Earlier this summer I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Natural England, asking for information on the causes of death, including post mortem reports, of all Hen Harrier nestlings (i.e. pre-fledging) in nests monitored by Natural England between 2018 and 2026.
That requested information has just been released and I have to say I’m pretty shocked by it, on a number of levels, which I’ll explain below.
I probably shouldn’t be shocked at all. We’ve all seen how depraved some gamekeepers can be. Whether they’ve been caught setting pole traps and leaving a trapped Tawny Owl, Buzzard or Red Kite to suffer a prolonged and painful death, hanging upside down with catastrophic leg injuries; or catching Red Kites by the legs in moss-covered spring traps placed next to a bait and then beating them to death with a shinty stick; or trapping a Peregrine in a spring trap set on a nest ledge and leaving it there to suffer for hours before retrieving it under cover of darkness; or casually using a wooden stick to beat to death trapped Goshawks and Buzzards inside crow cage traps.
And then there are the seriously depraved, who like to leave the evidence of their brutality in full view, knowing how distressing that’s going to be for the person finding it. For example, killing an entire brood of Hen Harrier chicks by stamping on them in their nest; or twisting and pulling off the head and leg of an adult Hen Harrier whilst he was still alive, leaving his mutilated corpse on a hillside knowing that his satellite tag would lead researchers to his discovery.
What I’m about to describe falls well within this second category of being seriously depraved. If you’re likely to be upset by reading the details, I suggest you stop reading now.
The response to my Freedom of Information request contained details of a number of gruesome cases. Today, I’m just writing about one of them. I need to do a bit more background research before I write about the others.
This case is about the deaths of five recently-hatched Hen Harriers, found dead in their nest on a grouse moor in County Durham in June 2024.
Recently hatched Hen Harriers in a nest. Photo by Peak District Raptor Monitoring Group. NB: This image is for illustrative purposes only – these Hen Harriers were not stabbed to death.
As far as I’m aware, this is the first public report of this incident in the almost two-and-a-half years since it was discovered. I think I’d remember if I’d read about Hen Harrier chicks being stabbed to death. Natural England has remained silent about it, Durham Constabulary has remained silent about it, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s Hen Harrier Task Force has remained silent about it.
Both Natural England and the NWCU’s HH Task Force will both say it’s the local police force’s decision about when to publicise a suspected crime. Some of them might claim, ridiculously, that the case is still under active investigation so they can’t talk about it. I’d like to hear an explanation from all three agencies about why it’s taken a Freedom of Information request, almost two-and-a-half years later, for the details to emerge. Had an FoI not been submitted, would we ever have been told about it?
The discovery of the five dead Hen Harrier nestlings was considered to be sufficiently suspicious to warrant submitting the chicks for post mortems. These were undertaken by pathologists at ZSL, the Institute of Zoology in London, who are highly experienced having been examining dead Hen Harriers for a very long time (e.g. see here and here).
Here are the findings:
This is the cover form at the front of each of the five post mortem reports. They are all identical except for the reference number and the biological data of each individual carcass. Two x-rays were taken of each carcass, with no shot or fractured bones detected in any of them.
HEN HARRIER CHICK 1
HEN HARRIER CHICK 2
HEN HARRIER CHICK 3
HEN HARRIER CHICK 4
HEN HARRIER CHICK 5
I expect, now you’ve had a chance to read the pathologist’s necessarily cautious conclusions, that you’re as shocked as I am. It is difficult for sane, humane individuals to even begin to conceive stabbing a live animal, let alone five tiny, helpless nestlings.
I’ve spoken with a few people about this case, including a retired veterinarian (thank you!), to double check my reading and interpretation of these post mortems. Our thought processes followed a similar thread:
First thought: No, surely someone didn’t stab them, did they?
Second thought: Well, every other plausible explanation seems to have been ruled out – no fractured or broken bones, no evidence of shotgun pellets, no sign of disease, no evidence of predation, negative for Avian Influenza.
Third thought: They all appeared to be healthy, they all died at the same time in the same nest, something has clearly happened, but stabbed? Really? And when they were alive?
Fourth thought: If you look at the size and shape of some of the traumatic lesions (stab wounds), they appear to be quite rounded and not what you’d expect from a knife (especially on chicks 1 and 2). So what might have been used to stab the chicks?
Fifth thought: A screwdriver?
Sixth thought: No, surely not. What type of sadistic psychopath do you have to be to do that?
Seventh thought: The type of sadistic psychopath who chose not to remove the evidence of the crime, but instead chose to leave the stabbed corpses in the nest to be found.
Eighth thought: I can’t think of any other explanation other than they’ve been stabbed, and the pathologist wrote on every report that,
“The injuries were consistent with those that may be expected from a sharp implement used to stab the hen harrier, or a projectile weapon. No signs of ammunition were noted on radiography nor could be found during examinations, and therefore use of a sharp implement is more likely“.
Ninth thought: WTF?
If any of these thoughts resonate with you, then you’re also quite likely to be incensed by this point.
Incensed that whoever stabbed those chicks, in that nest, on that grouse moor, will not be held to account. They’ve got away with it, and will know that they could probably do it again and get away with it, again. And again. And again. Who’s stopping them?
