A buzzard has been found shot in Colchester, Essex. It is still alive and is undergoing treatment for its injuries.
It was found on 11th January 2023 near to Hardy’s Green and Heckford Bridge. Essex Police’s Rural, Wildlife & Heritage Crime Team has put out an appeal for information on Twitter:
The shot buzzard. Photo: Essex Police Wildlife Team & Colchester Owl Rescue
X-ray showing at least 3 shotgun pellets (highlighted by RPUK). Photo: Essex Police Wildlife Team & Colchester Owl Rescue
This isn’t the first raptor persecution crime in Essex and certainly won’t be the last. Previous crimes against birds of prey in this county in recent years include the shooting of red kites (e.g. here and here), the shooting of a hobby (here) and the shooting of buzzards (e.g. here, here and here).
If anyone has any information about this latest shot buzzard, please contact Essex Police on Tel: 101, quoting incident reference # 42/13298/23.
UPDATE 31st January 2023: Shot buzzard in Essex succumbs to its injuries (here)
At the beginning of this week, Suffolk Police put out an appeal on Twitter asking the shooting community to help identify the person who shot dead five young goshawks, which had been dumped at the edge of the King’s Forest near Thetford on Monday (see here).
The following day, Suffolk Police’s tweet was deleted without explanation. It soon became clear why – BASC, a prominent shooting organisation, had demanded it be removed because apparently it was offensive to ask the shooting community to help identify someone who had committed a crime with a shotgun! In a misjudged PR move, BASC even bragged about getting the police tweet removed:
I don’t think it’s disparaging in any way to ask the shooting community for help to solve a wildlife crime committed by someone with a shotgun. And let’s be honest, given the long history of goshawk persecution in the UK by members of the game-shooting industry, it’s perfectly logical to suspect that a member of that industry might be the perpetrator.
At this stage, Suffolk Police, quite rightly, hasn’t drawn any conclusions other than all five goshawks contained shotgun pellets (as revealed by x-ray).
My own view, for what it’s worth at this early stage of the investigation, is that the x-ray provided by the police shows that at least one of the dead goshawks had an enlarged crop, indicating that it had eaten recently. It’s not beyond the realms of possibly, or indeed probability, that these young goshawks had been enticed into a trap, over a period of time, by a decoy bird and then shot by whoever was operating the trap.
We know that goshawks are easily enticed into such traps (e.g. see here, here, here and here). We also know that many gamekeepers generally despise goshawks, due to their perceived threat to gamebirds; a view not helped by idiotic and inaccurate commentary about the species by senior members of the gamekeeping community including Alex Hogg, the Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, who once wrote, “I strongly believe the goshawk never was indigenous to the United Kingdom and there is absolutely no hard evidence to suggest otherwise” (see here). Goshawk persecution is so rife in the UK, even inside some of our National Parks (e.g. see here and here) that the species has been identified as a ‘national wildlife crime priority’ by the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Why were the dead goshawks dumped in a car park next to a public wood? Only the person who dumped them there can answer that, but again, it’s not the first time that illegally-killed goshawks have been placed to await discovery, as some kind of two-fingered salute by the killer(s).
For example, here is what happened to three young fledged goshawks from a nest in the Peak District National Park . The image below is an excerpt from the Peak Nest Watch 2010 end of season report, which can be downloaded here: peak_nestwatch_2010
Were the five shot goshawks found in Suffolk this week all from the same brood? DNA analysis can answer that. When were they shot and had the carcasses been frozen prior to being dumped? Again, forensic analyses will help. Until then, all we know is that a wildlife crime has been committed and Suffolk Police are to be congratulated for putting out an appeal for information within 24 hours of the shot birds being discovered.
I’ve seen other members of the shooting community make some ridiculous claims about this case over the last few days. One suggests that shotgun pellets ‘can easily be introduced into a carcass’, inferring that these birds weren’t shot at all but are the result of some kind of ‘set up’. He’s bonkers if he thinks anyone will believe that. Another former Head Gamekeeper, who routinely brags on social media about his supposed superior expertise on natural history, concluded that these were buzzards, not goshawks (he’s wrong, as usual) but even if he was right, it would still be a wildlife crime to shoot them. Bizarrely, the BASC Scotland twitter account ‘liked’ this post (thanks to blog reader Dr Rob Thomas @RobThomas14 for pointing this out):
Not content with forcing Suffolk Police to remove its original appeal for information on this case, BASC has now published an astonishing article on its website in an attempt to justify its action and also seems to be very cross about the £10,000 reward offered by the RSPB and Wild Justice. You can read the BASC article here.
