footage (which can be viewed below) was reportedly filmed in June 2023 and shows a gamekeeper attending the rearing pens and removing what look like dead pheasants and then tossing them into the surrounding bracken and into the stream. This stream feeds directly into Yorkshire Water’s Grimwith Reservoir.
Screengrab from Moorland Monitors’ video showing a gamekeeper tossing a dead pheasant towards a stream at Grimwith Reservoir, Yorkshire Dales National Park
The Moorland Monitors say they reported the incident to the ‘authorities’ (I don’t know who that was or when the report was made) but that they hadn’t received a reply.
You can read more about this incident on the Moorland Monitors’ website (here) and the video footage posted on the Moorland Monitors’ twitter account can be viewed here:
Further to the horrific story about how charity cyclist Tony Parsons had been killed and then subsequently buried in a stink pit by the McKellar twins on the infamous Auch Estate near Bridge of Orchy in the Scottish highlands (see here), more information has emerged in this grisly case.
The Daily Record has reported that the McKellar twins’ father was Tom McKellar, who was convicted in 2012 for the illegal possession of a banned pesticide (Carbofuran) and two hand guns at his home on the Auch Estate where he worked as a farm manager (also described in some publications as a gamekeeper)- see here and here for some background to that case.
The article in the Daily Record (here) also includes comments made by locals about the McKellar twins and it reports that the brothers ‘worked as stalkers on a hunting estate‘ and ‘had been exposed to the killing of animals for much of their lives‘.
The article continues:
‘The boys had grown up in a life where shooting animals, trapping them was a way of life, part of the running of a shooting estate that protected the game bird and deer stocks. They were both working on the land from a young age and soon working as deer stalkers. Their father was said to be highly regarded in the local community but the fact he had illegal guns and hugely toxic, illegal poison at his property didn’t exactly make him look like the best role model‘.
The article also states: ‘The men eventually buried Tony’s body in a “death hole” that was full of the rotting remains of foxes, grouse and other animals that had been killed on the estate‘.
I’m not sure that grouse shooting takes place on the Auch Estate – the habitat doesn’t look as though it would support commercial driven grouse shooting at any rate. The estate is best known for offering deer stalking and fishing, although the estate agent’s brochure from the 2020 sale does say that walked-up shooting is available and mentions rough shooting for woodcock:
Further information about the site where Tony’s remains were found was reported in an STV article (here) published last September when the case moved to trial at the High Court in Glasgow. The article reports that Tony’s body was ‘hidden under animal remains with bleach also poured on his remains‘. (Thanks to a blog reader for sending the STV link).
There has been a lot of online commentary about this gruesome case, which isn’t surprising given the shocking crimes committed by the McKellar twins. Some have questioned why I’m reporting the case on this blog. I don’t feel the need to justify what gets reported on here but in this case I thought it would have been obvious given the estate’s history as a raptor persecution crime scene, the relationship of the McKellar twins to Tom McKellar, and the use of a stink pit to bury a body.
I think it’s also interesting to highlight that a crime as serious as this one can remain hidden on large estates like Auch for years. We often refer to raptor persecution crimes on vast, privately-owned sporting estates as being the ‘tip of the iceberg’ because inevitably estate employees have every opportunity, and of course the motive, to hide the evidence of their criminal activity. The crimes that are uncovered are usually only discovered by chance.
The killing of Tony Parsons and his burial in a stink pit on the Auch Estate by two individuals who lived and worked there only came to light because someone had the courage and decency to report it to the police when Alexander McKellar confessed to her what he and his brother had done.
I see a lot of parallels.
The McKellar twins are due to be sentenced later this month.
UPDATE 25th August 2023: McKellar twins from Auch Estate sentenced for killing cyclist & burying his body in a stink pit (here)
Press release from Cheshire Constabulary (24 July 2023)
MAN BANNED FROM KEEPING BIRDS FOR FIVE YEARS
A man has been disqualified from keeping birds for five years after police seized wild owls from his address which were being kept in unsuitable conditions.
Alan Mee, 61, of Larch Avenue, Newton-le-Willows, appeared at Crewe Magistrates’ Court on Monday 17 July where he pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of an animal, and two counts of possessing a wild bird.