And also incensed that the news of this case has been kept secret for all this time by a number of different agencies. Why? In whose interest is it to keep this under wraps?
And does this level of secrecy extend to Defra Ministers? Do the people who are in a position to bring about change, and indeed who have indicated that a change may be on the cards, do they know about this?
I think this horrific case provides us all with a beautifully serendipitous opportunity to channel our anger.
Defra’s Call for Evidence on the impact of gamebird shooting is open until 1st November 2026. Defra is asking anyone who has experiential evidence about the impact, whether positive or negative, to submit that evidence to the review. Experiential evidence is ‘lived experience’; what you’ve learned from the real world, rather than a theoretical concept.
I would argue that learning about what happened to those five Hen Harrier chicks is having an impact, it’s a lived experience, and therefore qualifies as experiential evidence and Defra needs to hear about it.
One of my colleagues described it to me as a sort of victim impact statement – the kind of declaration that’s presented in court from family and friends when someone has been murdered and they want the judge to consider the wider impact of the crime when deciding on a sentence.
If Defra Ministers are the judges, then it’s up to us to let them know what sort of impact these relentless crimes are having on us. Whether you’re disturbed by it, angered, upset, frustrated that raptor persecution is still happening and most of the time the perpetrators are still getting away it, then tell Defra, in your own words, about how this affects you, as a decent, reasonable, law-abiding member of society.
You don’t need to fill in the technical Call for Evidence submission form; you can simply write an email to Gamebirds@defra.gov.uk and write ‘Call for Evidence’ in the subject line.
As a way of directing your anger and getting justice for those five stabbed Hen Harrier chicks, it’s remarkably satisfying.
The Call for Evidence closes at midnight on 1st November 2026.
Natural England has finally published data for the 2026 Hen Harrier breeding season, showing yet again that Hen Harriers are not tolerated on most English grouse moors.
Of 45 recorded breeding attempts this year, only nine were on privately-owned grouse moors: the rest were on land managed for conservation.
And although the number of breeding attempts showed a slight increase this year (39 attempts were recorded in 2025), 33 of this year’s 45 attempts were successful, the same as last year.
When you consider that there are estimated to be between 150-190 grouse moors in England (there’s no official register for a precise number), with an estimated capacity for 330 pairs of breeding Hen Harriers, then only having nine breeding attempts (2.7% capacity) is really nothing to celebrate.
Although to be fair, that capacity for 330 breeding pairs doesn’t just include grouse moors – there are other types of moorland available. But even when that’s all included, then current breeding numbers still only amount to 13.3% of that capacity – so still nothing to be proud of.
Skydancing Hen Harriers – a rare sight on most English grouse moors. Photo: Pete Walkden
Natural England has published a blog about this year’s results, attributed to Matthew Heard, National Delivery Director, but just as last year, it’s either carelessly worded or deliberately designed to let the criminal grouse shooting industry off the hook.
Here’s a copy of Natural England’s blog, with commentary from me below:
My commentary:
It’s telling, I think, that the words ‘persecution’ or ‘illegal killing’ do not feature anywhere in Natural England’s blog, despite illegal persecution, over many decades, being the sole cause of this species’ precarious conservation status.
Instead, Natural England describes the cause as “conflicting land management priorities“.
Nope, it’s crime, committed by criminals, on grouse moors.
Natural England’s opening sentence says, “Hen Harriers… after decades of decline, have gradually returned to northern England as their population has recovered“. The population hasn’t recovered, it’s still recovering, and it’s only returned to parts of northern England – it’s still missing as a breeding species in vast areas of grouse moor in the North Pennines, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Nidderdale, and the Peak District.
As last year, once again Natural England has listed a regional breakdown of HH breeding attempts, but has failed to distinguish between those attempts on privately-owned grouse moors and those on moorland managed for conservation.
So for example, the figures for Bowland this year are 11 breeding attempts. That looks quite good, until you realise that nine of those breeding attempts were on land managed by the RSPB for United Utilities. So how many breeding attempts were there on the nearby and much larger Abbeystead Estate, for example?
Figures for the North Pennines are 8 breeding attempts; we know that at least three of those were on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve, where unusually this year the breeding males didn’t ‘disappear’ or weren’t found shot on neighbouring grouse moors, probably because the RSPB used diversionary feeding to try and keep the males on the reserve.
In Northumberland, there were 22 breeding attempts. I’d guess that, like last year, the vast majority of those were on land managed by Forestry England, not on privately-owned grouse moors.
In the Peak District there was a single breeding attempt (that subsequently failed), and once again this was on land owned by the National Trust. There was also another pair prospecting on NT land this year but they vanished in April before a breeding attempt got underway – again, a familiar pattern in this National Park.
In the whole of the Yorkshire Dales, there were only three breeding attempts, and not one in the whole of Nidderdale. I’d be interested to learn whether any of those breeding attempts in the Yorkshire Dales were successful.
Last year I provided a table to show the differences between HH breeding attempts on land managed for grouse moors and land managed for conservation:
This year I don’t yet have the data to be able to distinguish between the different types of land use but I’ve asked Natural England to provide it. I’ll blog when I receive it.