[UPDATE: It appears that BASC’s blog is no longer available on its website. Fortunately it was screen-grabbed before it vanished, see below]
In my opinion, it’s staggering that BASC can so easily influence the narrative about raptor persecution crimes as it has done here, and it’s not the first time. I’ll be blogging shortly about another example that has recently come to light.
It’s also a little bit strange that BASC should feel offended about being asked to help find the criminal who shot these goshawks. BASC, you’ll recall, is a member of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), the police-led ‘partnership’ designed to help tackle illegal bird of prey persecution in England & Wales. If BASC is so offended about the shooting industry being linked to raptor persecution, why on earth is it a member of the RPPDG?
Meanwhile, the crowdfunder to increase the £10,000 reward for information, launched by those decent people at Rare Bird Alert, is doing well. If you’d like to contribute, the crowdfunder page can be found here.
If you have any information about this appalling crime, please call Suffolk Police on 101 and quote crime reference 37/3027/23. Alternatively, to get in touch anonymously, call the RSPB’s dedicated Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
UPDATE 7th June 2023: Man charged in relation to five shot goshawks found dumped in a forest car park in January (here)
UPDATE 29th June 2023: Gamekeeper Francis Addison receives suspended jail sentence in relation to five shot goshawks (here)
Further to the news that the RSPB and Wild Justice have put up a £10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who shot five young goshawks and dumped their bodies at the edge of The King’s Wood in Suffolk on Monday (see here), the bird news service Rare Bird Alert has launched a crowdfunder to increase the reward.
Here’s the wording of the crowdfunder, that went live earlier this morning:
On Monday 16th January 2023 officers from Suffolk Constabulary discovered the bodies of five dead Goshawks in Kings Forest, Suffolk.
Police have revealed that x-ray examination has shown all five birds had been shot. Further investigations are on-going.
A reward of £10,000 has been offered by the RSPB and Wild Justice for information leading to a conviction in connection with the birds.
Rare Bird Alert is setting up this appeal to increase that reward. If the reward is not paid out after a determinate period of time then it will be donated to the RSPB Investigations team for their continuing fight against raptor persecution.
We will not be silenced by those who kill birds of prey.
ENDS
Rare Bird Alert launched a similar fundraising appeal in 2015 after a rare Red-footed falcon was shot in Cambridgeshire (here), and that appeal raised over £2,700. It is hoped that this latest fundraiser provides the birding community with a constructive outlet for its anger at yet another appalling case of raptor persecution.
If you’d like to contribute, the crowdfunder page can be found here.
Further to the news that Suffolk Police have found five shot goshawks, dumped at the edge of the King’s Forest near Thetford (see here), conservation campaign group Wild Justice has partnered with the RSPB to increase the reward for information from £5,000 (here) to £10,000 (see here).
The five shot goshawks found by Suffolk Police on Monday 16th January 2023
“We are sick to the back teeth of the relentless illegal persecution of birds of prey in the UK, which is mostly associated with land managed for gamebird shooting, be that red grouse, pheasants or partridges. Indeed, it was our strength of feeling about raptor persecution, and our frustration at the failure of the Westminster and the devolved governments to tackle it effectively, that led to us founding Wild Justice in 2018. In partnership with the RSPB, we hope this substantial reward will encourage someone to come forward with information about whoever was responsible for this heinous crime, and that that information leads to a successful conviction“.
If you have any information, please call Suffolk Police on 101 and quote crime reference 37/3027/23. Alternatively, to get in touch anonymously, call the RSPB’s dedicated Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
The BBC News website has picked up the news of this increased reward here and the Suffolk Live website has written about it here.
UPDATE 19th January 2023: Crowdfunder launched to increase reward for information on five shot goshawks found in Suffolk (here)
Further to this morning’s blog about Suffolk Police finding five shot goshawks on Monday, that had been dumped at the edge of the King’s Forest near Thetford (see here), the RSPB has issued an appeal for information and is offering a £5K reward, it’s highest ever.
The five juvenile goshawks. X-rays revealed all had been shot.