The three tawny owls at Mee’s premises. (Photo: Cheshire Constabulary)
On 20 June, 2022, Cheshire Police’s Rural Crime Team, Merseyside Police, RSPCA, and Natural England executed a warrant as a result of information relating to wild birds in the Cheshire area.
Cheshire Police led on the warrant at Mee’s address in Newton-le-Willows and three tawny owls were located, two of which were suspected to have been taken from the wild.
All three owls were seized due to the conditions they were being kept in, which included having dirty water, no feeding area, and the aviary being too small.
Mee was interviewed under police caution in relation to the offence before being charged.
He was disqualified from keeping birds for a period of five years and also incurred a fine and court costs to the value of £823.
PC Ashley Tether, of the Rural Crime Unit, said:
“This case demonstrates the importance of working with our partner agencies to tackle wildlife crime and combat those responsible for the suffering of animals.
The three tawny owls seized from Mee’s address were kept in poor conditions with no access to fresh water, an adequate enclosure size, or a clean food ledge.
Mee is now disqualified from owning, keeping, participating in the keeping, or influencing the way birds are kept, for a period of five years.
I hope this acts as a reminder that we are committed to doing all we can to help protect our wildlife“.
ENDS
Many thanks to the blog reader who alerted me to to this press release.
Last week, the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) posted a video and accompanying commentary on its website about a police investigation into a gamekeeper alleged to have been caught on camera placing ‘poisoned-laced pheasant carcasses’ next to a pheasant release pen in Berrington, Shrewsbury in 2022 (see here).
The HSA reports that its fieldworkers collected some of the pheasant carcasses and sent them to the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme for toxicology analysis and the findings were reported to West Mercia Police for investigation.
Screen grab from the HSA video showing one of the pheasant carcass baits slit open and containing an unidentified white powder substance.
The report on the HSA website states:
‘The gamekeeper’s house was raided by the authorities, and despite poisonous substances being found, there was insufficient evidence to prove these were the same substances found on the bird carcasses. Sadly this meant there was no chance of a conviction in this case. This does mean that we are now able to share this footage with you to highlight the grim reality of the shooting industry‘.
The HSA report doesn’t identify what substance was found on the pheasant carcasses during the toxicology analysis, nor does it identify the ‘poisonous substances‘ alleged to have been found by West Mercia Police at the gamekeeper’s house, so it’s difficult to draw conclusions about any alleged criminality.
However, I did find an entry on the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) database referring to an incident involving ‘pheasant baits’ in Shropshire in 2022. This is likely to be the same incident as the HSA is reporting but beware, there is a small element of uncertainty because the WIIS database isn’t always kept up to date and some incidents are known to be held back from publication whilst investigations are still live.
Let’s assume the WIIS database entry refers to the HSA case. Here is what the WIIS entry says:
Ref: 107/367: Shropshire, September 2022, categorised as ‘abuse’, 2 x pheasant baits & 8 pesticide samples. The narrative is given as follows:
‘2 pheasant baits found with white/grey powder inside them. Residues of permethrin were found on the pheasant baits. Analysis confirmed a mixture of pesticides which were found during a visit to a pesticide store. This incident has been assigned to permethrin abuse. There were also failings in the storage of a range of pesticides, some of which are no longer approved‘.
That last sentence is key. If banned substances were found during the police raid AND there were ‘failings in the storage‘ of them, this would normally be sufficient evidence for a prosecution for failing to comply with the regulations relating to the possession and storage of various banned chemicals, and associated health & safety regulations, as we’ve seen in other recent cases (e.g. here), even if there was insufficient evidence to charge for placing poisoned baits.
Further to last week’s news that there had been a revolt at the Hawk & Owl Trust by former members and volunteers over what they perceived as the ‘poor management’ of the Trust (see here), the protesters, who call themselves ‘Friends of Sculthorpe Moor 2023’, have sent the following statement.
NB:I’ve redacted some of this as I don’t have the background information that might support some of the protesters’ allegations so they may be considered libellous if I publish them here. I think the unredacted text provides sufficient information for blog readers to understand the protesters’ concerns.