The funniest part of Natural England’s blog has to be this statement:
“The relatively small number of breeding attempts on grouse moors could be due to the reduced monitoring of grouse moors in 2026 in comparison to previous years“.
Yes, I suppose that might be plausible, if you’re six years old with no previous knowledge of this subject and willing to accept anything you’re told.
Does Natural England honestly think that grouse moor owners wouldn’t be shouting from the rooves of their stately homes if they were hosting breeding Hen Harriers on their grouse moors?!
Raptor persecution, and especially Hen Harrier persecution, is one of the biggest criticisms against the grouse shooting industry and these are crimes that they simply can’t justify, so industry leaders usually just deny it’s happening, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
If Hen Harriers were nesting on grouse moors all over northern England, the industry would make sure every single media outlet and every single Defra minister knew about it!
If you’re a raptor fieldworker, or a birdwatcher, and you’ve spent any time fruitlessly looking for breeding Hen Harriers on grouse moors, then this is the type of evidence/experience you could submit to Defra’s Call for Evidence on gamebird shooting. All the better if you can provide dates and locations. You don’t need to fill in the technical Call for Evidence submission form; you can simply write an email to Gamebirds@defra.gov.uk and write ‘Call for Evidence’ in the subject line. The Call for Evidence closes at midnight on 1st November 2026.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 58 HEN HARRIERS? THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS BEHIND NATURAL ENGLAND’S BROOD-MANAGEMENT EXPERIMENT
I have followed the fortunes of Hen Harriers for many years. My concern is straightforward. I wanted my children to be able to see these magnificent birds flying over the northern uplands as a normal part of our wildlife, not as a rare and precarious privilege.
That is why I have taken a particular interest in Natural England’s Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial.
Hen Harrier (photo by Laurie Campbell)
The trial has now finished. The licence period ran from 2018 to 2024, with brood management actually taking place between 2019 and 2023. Natural England published its final evaluation in July 2026.
But there remains one rather obvious question.
What happened to the birds?
58 birds were released
During the trial, 59 chicks were taken into captivity and 58 were eventually released.
Of those 58 released birds:
39 were fitted with satellite tags
19 were released without satellite tags
The satellite tags were intended to provide a means of monitoring survival and, where a bird died or disappeared, potentially investigating what had happened.
Indeed, Natural England explained the theory behind the trial quite clearly. If brood management reduced conflict with grouse shooting interests, this should lead to reduced persecution, improved survival and ultimately more Hen Harriers breeding in the wild.
So the fate of those released birds is rather important.
What happened to the 39 tagged birds?
The final evaluation contains the status of the satellite-tagged brood-managed birds at the end of the trial.
At the December 2024 endpoint, three were still alive and actively being tracked.
For the other 36 tagged birds, there was no current evidence of survival from the satellite tracking data.
That statement needs some careful qualification.
According to RPUK two of those 36 birds had in fact already been found dead and have been included in their running tally of 149 missing/killed Hen Harriers.
They were:
R2-F2-20, brood-managed in 2020
R3-F1-22, brood-managed in 2022
Both birds had spent the winter of 2022 at the same North Pennines roost.
This distinction matters because the deaths were not discovered after the trial. What happened after the trial was that Natural England finally published the details, on 18 December 2024, after the relevant police investigations had concluded.
Two birds found with shotgun pellets
The post-mortem examinations found three suspected lead shotgun pellets in R2-F2-20 and two suspected lead shotgun pellets in R3-F1-22.
Natural England nevertheless said that their presence suggested ongoing illegal persecution of Hen Harriers in northern England.
And what about the other 34 tagged birds?
This is where the numbers need to be handled carefully.
The 39 tagged birds comprise:
3 alive and actively tracked at the end of the trial
Plus
36 for which the tracking record provided no current evidence of survival at the December 2024 endpoint.
Two of those 36 had subsequently been recovered dead, with shotgun pellets in their bodies.
That leaves 34 tagged birds for which there is no documented evidence of subsequent survival.
Then in addition, there are also the 19 birds which were released without satellite tags.
Natural England has told me that it believes all the brood-managed birds were ringed and that the ringing records were shared with the British Trust for Ornithology.
But Natural England’s Hen Harrier Team has told me that it holds no record of the fates of the brood-managed birds that were not fitted with satellite tags. That leaves an important information gap.
A summary of the 58 birds released:
3 were alive and actively satellite-tagged at the end of the trial
2 were subsequently confirmed dead, both with shotgun pellets in their bodies
34 tagged birds have no documented evidence of subsequent survival
19 untagged birds have no fate record held by Natural England
In other words, 53 of the 58 released birds currently have no documented evidence of subsequent survival. That does not mean that 53 birds are known to have died. It does mean that, on the information currently available, there is no documented evidence establishing that they survived.
That is an important distinction.
Did brood management actually increase the Hen Harrier population?
This is perhaps the most interesting part of Natural England’s final evaluation.
The answer is not simply that 58 captive-reared birds caused the subsequent increase in Hen Harrier numbers.
Natural England itself says the number of brood-managed chicks was far too small to explain the substantial increase in nesting pairs.
The population modelling commissioned from the British Trust for Ornithology indicated that the increase was more consistent with higher survival and greater settlement and breeding by wild birds.