Here is the joint statement from the RSPB and Suffolk Police:
Five young birds of prey, identified as rare Goshawks, have been found dead in suspicious circumstances in a Suffolk Forest.
The birds were discovered on Monday 16 January at the edge of Kings Forest and reported to Suffolk Police, who x-rayed the birds as part of their investigation and found all five birds to contain multiple pieces of shot.
All birds of prey are protected by law, and to kill or injure one could result in jail and/or an unlimited fine.
The RSPB is working with Suffolk Police to help identify the culprit and has offered a reward of £5,000 to anyone who comes forward with information which leads to a conviction. This is the highest amount ever offered by the conservation charity, which has described the incident as ‘Utterly despicable.’
Goshawks are elusive birds of prey, around the size of a Buzzard, with yellow eyes and streaked undersides. They live quietly in forests in a handful of locations in the UK including Thetford Forest where these birds were found.
Mark Thomas, the RSPB’s Head of Investigations UK, said: “Anyone who values the natural world and abhors those who actively and criminally look to destroy it will feel as outraged as we do about this utterly despicable incident. We are calling on anyone who has information to come forward to the police.”
The RSPB and other specialists are assisting the police with their ongoing investigation.
The illegal killing of birds of prey remains a widespread national problem. The RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report for 2021, published in November 2022, revealed 108 confirmed incidents of birds of prey being shot, trapped or poisoned. However, the true number is likely to be far higher.
The report also found that Norfolk had the highest number of confirmed raptor persecution incidents than any other county in 2021.
Sergeant Brian Calver from Suffolk Police said: “This is a serious wildlife crime against an amazing schedule one bird of prey that was once driven to extinction in Britain. There is no place for such activity in modern times. Whoever is responsible for this needs to be brought to justice and I’d urge anybody with any information whatsoever to let us know.”
If you have any information, please call Suffolk Police on 101 and quote crime reference 37/3027/23. Alternatively, to get in touch anonymously, call the RSPB’s dedicated Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
ENDS
UPDATE 5pm: Wild Justice also offers £5,000 reward (here)
UPDATE 19th January 2023: Crowdfunder launched to increase reward for information on five shot goshawks found in Suffolk (here)
Yesterday evening, Suffolk Police’s Rural, Wildlife & Heritage Unit posted an appeal on Twitter asking for information about the discovery of five young goshawks, reportedly shot and dumped in the King’s Forest, Suffolk.
The corpses were found on Monday (16th Jan 2023) at the Brandon end of the large car park area off the B1106, North Stow. Police say all five birds were x-rayed and all were found to contain shotgun pellets.
Some idiots from the shooting industry have been complaining on Twitter about what they perceive to be an ‘anti-shooting’ tweet from the police – anything to distract attention away from this disturbing crime, I guess.
One genius is even convinced that the x-ray image provided by the police is actually of a shot parrot and not one of the shot goshawks, despite it being explained to him in very simple terms by a qualified vet (@ThatVetSean) that the word ‘parrot’ appears in the corner of the x-ray image “because it’s a digital x-ray machine & veterinary software with handy preloaded settings enabling the operator to get a quality image in a single go. They’ll have chosen parrot as it’s comparable in size/anatomy, there isn’t a Goshawk setting“.
Well done to Suffolk Police’s Rural, Wildlife & Heritage Unit for issuing an impressively quick appeal for information.
If anyone has any information about who shot and dumped these goshawks, please contact Suffolk Police.
UPDATE 16.o5hrs: Five shot goshawks in Suffolk: RSPB offers £5,ooo reward for information (here)
UPDATE 5pm: Wild Justice also offers £5,000 reward (here)
UPDATE 19th January 2023: Crowdfunder launched to increase reward for information on five shot goshawks found in Suffolk (here)
UPDATE 20th January 2023: Shooting industry ‘offended’ about being asked to help identify the person who shot five goshawks (here)
UPDATE 28th March 2023: Suffolk Police arrest a man in connection with five shot goshawks found in Kings Forest in January (here)
UPDATE 7th June 2023: Man charged in relation to 5 shot goshawks found dumped in a forest carpark in January (here)
Kent Police Appeal for Information (9th January 2023):
Unlawful killing of owl in Upchurch.
Kent Police’s Rural Task Force is investigating the suspected killing of a tawny owl in Upchurch.
The incident is believed to have happened in October 2022 and officers have recently come into possession of images of two men they would like to speak to.