Protesters outside the Hawk & Owl Trust’s Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, Norfolk on July 24th 2023. (Photo: Friends of Sculthorpe Moor 2023).
THE HAWK AND OWL – NOT TO TRUST
For the last few years the Hawk and Owl Trust has been shadowed in controversy. The most recent events are the pinnacle of a catalogue of actions which we consider clearly prove that this charity is simply unable to do, as it claims – conserve wild birds of prey and their habitats.
This week loyal and frustrated lifetime members and volunteers of the Hawk and Owl Trust peacefully protested at the Trust’s flagship nature reserve, Sculthorpe Moor in Norfolk. Whilst many people have felt uneasy about the Trust for several years, let’s try and remove some of the ambiguity and secrecy, which the Trust has built up, and articulate the exact issues with the Trust and the reasons behind the latest protest.
There are two main issues levelled at the Hawk and Owl Trust. The first is in what we consider to be the unethical treatment, bullying and intimidation of staff and volunteers. The second is that we do not consider the Trust is doing what it should in terms of conservation. In short, it has just become all about the money. We consider it is not raising and spending funds xxxxx, xxxxx and appropriately.
To start with the first issue. In the last 5 years, 5 employees (of just a handful of staff) of the Hawk and Owl Trust have been involuntarily and xxxxx removed from the Trust’s employment, using Members funds as collateral. Similarly, over 100 volunteers have either been “stood down”, discarded or even banned from The Hawk and Owl Trust. With no evidence or clear rationale, despite questions being asked. Why has this happened?
As most small charities will appreciate, volunteers are the backbone of activities and in many cases, such as the Hawk and Owl Trust, without them things simply cannot survive. In this case both Hawk and Owl Trust’s reserves have suffered greatly with this exodus and the Urban Peregrine Project, including its local community outreach projects, has been completely disbanded and shut down.
So why are people such an important part in this sorry conservation situation? Well without the right people the Trust can simply not make the right decisions or deliver its conservation objectives and that is precisely what we consider is happening. A key example of this is the recent removal of the Sculthorpe Moor Chief Warden, who has been at the Moor for over 21 years. This leaves nobody at the Hawk and Owl Trust with the appropriate licenses or training to handle schedule 1 raptors, such as the Peregrine Falcon, the symbol of the Hawk and Owl Trust. How unworkable and crazy is that?
Similarly, there is nobody left with the appropriate scientific experience and knowledge to successfully manage the Moor. Grazing livestock has been needlessly slaughtered, at great cost, because the only warden with stockman knowledge was made redundant. Important scientific studies at this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), such as amphibian and dragonfly (after 20 consecutive years of crucial data collection) can no longer be conducted because those who carried out these important activities have been banned, upon receipt of an email from the Chief Operations Director (COD). This is particularly concerning when there is not a single person left at the Hawk and Owl Trust with the appropriate skills to fulfil the justifiably strict conditions of the Natural England Beaver reintroduction license which is currently happening at Sculthorpe.
Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve. (Photo: Friends of Sculthorpe Moor 2023)
Because of what we consider to be the appalling mismanagement of staff and volunteers, there is a breath-taking catalogue of conservation failures, on behalf of the Hawk and Owl Trust, over the last few years. These have been raised with the Board of Trustees and the Hawk and Owl Trust’s COD, Adrian Blumfield. Every member of the Board has been made aware of these issues at one point or another but they appear to have chosen to ignore the problems for reasons which seem unfathomable and questionable.
Here are just a few of the conservation issues that volunteers or staff have experienced and raised with the Hawk and Owl Trust:
Despite recent increases in many raptor species, the Hawk and Owl Trust cannot identify a single successful raptor nest box which they have established in the last 10 years. How is this conserving wild raptors?
Threatening to remove an active Schedule 1 nest box unless funds were diverted, from the ecclesiastical nesting site, to the Hawk and Owl Trust.
Repositioning an active, and perfectly good, Peregrine Falcon nest box to accommodate a webcam, resulting in the new nest not being used and unsuccessful breeding.
Supplementary feeding of Barn owls for well over the recommended timescales so they become dependent.