Natural England nevertheless concluded that the availability of brood management probably contributed to population growth, particularly through increased breeding on some grouse moors.
But there is an important qualification.
Natural England acknowledges that the effects of brood management could not be completely separated from the satellite tagging, monitoring and surveillance programme that accompanied it.
That makes the question of what actually drove the recovery more complicated than simply saying that brood management worked.
And what about persecution?
Natural England’s own conclusion is also quite clear on this point.
Illegal killing continued throughout the trial.
The final evaluation says that illegal killing remains a significant constraint on Hen Harrier recovery and that the trial did not demonstrate a widespread reduction in illegal killing.
That is particularly relevant when considering the fate of the brood-managed birds.
What did the experiment actually cost?
This is another area where the full picture is not yet available.
It said that Hen Harrier monitoring and recovery work overall had been estimated at hundreds of thousands of pounds annually, involving several directorates, but that it did not hold a detailed breakdown of their work.
Following an Environmental Information Regulations request, Natural England disclosed £83,613.50 of identifiable external expenditure associated with the work I asked about.
That included:
£3,291.50 for satellite-tag data extraction in 2022
£49,999 for the 2024 National Centre for Social Research study
£30,323 for the British Trust for Ornithology population modelling
Natural England also said that two of the reports were produced internally and therefore did not have separately identifiable external costs.
However, Natural England did not provide a complete internal staff-cost figure for the trial.
There are also questions about the satellite tags themselves. Six reconditioned tags were supplied in 2023 but no costs were shown* against the remaining 33 tags or for the cost of their transmissions and associated data services.
So £83,613.50 cannot be presented as the total cost of their brood-management experiment. It is just the identifiable external expenditure Natural England has so far disclosed. I have therefore asked Natural England for further clarification.
What did Natural England actually learn from this financially costly experiment that displaced these birds, raised them in captivity and released them back into a predatory environment, where the majority of them were likely to be never seen again?
The unanswered question
Natural England has now concluded that the brood-management trial contributed to an increase in Hen Harrier nesting on some grouse moors.
It also accepts that the numbers of captive-reared birds were too small to explain the overall increase in wild bird survival and that the effects of brood management cannot be completely separated from the intensive tagging and monitoring programme, and that illegal killing continued throughout the trial.
Against that background, I keep coming back to the birds themselves.
58 were released.
39 were satellite tagged.
3 were still alive and actively tracked at the end of the trial.
Two others had already been found dead, both with shotgun pellets in their bodies.
34 tagged birds have no documented evidence of subsequent survival.
19 released without satellite tags for which Natural England says it holds no fate records.
That is a remarkable amount of uncertainty surrounding the fate of birds that were deliberately taken from the wild, raised in captivity and released as part of a scientific experiment.
The obvious next step is surely to find out what can still be established.
Were any of the 19 untagged birds subsequently seen?
Were any identified through their rings?
Does the BTO hold records that Natural England does not?
And, more broadly, what happened to the birds once the experiment stopped?
I have therefore approached the relevant organisations for any additional records they may hold.
Because ultimately, whatever one’s view of brood management, these were not numbers on a spreadsheet. They were 58 individual Hen Harriers and we should be able to account for what happened to them. They represent a significant cohort of Hen Harriers in England.
Natural England itself says that illegal killing continued during the trial and remains a significant constraint on Hen Harrier recovery.
So if persecution remains a problem, should conservation policy concentrate on finding ways of making Hen Harriers more acceptable to grouse shooting interests?
Or should it concentrate much more heavily on ensuring that a protected bird is actually protected?
That is not an argument against every grouse moor manager. There are undoubtedly estates and individuals who genuinely support Hen Harrier conservation.
But the continuing disappearance of protected birds means that the question cannot simply be ignored. I started campaigning because I wanted to see Hen Harriers flying over the northern uplands as a normal part of our wildlife not as a rare and precarious privilege.
ENDS
*Ed: it’s my understanding that the Moorland Association paid for the costs of the satellite tags used during the trial. It’s also my understanding that the Moorland Association paid the brood meddling licence holder, Jemima Parry Jones of the International Centre for Birds of Prey, for the costs of the removal of HH chicks from the moors, the costs of holding them and rearing in captivity, and the costs of their subsequent release.
Further to reports of this year’s Hen Harrier breeding success on RSPB-managed moorland in Bowland, Lancashire (here) and on Geltsdale, Cumbria (here), there’s now confirmation of further success on RSPB reserves in Wales.
HEN HARRIERS CELEBRATE SUCCESSFUL BREEDING SEASON IN WALES
There’s encouraging news for one of Wales’ most threatened birds of prey, following a successful breeding season at RSPB Cymru nature reserves.
At RSPB Lake Vyrnwy, six Hen Harrier territories were established this spring, with five nests successfully fledging 17 young. A further four chicks fledged at nearby RSPB Tanrallt, bringing the total across the two sites to 21 young Hen Harriers.
Hen Harriers have specific habitat requirements, typically nesting on the ground among heather and other tall vegetation within open upland landscapes. Managing a mosaic of upland habitats can provide suitable places to nest alongside the feeding areas they need to successfully raise young.
