Tag: buzzard

Hen harriers, golden eagles & buzzards illegally killed in 1990

According to the Hansard Report April 2004 (Hansard is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in UK parliament), the following illegal raptor persecution incidents were recorded in 1990:

Cromlix Estate (nr Dunblane, Perthshire) – 1 x buzzard + 1 x hen harrier killed by Chloralose.

Rosehaugh Estate (Black Isle, Ross-shire) – 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

Ledmore Estate (Lairg, Sutherland) – 1 x golden eagle + 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

Hopetoun Estate (Abington, South Lanarkshire) – 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

Glenfernate Estate (Blairgowrie, Perthshire) – 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

Grimerston Estate (Isle of Lewis) – 1 x golden eagle killed by Chloralose.

This report was published in the days when the government publicised the names of the Estates where illegal raptor persecution incidents had been recorded. Shame they don’t do that anymore – you have to wonder why? The Hansard report documenting these and other persecution incidents, can be read here: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1994/apr/28/bird-killing

golden eagles, peregrines & buzzards illegally killed in 1989

According to the Hansard Report April 2004 (Hansard is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in UK parliament), the following illegal raptor persecution incidents were recorded in 1989:

Roxburghe Estate (nr Kelso, Scottish Borders) – 1 x buzzard killed by Mevinphos.

Carbeth Estate (Stirlingshire) – 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

Langholm Estate (Dumfries & Galloway) – 1 x peregrine killed by Mevinphos.

Drumochter Estate (Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire) – 1 x golden eagle killed by Chloralose.

Islay Estate (Strathclyde) – 1 x buzzard killed by Mevinphos.

Islay Estate (Strathclyde) – 1 x peregrine shot.

Monzie Estate (Crieff, Perthshire) – 1 x buzzard killed by Chloralose.

This report was published in the days when the government publicised the names of the Estates where illegal raptor persecution incidents had been recorded. Shame they don’t do that anymore – you have to wonder why? The Hansard report documenting these and other persecution incidents, can be read here: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1994/apr/28/registers-of-scotland

Gamekeeper sentenced for poisoning buzzard at Frogden Farm, Kelso

14 December 2006.

Dead buzzard

A gamekeeper who laced a carcass with poison which killed a wild buzzard has been given 100 hours community service by Sheriff Kevin Drummond. Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard how the 62-year old keeper set a poisoned bait at Frogden Farm, Kelso, where he looked after a pheasant shoot.

The first-time offender, who reportedly lives in one of the farm cottages, also admitted possession of three dangerous pesticides, which he claimed he had inherited from his predecessor. Sheriff Drummond said the keeper was an experienced gamekeeper who had closed his eyes to environmental issues.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6180203.stm

poisoned buzzard and red kite found, cromdale, strathspey.

Two birds of prey found dead on a shooting estate were killed by poison, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The RSPB says tests on a rare red kite and a buzzard revealed that they were killed illegally by the pesticide carbofuran.

The red kite had been tagged as a chick and was being tracked.

It was found in remote woodland near Cromdale in Strathspey by RSPB staff. They say no charges will be brought.

Carbofuran is a powerful insecticide which was once used to protect crops and is dangerous to any living creature. It is now totally illegal to use or store carbofuran in the UK .

8 buzzards & 1 red kite dead on Corrybrough Estate, Tomatin

8 buzzards and 1 red kite were found dead on the Corrybrough Estate, Tomatin, near Inverness in March 1998. One buzzard was found in a spring trap with its legs chewed up. Many of the dead birds were found on a rubbish dump and later tests showed they had been poisoned with Carbofuran.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990919/ai_n13941450/

At the time of the discovery, Corrybrough Estate was owned by former English magistrate, John Tinsley. It’s not the first time Tinsley has been in trouble with the police: http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/english-landowner-cleared-over-struggle-with-police-officers-at-his-highland-estate-laird-feared-kidnap-bid-1.349215

The Corrybrough Estate was sold in 2009. Let’s hope the new owner is a law-abiding one.

Golden eagle & buzzard found poisoned on West Glenalmond Estate, Perthshire

In October and December 1998, a dead golden eagle and a buzzard were found on the Glenalmond Estate in Perthshire. The carcass of a red grouse was found close by, and tests later showed it had been used as a poisoned bait. The golden eagle had been killed by ingesting the illegal pesticide, Yaltox.

In Perth Sheriff Court in December 2000, a local gamekeeper was acquitted of all charges. He was also acquitted of further charges related to laying poisoned baits for either a peregrine or a golden eagle.

News story here

inquiry after buzzard shot dead in Aberdeenshire

In May 2007, Police appealed for information after a buzzard was shot dead in Aberdeenshire.