Police Sergeant Darren Walshaw said: “We suspect an owl was killed using catapults and are now issuing photographs of two people who may be able to assist with our enquiries. Anybody who recognises one or both of them is urged to contact our appeal line.”
Anyone with information should call 01634 792209, quoting Rural Task Force reference 95-22. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800555111 or complete the online form on the website.
You’d think, after the high profile conviction of gamekeeper Paul Allen two days ago, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wildlife, poisons and firearms offences on the Shaftesbury Estate (see here), that Dorset Police might have issued a statement.
You might think that Dorset Police would have wanted to publicise the conviction, not only to inform the public that a conviction had been secured thanks to the hard work and expertise of its wildlife crime officer Claire Dinsdale and the other partner agencies that Claire drafted in (National Wildlife Crime Unit, RSPB Investigations and Natural England), but also to send a message of deterrence to any other person thinking of committing these crimes.
It’s not as though Dorset Police doesn’t routinely publish statements on its website about other forthcoming court appearances and subsequent convictions for a wide range of offences such as assault, drug supply, sexual assault, murder, driving offences, fatal collisions etc (e.g. see here, here, here, here, here, here, here) and yet Dorset Police has remained tight-lipped about how this long and complex investigation, led by one of its own officers (the now former WCO Claire Dinsdale), resulted in seven guilty pleas at court on Wednesday.
Why would they want to keep quiet about that, do you think? It’s almost as though Dorset Police isn’t that bothered about raptor persecution, a police national wildlife crime priority.
*Multiple illegally killed birds of prey, six of which were confirmed shot and one poisoned, were uncovered by Dorset Police and the RSPB on the Shaftesbury Estate near Wimborne St Giles
*The recently published RSPB Birdcrime report identified Dorset as the second worst county in the UK for confirmed bird of prey incidents in 2021
*The conservation charity is calling for greater regulation of larger scale pheasant shoots in order to help address the climate and nature crises and to reduce these appalling crimes against birds of prey
At Weymouth Magistrates’ Court today (4 January 2023), Paul Allen, 64, of Brockington Down, Wimborne St Giles, pleaded guilty to multiple charges of raptor persecution and related offences.
The Dorset gamekeeper will be sentenced on 16 February.
Dorset Police were first alerted in November 2020 when a member of the public found a dead red kite lying close to a dead rat on a private pheasant shoot on the Shaftesbury Estate, near Wimborne St Giles. Toxicology examinations confirmed the presence of the highly toxic pesticide bendiocarb in both species. Bendiocarb, which in some forms has now been banned, has been persistently abused for the illegal poisoning of birds of prey and other animals for years. It is believed the rat was laced with the poison and deliberately placed as a poisoned bait.
A multi-agency search of Allen’s home and surrounding land was undertaken in March 2021, led by Dorset Police and assisted by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), Natural England and RSPB Investigations. Officers discovered six dead buzzards (which, following official post-mortem, were confirmed to have been shot) near the remains of a bonfire, including one that was suspected as having been shot within the preceding 24 hours. Tragically, this bird also contained shot from two previous shooting incidents, which it had survived.
Dorset Police, NWCU, Natural England & RSPB investigators at the scene where four of the nine buzzards were found. Photo: RSPB
Four of the six shot buzzards found by investigators. Photo: RSPB
Two more shot buzzards found during the search. The buzzard on the top was believed to have been shot less than 24 hours before being found. Photo: RSPB
An avian specialist at the Natural History Museum examined the remains of the fire, which was collected by investigators and confirmed the presence of at least three further buzzards.
CSI officer from Dorset Police examining the remains of three buzzards on a bonfire. Photo: RSPB
A banned product containing the pesticide bendiocarb was found in Allen’s vehicle and in an insecure outbuilding, along with two bottles of strychnine: another deadly poison banned in 2006. Two full tins of Cymag – a lethal fumigant pesticide banned since 2004 – were also found outside under an upturned pond liner.
Officers from Dorset Police & Natural England with two containers of Cymag. Photo: RSPB
Sachet of banned pesticide Ficam W (Bendiocarb) found in unlocked outbuilding. Photo: RSPB
All birds of prey are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and killing them is against the law, punishable by an unlimited fine and/or jail.
Thomas Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer, said: “Finding so many illegally killed buzzards was truly shocking. This is yet another example of a gamekeeper being prosecuted in connection with raptor persecution offences on land managed for gamebird shooting.