The results at Lake Vyrnwy are particularly significant. Despite the reserve accounting for less than 1% of the potentially suitable Hen Harrier breeding habitat across Wales, more than 20% of the estimated Welsh population used the reserve during the breeding season.
There was more good news further south at RSPB Carngafallt, where three Hen Harrier chicks successfully fledged this summer. This brings the total to 19 fledged chicks at the reserve since 2022.
The breeding successes highlight just how important well-managed upland landscapes can be for Hen Harriers, providing the combination of nesting and feeding habitat these spectacular birds need.
ENDS
Natural England has not yet published the overall Hen Harrier breeding figures for England this year. Those numbers will be interesting, for a comparison between land managed for conservation and land managed for grouse shooting.
Results from the last two years have been illuminating, and simply don’t support the shooting industry’s repeated ludicrous claim that Hen Harriers do better on grouse moors than on RSPB-managed land.
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM AS RECORD YEAR FOR HEN HARRIER CHICKS AT RSPB GELTSDALE
Thirteen Hen Harrier chicks have successfully fledged at RSPB Geltsdale in Cumbria. The remarkable achievement marks the highest number of Hen Harrier chicks to fledge at the nature reserve in a single breeding season since records began more than a century ago. It reflects the dedication of reserve staff and volunteers, who worked tirelessly to protect nesting birds and support the adults as they raised their young.
Hen Harrier chicks at Geltsdale. Photo by Jim Harvey
The success offers hope for the species’ recovery, but illegal persecution remains a major threat for this spectacular bird of prey. Once hunted to extinction as a breeding bird in England by 1900, Hen Harriers returned to the north Pennines in the 1950s. However, the illegal killing of these amazing birds, that are celebrated for their sky dancing, has continued and to this day they still are only found at a handful of sites in England.
Despite this year’s success, illegal persecution continues to limit the recovery of Hen Harriers in England. This year at Geltsdale, staff set up Natural England-licensed diversionary feeding stations. This well-established technique is used to minimise the adults preying on grouse on neighbouring shooting estates when they are feeding their young. Staff also actively monitored the nesting sites day and night to minimise disturbance, working around the clock.
Celebrating the news, Ian Ryding, reserve manager at RSPB Geltsdale said:
“Hen Harriers are amazing birds, their sky dancing as the male passes food to the female is a spectacular sight everyone visiting the Cumbria should have the chance to see. But sadly, even as we celebrate this amazing success that should be giving us hope for the future of a Red-listed species, there is the spectre that these birds will soon be targeted by those who think nothing of killing our wildlife when it threatens their profits.
“By supporting both parents we have seen three nests thrive and 13 chicks fledge, the most for at least a century in this part of the world. We hope to see these chicks return in future years to raise their own families, but unfortunately we fear that for that to happen we will need to see more done to stop the illegal killing of these special birds“.
According to Government estimates, England’s uplands have the capacity to support at least 300 pairs of Hen Harriers. Yet the species remains on the UK Red List and far below its potential population size.
Evidence gathered over many years continues to show that illegal persecution is one of the principal barriers to recovery, with many birds disappearing in and around areas managed for grouse shooting. The RSPB is therefore calling for the introduction of licensing for gamebird shooting across the UK.
A licensing system, similar to that introduced for grouse moor management in Scotland in 2024, would be a proportionate and cost-effective measure aimed at deterring wildlife crime and helping to secure a future for Hen Harriers. Without further action, conservation successes such as this year’s record breeding season at RSPB Geltsdale risk remaining the exception rather than becoming the norm.
This year’s success at RSPB Geltsdale is an amazing and much needed success for Hen Harriers, and a credit to the hard work of the people involved in helping these birds get the best possible start to life. A number of the chicks have already been tagged so their progress can be tracked as they set out into the world.
Ian Ryding concluded: “For now, thirteen young Hen Harriers taking to the skies above Geltsdale is a reason to celebrate. The challenge is ensuring they survive long enough to return and raise families of their own“.
ENDS
Great news from the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve, and yet more evidence that Hen Harriers can do really well on RSPB-managed moorland (see this year’s success at Bowland this year, here), especially when they’re encouraged not to hunt on nearby grouse moors, where there’s a long history of hunting males ‘disappearing’ (e.g. at Geltsdale: 1 x hunting male in 2020, 2 x hunting males in 2021, 2 x hunting males in 2023, 2 x hunting males in 2025, see here, here, and here) or being found dead with gunshot injuries (e.g. 1 x hunting male in 2023, here).
Funnily enough, I’ve yet to see any evidence of record Hen Harrier breeding success on English grouse moors this year, despite the repeated claims by shooters on social media that ‘Hen Harriers do better on grouse moors than on RSPB-managed moors‘.
The evidence just doesn’t support that myth – e.g. see here for last year’s report from Natural England, where perhaps 3 of 39 Hen Harrier breeding attempts were on privately-owned grouse moors. Natural England has not yet published the figures for this year’s Hen Harrier breeding attempts.
I’m afraid I don’t agree with the RSPB’s call for gamebird licensing. It isn’t working in Scotland, where grouse shoot licensing was introduced in 2024 and yet the illegal killing of birds of prey continues without significant consequence, so there’s no reason to believe that licensing would work in England. Athough licensing would definitely be better than maintaining the status quo, I just don’t see it as a long-term solution.