Not adhering to their SSSI responsibility by properly maintaining critical wildflower meadow habitat, which could be seen as an act of eco-vandalism.
Installing of inappropriate nest boxes and failing to maintain them, making them unfit for purpose and ultimately unsuccessful.
Inability to have a voice or opinion about Natural England’s decision to remove wild Peregrine chicks from active nest sites, despite being presented with an alternative solution of using wild rehabilitated juveniles.
Failure to follow clear DEFRA guidelines regarding, handling, reporting and testing raptors at the height of avian influenza, within a high-risk location.
Poorly managed and underpublicised the beaver reintroduction and now with the removal of the Moor’s Warden, it now has no license holder for the beavers.
The Hawk and Owl Trust has gone on record saying that they “Understand that a small number of people previously connected with the charity in various ways are resistant to the positive progress and management changes that have been made.” Firstly, as a concerned group, their numbers heavily outnumber the board of the Hawk and Owl Trust. There is well over 50 people protesting, including at least a dozen legators, who have cancelled bequests. Given that the average bequest in the UK last year was £40,000, it amounts to a lot of money being lost by the Hawk and Owl Trust.
The protesters are not “resistant to the positive progress and management changes that have been made” and have tried to engage with the Hawk and Owl Trust over that last 5 years. However, they have actually grown tired of waiting for change. Watching little, if any progress in the conservation of wild raptors over the last few years and members money being wasted on what we consider to be unrelated and unnecessary frivolities. For example, a huge animal shed that can no longer be used to its full potential because of the obvious lack of animals and animal handling skills left at the Trust.
The Trust went on further to say that “Any criticism of the charity is completely unwarranted, misplaced and risks undermining the work being undertaken.” However, everything above is documented and evidenced. The protesters now think that they were probably too tolerant and patient in the past and it is high time that the Chairman and Trustees fulfilled their responsibilities and let everyone know what work is being undertaken in support of their charitable objectives.
If things are allowed to continue as they are at the Hawk and Owl Trust, there is a significant and very real risk that Norfolk and the UK will lose a key SSSI and an extremely important habitat for the exact wildlife that the Trust claims it is trying, but quite clearly in our view, cannot and is failing, to protect.
ENDS
In the interest of fair reporting, blog readers are reminded of the statement issued by the Charity Commission and reported last week:
“We carefully considered concerns raised with us about the governance of The Hawk and Owl Trust. Based on the information provided, we determined that there is no regulatory role for us at this time.”
There was a pretty gruesome criminal case taking place at the High Court in Glasgow last week relating to the infamous Auch Estate at the Bridge of Orchy.
Long-term blog readers may well remember the Auch Estate – a deer-stalking and fishing sporting estate where a poisoned golden eagle was found in June 2009 along with a carbofuran-killed fox and a carbofuran-laced sheep carcass. The discovery led to a raid at the farm manager’s home where Carbofuran was discovered in a game bag and two illegal handguns were discovered in the loft.
Three years later after prolonged legal proceedings, farm manager Tom McKellar (then aged 50) was convicted for having possession of the banned pesticide Carbofuran, although he wasn’t charged with poisoning the golden eagle or placing the poisoned bait. He was given a pathetic £1,200 fine for possession of Carbofuran and a 300-hour community service order for possession of the two handguns, a crime which would normally have attracted a mandatory five year custodial sentence (see here and here for some background to that case).
Aerial view of Auch Estate. Photo: Crown Office
The case heard last week at Glasgow High Court centred on twin brothers Alexander and Robert McKellar (now aged 31). In September 2017 after drinking with a German hunting party at a local hotel, Alexander McKellar’s vehicle hit a charity cyclist, Tony Parsons, who was cycling on the A82, causing him serious injury. Instead of helping him, the two brothers drove back to Auch Estate (where they were reportedly self employed farm workers living with their parents – Alexander McKellar was also reported to be a deer stalker), dumped their phones and changed vehicle and went back to pick up Tony Parson’s body, bike and possessions, and drove back to the estate and initially hid Mr Parsons in a wood.