The bird was recovered in woodland near St Cyrus, and an X-ray showed four shotgun pellets in its body.

Grampian Police believe it may have been shot several months earlier, and said various lines of inquiry were being pursued.

Buzzards are protected under law and offenders can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to £5,000.

Grampian Police Wildlife Crime Officer Pc Dave MacKinnon said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have information about this incident or the illegal killing of protected species to come forward with their information.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6611821.stm

gin traps and a poisoned buzzard found on balmanno estate, perthshire

After several poisoning incidents in the Glenfarg area of Perthshire over a number of years, a buzzard poisoned by carbofuran was found on the Balmanno Estate in November 2001.

Tayside Police, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department and the RSPB searched the shooting estate, as well as the premises of the gamekeeper, on 15 March 2002, under powers of the Food and Environment Act. On the estate, they found a freshly dead crow, which was later found to contain carbofuran. At the keeper’s premises they found a small quantity of carbofuran, a small egg collection and several gin traps with pieces of fur on the jaws. The keeper was detained and admitted that he had used the gin traps to take fox cubs. Admissions were also made in relation to the buzzard’s egg.

A poisoned buzzard

After many hearings, stretching back to an original trial date of 19 November 2002, the keeper changed his pleas to guilty. On 12 November 2003, at Perth Sheriff Court, he pleaded guilty to charges of possession of carbofuran in an unlabelled container, possession of several gin traps for use against foxes and possession of one buzzard egg.

The Procurator Fiscal accepted a ‘not guilty’ plea to poisoning a crow with carbofuran. The keeper was fined £250.

 

In Scotland, gin traps were only banned for use against foxes in 1974; in England and Wales, they were banned in 1958.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/23-0617-03-04_legal%20eagle40%20v2_tcm9-132963.pdf

Gamekeeper convicted of poisoning 5 buzzards at tillyrie farm, perthshire.

On 21st November 2001, at Perth Sheriff Court, a gamekeeper was convicted of placing a bait containing carbofuran at Tillyrie Farm, Milnathort, Perthshire,  poisoning five buzzards and a carrion crow and possessing the banned substance carbofuran for the purpose of committing offences against the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. He was also convicted of illegal carbofuran storage under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.

He was fined a total of £2,400.

 At the time of the offence, the keeper leased the shooting rights at Tillyrie Farm and ran it as a pheasant shoot. Tillyrie Farm is owned by racehorse trainer Dorothy Thompson, who praised her gamekeeper by saying, “He makes a very good job of rearing the birds [pheasants] and wildlife on the estate has increased for the better”.

The keeper subsequently appealed his conviction at the High Court of Judiciary Appeal, Edinburgh, in September 2003. The appeal was unsuccessful and the keeper was ordered to pay the original £2,400 imposed by the Court.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1339741/Gamekeeper-denies-coffee-jar-poisoning-of-buzzards.html

Golden eagle found poisoned on Cawdor Estate, Invernesshire

A golden eagle found dead on Cawdor Estate, Invernesshire, on 6 August 2001 had been poisoned by Carbofuran. The dead eagle’s decomposed remains were found by a hillwalker.

Cawdor Estate Factor John Higson and Head Gamekeeper Roddy Forbes denied any wrong-doing and suggested that the dead eagle could have been brought in by someone in their rucksack and planted on the estate to cause trouble. This explanation is commonly used by Alex Hogg, Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, to account for the numbers of dead raptors that turn up on shooting estates. Our sources suggest that recent DNA evidence has proven these claims unfounded.

Since 1988, there have been six other incidents involving the illegal use of poisons connected to the Cawdor Estate. These include:

1988: A pet labrador dies after consuming the deadly poison, strychnine, while walking on Cawdor estate.

1992: A buzzard, magpie and sheep all laced with strychnine are discovered on the estate.

1993: A buzzard found poisoned by the toxin, alphachloralose, on Forestry Commission land 100 metres from the boundary of Cawdor estate.

1994: Three buzzards and rabbit bait found poisoned by alphachloralose on Cawdor.

1996: Three baits discovered containing poisons: a hare laced with alphachloralose, a goat with aldicarb and a wigeon with strychnine.

1996: A hidden pit containing a suspected birds of prey poisoning kit uncovered by investigators three miles from Cawdor Castle.

1999: A report sent to the procurator fiscal alleging that mountain hares were illegally persecuted in snares.

2000: A second report submitted to the fiscal claiming mistreatment of hares.

2001: A dead eagle found on Cawdor estate confirmed to contain the lethal poison, carbofuran.

No convictions have been made as it has not been possible to identify the individual who laid the bait.

For further information: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20010826/ai_n13961693/?tag=content;col1