Defra’s current Call for Evidence on all aspects of gamebird rearing, releasing and shooting in England, which will be used to inform future policy in this area, is very welcome. More on that next week.
The ‘tip of the iceberg’ is a phrase often used by researchers and conservationists when describing the scale and extent of illegal raptor persecution in the UK, meaning that what is known or can be seen is only a small fraction of what is actually happening under the surface.
Killing birds of prey is an offence in the UK, and has been for over 70 years, so the people committing these crimes will often go to great lengths to hide the evidence (e.g. here), which is quite easy to do if the offender is a gamekeeper working under the cover of darkness on a privately-owned estate in a remote area with few witnesses around.
Satellite tagging has done much to help us understand the scale of these crimes in recent years, particularly on grouse moors where Golden Eagles (here) and Hen Harriers (here and here) are targeted, and now new modelling research is about to blow the lid on the whole sorry story.
If you thought that 149 dead or ‘missing’ Hen Harriers in the UK since 2018 was shocking, most of them on or close to grouse moors, it’s clear we don’t know the half of it. Prosecutions are rare, as demonstrated earlier this year when Yorkshire Dales gamekeeper Racster Dingwall became the first person ever convicted in England for Hen Harrier persecution, despite hundreds of confirmed persecution incidents recorded since the 1980s.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
At a recent British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) conference earlier this year, new research was presented suggesting that there are around 400 Hen Harrier ‘persecution events’ across different life stages (e.g. nest, adult, 1yr and 2yr old birds) and that only 0.5 – 10% are detected.
This research was presented as a poster rather than a spoken presentation, and has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, so caveats are needed at this stage but it is anticipated that the publication process is underway.
The Hen Harrier research is part of a wider PhD study, also examining ‘tip of the iceberg’ modelling scenarios for Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons and Red Kites – species that are long known to be the victims of illegal persecution on UK grouse moors.
The research is being undertaken at the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Capetown, South Africa, as part of the research portfolio of Associate Professor Arjun Amar, well known for his studies linking the illegal persecution of raptors to driven grouse shooting in the UK, including the detrimental effects this can have at a population scale, particularly on Red Kites, Peregrines and Hen Harriers.
The research abstract submitted for the conference is as follows:
TIP OF THE ICEBERG: ESTIMATING THE TRUE EXTENT OF RAPTOR PERSECUTION ASSOCIATED WITH GROUSE SHOOTING
Arjun Amar, Koi Pillay, Rob Thomson, Steven Ewing.
Despite decades of legal protection, raptors continue to be persecuted in the UK, particularly in the uplands where red grouse shooting conflicts with raptor conservation. Detecting persecution associated with this conflict is challenging due to its illegality and the remoteness of grouse moors, meaning official crime records likely represent only the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ with many incidents remaining hidden as ‘dark figures.’ Here, we attempt to estimate the persecution levels and population data for Hen Harriers, Peregrine Falcons, Red Kites, and Golden Eagles. We then compare these estimates to recorded crime figures for the same species, period, and regions. Our findings suggest the actual scale of persecution is substantially greater than detected cases, underscoring the importance of recognising and accounting for ‘dark figures’ to avoid underestimating the severity of this threat to raptor populations.
I’m looking forward to seeing this research published in due course.
2026 was another successful breeding season for Hen Harriers on the United Utilities Bowland Estate where the RSPB works in partnership with the water company United Utilities and its tenants to monitor and protect these iconic birds.
Nine Hen Harrier nests on the United Utilities Estate were monitored this year, eight of which were successful and fledged 30 young.
This follows a record year in 2025, where RSPB staff and volunteers recorded 14 Hen Harrier nests on the United Utilities Estate, of which 12 were successful and fledged 40 young. This represented the highest number of fledglings recorded in over 40 years.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that just because Hen Harriers are doing well on United Utilities land they’re doing well right across Bowland, because they’re not. We haven’t yet seen this year’s overall Hen Harrier breeding figures across England but last year there was only one successful Hen Harrier nest on privately-owned grouse moors in Bowland. Two blogs from Mark Avery are relevant (one from 2019 and one from 2026).
Here is the statement from the RSPB on this year’s Hen Harrier breeding success on United Utilities-owned moorland in Bowland:
SUSTAINED SUCCESS FOR HEN HARRIERS IN THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Over the last decade, Hen Harrier numbers have steadily recovered in Bowland following their complete absence as a breeding species in 2016 and 2017. For the past six years, the population has stabilised at an average of 13 breeding females, fluctuating between 10 and 16 annually, with 84% nesting on the United Utilities Estate. This is comparable to the number of breeding females recorded in Bowland in the 2000s, before the population collapsed alongside the wider decline of the species in England.
Steady recovery in Bowland
2026 was another successful breeding season for Hen Harriers in Bowland; breeding numbers were lower compared to the record-breaking season in 2025 but breeding success was higher, likely owing to increased prey abundance. RSPB staff and volunteers monitored nine Hen Harrier nests on the United Utilities Estate, eight of which were successful and fledged 30 young. One nest failed as the female received insufficient food from her polygamous male and was forced to hunt herself, leaving her clutch unattended. A Lesser Black-Backed Gull was later observed visiting the nest, but it remains unclear if it scavenged the eggs after the female deserted or if it took advantage of her absence to predate the clutch. Two additional nests were recorded by Natural England on private estates, which were both successful and fledged a further six chicks, resulting in a total of 11 nests in the Bowland Fells.