They later removed him from the wood and took him to another location on the estate, reported in court as a location used for “the purposes of disposing dead animals”, in other words, a stink pit. There they dug a grave and buried Mr Parsons and burned his possessions.
Mr Parson’s remains were not discovered until January 2021 after a girlfriend of one of the McKellar brothers told police she’d been shown the grave site in 2020. Prior to her report, in 2018 the police had been tipped off to “pay attention” to the McKellar twins and had visited the estate in January 2019 but were apparently ‘asked to leave’.
Details of the case can be read here, here and here.
The McKellar brothers were due to stand trial for the murder of Mr Parsons but the court has accepted a not guilty plea from Robert McKellar and a guilty plea from Alexander McKellar to a lesser charge of culpable homicide. Both have pleaded guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice. They will be sentenced on 25th August at Glasgow High Court.
Let’s hope there’s some justice for Tony Parsons and his family.
UPDATE 4th August 2023: More detail emerges about McKellar twins who buried cyclist’s body in stink pit on Auch Estate (here)
UPDATE 25th August 2023: McKellar twins from Auch Estate sentenced for killing cyclist & burying his body in a stink pit (here)
Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to email north-west water company United Utilities (UU) in support of its decision not to renew grouse and pheasant/partridge shooting leases on its land after the current leases expire in 2027 (see here, here and here).
Multi-coloured moorland sphagnum bog mosses essential for holding water and helping to prevent downstream flooding & upstream wildfire. Photo: Ruth Tingay
In the face of a subsequent online attack from shooting organisations who are furious about this decision, UU has responded with a full statement to explain why the decision was made. This is the email that UU has been sending to those who are attacking the company:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us to raise your concerns about the United Utilities’ updated land strategy. Building on decades of successful habitat restoration, we recently reviewed the way we manage our land to ensure we are fully focused on using our catchments to manage water quality, quantity and mitigate flooding, which are of strategic importance to us as we respond to the challenges of climate change.
Addressing these challenges requires a step change in our approach to help ensure a fully resilient ecosystem in which wet moorlands and biodiverse woodlands can improve catchment resilience by slowing the flow of water and improving water quality and retention – this is the primary reason we own this catchment land.
Following that review and to ensure we can focus on those areas, we will not be renewing shooting leases where we own the rights. This follows a decision made some time ago not to issue any such leases on a long-term basis. Stepping away from leasing our shooting rights, as those leases come to their natural expiry date over the next few years, provides an opportunity to work with stakeholders to change the land management approach and support the delivery of this long-term objective for increased catchment resilience.
We remain committed to working with others, to accelerate the restoration and rewetting of our peatlands and the biodiversity of our woodlands. We believe this will help unlock other opportunities to deliver a richer and more diverse approach to habitat management, conserving and improving biodiversity, including protected species, while also developing skills and jobs. We see this as an extension of our catchment management work which has been so successful in other parts of our region.
Our updated land strategy affects 24 licences where we have shooting rights within specific catchments. We are working through this transition with those who are affected by this change as the leases come to their natural end and we remain committed to working with others to help address climate change risks such as wildfires and droughts whilst improving biodiversity. Many current land management techniques will continue and these will form part of new plans, developed and delivered with stakeholders and partners, providing new jobs and economic benefits for those who work in our catchment communities.
Further to the news that north-west water company United Utilities (UU) has decided not to renew any more grouse-shooting and pheasant/partridge-shooting leases on its land once the current leases expire in 2027 (here), the shooting organisations have gone into meltdown, first making veiled threats towards UU in the media (see here) and then whipping up the shooting community into a frenzy with familiar hyperbole that UU’s decision is an ‘insult‘, a ‘disaster‘, a ‘travesty‘, ‘tragic‘ and ‘appalling‘.
You won’t be surprised to learn that I disagree with all of those claims and welcome UU’s vision to restore their land for the benefit of wildlife and wider ecosystem health, and thus people.