“In addition to all the agencies involved in this case, we would particularly like to thank Claire Dinsdale, formerly of Dorset Police, and currently with the NWCU, an exemplary officer who has devoted her career to tackling wildlife crime.”
Nationally, the RSPB’s recently published Birdcrime report for 2021 found that over two-thirds of confirmed raptor persecution incidents were in relation to land managed for gamebird shooting and identified Dorset as the county with the second-highest number of confirmed raptor persecution incidents in the UK that year.
Mark Thomas, UK Head of Investigations at the RSPB, said: “Tragically, only days into the New Year, we already have yet another highly significant bird of prey persecution case before a court. This is a national problem which requires urgent Government attention and solutions, as identified in their own report published in December 2021.
“In the time of a climate and nature emergency there can be no place for raptor persecution. We are therefore calling on Government to better enforce existing regulations relating to pheasant shoots, and to consider the introduction of new sanctions to act as a meaningful deterrent to such appalling crimes.”
The guilty pleas were –
· Two charges of possession of six dead common buzzards and remains of three more in March 2021
· Three charges of the keeping of banned pesticides (strychnine, bendiocarb and Cymag) in March 2021
· Two charges of failing to comply with conditions of shotgun and firearms certificates in March 2021
Charges relating to the killing of a red kite were dropped.
ENDS
The RSPB has also released a few minutes of video footage from the search – well worth viewing. You can find it on the ITV News website here
After today’s court case, where gamekeeper Paul Allen was found guilty of seven wildlife, poisons and firearms offences, including the possession of six shot buzzards and banned poisons in March 2021 (here), it can now be revealed that the poisoned white-tailed eagle that was found dead on a Dorset estate in January 2022 was on the very same estate – the very same estate (the Shaftesbury Estate) that Dorset Police u-turned on their decision to search during their botched investigation into the poisoning of that eagle (see here).
Now, before I go any further, there are a few things that need to be clarified before anyone jumps to conclusions and makes libellous comments. Firstly, and importantly, there is NO EVIDENCE to indicate that the eagle was poisoned on the Shaftesbury Estate. The eagle was found dead there, yes, that is a statement of fact. However, we know from the eagle’s satellite tag data that in the days preceding its death it visited two or three other estates in the area. We also know that the poison that killed the eagle (Brodifacoum) is not a fast-acting poison and that this eagle’s health deteriorated over a number of days before it died. It is quite feasible that it picked up the bait elsewhere but succumbed to internal haemorrhaging once it had reached the Shaftesbury Estate.
On the same lines, it is also important to clarify that there is NO EVIDENCE that gamekeeper Paul Allen had any involvement in the poisoning of the white-tailed eagle. He just happened to work on the estate where the eagle was found dead. My understanding is that the shoot that Paul Allen worked on, although located on Shaftesbury Estate, was not directly associated with the estate; it was a privately-run shoot (perhaps tenanted) that was not under the management of Shaftesbury Estate.
What is up for discussion though, is Dorset Police’s decision NOT to search the Shaftesbury Estate as part of their investigation into the poisoning of that eagle in March 2022, when they were already acutely aware of the offences that gamekeeper Paul Allen had committed on the very same estate, a year earlier.
Dorset Police’s (now former) wildlife crime officer, Claire Dinsdale, had organised a search of the Shaftesbury Estate after the toxicology results came back on that eagle. She was absolutely right to do so, whether earlier offences had been committed there or not. It’s a no-brainer. This is policing for beginners. You find a poisoned eagle, you go and search the location where it was found to see if there’s any evidence to identify a potential perpetrator. That these other raptor persecution offences were already under investigation on the same estate just ramps up the justification for another search, surely?
Why Claire’s decision to undertake a search was overruled by senior officers, who then repeatedly said, for months afterwards, that their decision not to conduct a search was ‘proportionate’ and that ‘there weren’t any new leads’ to justify a search, just beggars belief. Their decision to u-turn on the search was made despite representations from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and the RSPB, based on the eagle’s satellite tag data and decades of experience investigating raptor persecution crimes. Something happened to cause the police u-turn. But what?
There is a strong stench of something sinister going on at Dorset Police HQ.
I’m certain that this latest revelation will lead to more questions being asked of Dorset Police, and from a much higher authority than this little blog.
Raptor Persecution UK 