Recovery reflects success of partnership
A melancholic note in an otherwise successful season – our oldest and most productive breeding female did not return to nest on the United Utilities Estate this year and has most likely perished over the winter. Fledged on Langholm Moor in 2017 and aptly nick-named ‘Scottish Fury’ for her aggressive behaviour, she first nested on the Estate in 2018. Over the following eight breeding seasons she fledged an extraordinary 35 chicks, making a remarkable contribution to the breeding population and leaving a lasting legacy, with some of her descendants also nesting in Bowland.
The sustained recovery of Hen Harriers in Bowland reflects the success of partnership working and the commitment of landowners and tenants. However, despite this local success, the species’ recovery across England continues to face significant challenges, including illegal persecution, changes in land use and habitat loss.
Natural England has finally, after many months of delay, published its formal review of the Hen Harrier Brood Management (Meddling) trial that ran from 2018-2024.
For new blog readers, the Hen Harrier Brood Meddling trial was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England between 2018 – 2024, in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involved the removal of Hen Harrier chicks from grouse moors, they were reared in captivity, then released back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season where many were illegally killed. It was plainly bonkers. For more background see here and here.
Male Hen Harrier (photo by Pete Walkden)
In March 2025, Natural England announced the end of the Hen Harrier brood meddling sham and noted that the so-called ‘partnership’ had now closed, although NE also said that no decision had yet been made about the potential annual roll-out of brood meddling (here).
In April 2025, Natural England announced that it had turned down a licence application from the Moorland Association for a brood meddling licence for 2025, mainly because the Moorland Association wanted to remove the licensing requirement that all brood meddled Hen Harriers must be satellite tagged (hmm, can’t think why), and also because the MA wanted a single release site for brood meddled Hen Harriers, presumably to get around the problem of there not being sufficient receptor sites/estates willing to take the young brood meddled birds on their release (see here).
This afternoon, Natural England has published three final reports as part of its review of the brood meddling trial. These are:
Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial Evaluation: The effectiveness of brood management as a mechanism for supporting Hen Harrier recovery.
Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial: Interim social science evaluation.
Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial: Findings from the social science survey of moorland managers Authors: National Centre for Social Research.
The three reports are available for download at the end of this blog. I haven’t read them yet – and probably won’t have time to do that until next week at the earliest, so will comment further once I’ve read them, if I find anything of interest.
Natural England has published a blog today, to accompany the publication of the three reports. Here’s the most relevant part:
This suggests that NE will consider brood meddling in the future, on the basis the same licence conditions used during the trial are in place (i.e. sat tagging, release site must be within the SPA from where the Hen Harriers are brood meddled etc).
Two of these paragraphs don’t make sense to me, as one contradicts the other. NE says that, “Such projects [i.e. brood meddling] should be for the explicit aim of increasing Hen Harrier numbers by reducing illegal killing and disturbance” but then in the next paragraph, it says, “It [brood meddling] is not a substitute for tackling wildlife crime“.
Eh?
The final sentence of NE’s blog is also relevant – “These views….will be kept under review as new evidence emerges“.
I don’t know if Natural England is aware, but significant new evidence on the extent of Hen Harrier persecution on UK grouse moors is on its way shortly, and if that doesn’t put an end to any idea about continuing the ludicrous brood meddling sham, I don’t know what will.
Meanwhile, here are NE’s three final reports on the Hen Harrier brood meddling trial:
ITV News ran a five minute feature yesterday on the continued illegal killing of birds of prey in North Yorkshire, and the RSPB’s calls for a gamebird shooting licensing scheme to tackle these crimes.
The film highlights the recent convictions earlier this year of gamekeeper Thomas Munday, who was caught battering to death a Buzzard that he’d trapped on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham (here), and gamekeeper Racster Dingwall, who was caught conspiring to shoot a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Both cases relied on video footage captured on hidden cameras installed on the estates by the RSPB’s Investigations Team.
Two members of the RSPB’s Investigations Team are interviewed (Mark Thomas and Howard Jones) and discuss how satellite tags have helped detect the locations where Hen Harriers are being killed, and the level of ongoing threat to this and other species, including White-tailed Eagles.
A counter-argument against gamebird shoot licensing is provided by Dr Marnie Lovejoy from the British Association of Shooting & Conservation (BASC). She admits that grouse shoot licensing in Scotland has not prevented the illegal killing of raptors (she’s right about that) but then claims, counter-intuitively, that licensing wouldn’t be a deterrent because, “They could lose their licence even though they have done nothing wrong“.
I’m not aware of any grouse shooting estate in Scotland losing its licence yet, even though there have been multiple raptor persecution crimes detected since licensing was introduced in 2024, although several cases are still making their way through the slow judicial process.
Nor has anyone had their grouse shooting licence revoked ‘when they’ve done nothing wrong’. Given the level of evidence required just for a General Licence restriction in Scotland, let alone a grouse shooting licence, it is highly unlikely that an innocent estate would ever be penalised. And even if it did happen, estates have several rights of appeal, first through the regulator, NatureScot, and then through the Sheriff Courts.