I’d much rather see this:
A non-grouse-shooting moor in the Peak District National Park (photo: Ruth Tingay)
Than this:
A driven grouse moor on UU land in the Peak District National Park (Photo: Ruth Tingay)
It’s still not clear (to me, anyway) just how many shoots will be affected by UU’s decision. BASC says on its website, ‘It’s estimated that more than 30 shoots will be shut down as a result‘ whereas the Countryside Alliance says on its website that UU’s decision ‘…will close seven grouse moors and three low ground shoots‘.
Whatever the number, the shooting organisations are predicting rural Armageddon, as they often do when there’s the slightest whiff of any threat to shooting, and they’re now running a campaign to urge their members to write letters of complaint to UU’s chief executive Louise Beardmore, I guess in the hope of piling on the pressure and persuading UU to reverse its decision.
They’re entitled to express their opinions, of course, so it would be good if counter views to this attack were also heard by UU, to commend their decision and encourage them to hold firm. Who knows, the support may also encourage them to sort out their terrible sewage dumping record.
The owner of a Yorkshire Dales grouse moor has been appointed to a ‘key role’ at DEFRA by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Therese Coffey.
Heather Hancock, who according to her Wikipedia entry owns Threshfield Moor with her husband Mark Hancock, has been given the role of Lead Non-Executive Board Member, ‘appointed to provide challenge to Government departments’, according to this DEFRA press release (here).
Mark Avery has blogged about this appointment this morning (here) and he points out that Hancock’s co-ownership of a grouse moor has been conveniently excluded from the DEFRA press release.
It’s an interesting omission, as this particular grouse moor has been at the centre of two separate police investigations into suspected wildlife crime in recent years.
In October 2017, a young satellite-tagged hen harrier named ‘John’ ‘disappeared’ on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal for information (here).
Like so many other hen harriers that vanish in this hell-hole of a National Park, he’s never been seen again and of course, nobody was ever prosecuted.
In January 2020 Threshfield Moor was once again under investigation after two witnesses reported seeing the shooting of a hen harrier (here). That investigation did lead to an arrest of a gamekeeper but, as ever, there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against him and the investigation was dropped.
Threshfield Moor featured on this blog again just last month after a reader sent in photographs of two gas guns (bird scaring devices) that had been positioned on the grouse moor (see here) during the height of the breeding season.
I can’t imagine that Heather Hancock is going to ‘challenge’ the Government about anything in which she has a vested interest, can you?
Excerpt from Heather Hancock’s Wikipedia entry (27 July 2023)
A fascinating article appeared on the BBC News website yesterday about a ‘protest’ that’s been staged against the Hawk & Owl Trust over what has been described as “poor management of resources and of people“.
The BBC article (here) reveals that a protest was held at the Trust’s Sculthorpe Reserve in Norfolk by former staff and volunteers, who are angry about “money being wasted“, “volunteers being used badly” and the “method of management that threatens the reserve“.
The BBC reports that some life members of the Hawk & Owl Trust have been banned from the site. The protesters told the BBC they’d made a complaint to the Charity Commission to express concerns about ‘leadership and the use of funds’.
The Hawk & Owl Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, Adrian Blumfield, issued the following statement in response:
“The Hawk and Owl Trust is a respected national charity dedicated to conserving wild birds of prey and their habitats.
“It has two well-managed nature reserves in Norfolk and Somerset. The trust is a well-run and governed organisation with an experienced trustee body.
“We understand that a small number of people previously connected with the charity are resistant to the positive progress and changes that have been made.
“Any criticism of the charity is completely unwarranted, misplaced and risks undermining the work being undertaken.“
The Charity Commission said: “We carefully considered concerns raised with us about the governance of The Hawk and Owl Trust.
“Based on the information provided, we determined that there is no regulatory role for us at this time.”
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).
I’m afraid I lost all respect for the Hawk & Owl Trust during that time and still feel the same today. Despite having some really decent on-the-ground staff and doing some excellent public engagement work with city peregrines, for an organisation that is supposedly focused on the conservation of the UK’s birds of prey and owls it’s deeply disappointing that it has not been at the forefront of raising merry hell about the ongoing illegal killing of birds of prey in this country. In fact it’s more than deeply disappointing, it’s a bloody shocker.
UPDATE 2nd August 2023: More on the revolt at Hawk & Owl Trust: statement from protesters (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 