It’s clear that BASC doesn’t want further regulation, perhaps because it’s obvious that many gamebird shoots will struggle to comply, but using an unevidenced argument against it just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of Hen Harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
This is the blog I now publish after every reported killing or suspicious disappearance.
“They disappear in the same way political dissidents in authoritarian dictatorships have disappeared” (Stephen Barlow, 22 January 2021).
Today the list has been revised to reflect updates revealed in this morning’s blog (here) about another ‘disappearing’ Hen Harrier on Ruabon Moor in North Wales whose satellite tag was found and an assessment concluded it’d been ‘deliberately cut off’.
There isn’t a one-stop shop (apart from this list) where you can find information about ‘missing’ or illegally killed Hen Harriers – the information for this list is sourced and cross-referenced from various places, including Natural England’s database, the RSPB’s database, the HSE’s database, police reports, RSPB Birdcrime reports and FoIs to various agencies. This list doesn’t include any Hen Harriers that have been listed as having a natural cause of death (e.g. known/suspected predation), or listed as ‘likely tag failure’, or known to have been lost abroad, or where the cause of death is inconclusive, unless there is additional information (e.g. from satellite tag data) which indicates suspicious or illegal activity. It is painstaking work that takes a lot of time to complete, but I consider it to be as accurate and comprehensive as it can be at the time of writing.
I’ve been compiling this list only since 2018 because that is the year that the grouse shooting industry ‘leaders’ would have us believe that the criminal persecution of Hen Harriers had stopped and that these birds were being welcomed back on to the UK’s grouse moors (see here).
This assertion was made shortly before the publication of a devastating new scientific paper that demonstrated that 72% of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers were confirmed or considered likely to have been illegally killed, and this was ten times more likely to occur over areas of land managed for grouse shooting relative to other land uses (see here). A further scientific paper published in 2023 by scientists at the RSPB, utilising even more recent data, echoed these results – see here.
2018 was also the year that Natural England issued a licence to begin a Hen Harrier brood meddling trial on grouse moors in northern England. For new blog readers, Hen Harrier brood meddling was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England (NE), in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England.
For more background see here and for a critical evaluation of the trial after 5 years see this report by Wild Justice. In 2024 the brood meddling trial appeared to collapse for reasons which are not yet clear (see here) and the licence for the so-called ‘scientific trial’ expired. In March 2025 Natural England announced the end of the brood meddling trial (here) and in April 2025 announced that a licence application to continue brood meddling, submitted by the Moorland Association, had been refused (here).
Brood meddling was earlier described as a sort of ‘gentleman’s agreement’ by commentator Stephen Welch:
“I don’t get it, I thought the idea of that scheme was some kind of trade off – a gentleman’s agreement that the birds would be left in peace if they were moved from grouse moors at a certain density. It seems that one party is not keeping their side of the bargain“.
With at least 149 Hen Harriers gone since 2018, and 28 of those being brood meddled birds, there is no question that the grouse shooting industry was simply taking the piss. Meanwhile, Natural England pretended that ‘partnership working’ was the way to go and consecutive Tory DEFRA Ministers remained silent for all those years.
*n/a – no Hen Harriers were brood meddled in 2018.
‘Partnership working’ according to Natural England appeared to include authorising the removal of Hen Harrier chicks from a grouse moor already under investigation by the police for suspected raptor persecution (here) and accepting a £75k ‘donation’ from representatives of the grouse shooting industry with a contract clause that prevented Natural England from criticising them or the sham brood meddling trial (see here). This was in addition to a further £10k ‘donation’ that Natural England accepted, under the same terms, in 2021 (here).
Thankfully, the Scottish Government finally decided to act by introducing a grouse moor licensing scheme under the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. The intention behind this new legislation is that grouse shooting estates could have their licences suspended/revoked if, on the balance of probability, it is shown that any raptor persecution crimes (& some other associated offences) are linked with grouse moor management on that estate. There were, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it was significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). The loophole was eventually closed off via an amendment in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 (see here).
In England a new Hen Harrier Taskforce was established in 2024, led by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, to use innovative techniques to target Hen Harrier persecution hotspots (locations where Hen Harriers repeatedly ‘disappear’ or are found illegally killed). It’s too early to judge the Taskforce’s success/failure and it’s been met with considerable resistance from the Moorland Association, the grouse moor owners’ lobby group (e.g. see here). So far though, it’s quite clear that the the illegal killing continues.
So here’s the latest gruesome list of ‘missing’/illegally killed Hen Harriers since 2018. Note that the majority of these birds (but not all) were fitted with satellite tags. How many more [untagged] harriers have been killed? We now have evidence that gamekeepers are specifically targeting untagged Hen Harriers, precisely to avoid detection (see here for extraordinary footage/audio captured by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
2018
February 2018: Hen Harrier Saorsa ‘disappeared’ in the Angus Glens in Scotland (here). The Scottish Gamekeepers Association later published wholly inaccurate information claiming the bird had been re-sighted. The RSPB dismissed this as “completely false” (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 February 2018: Hen Harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9 February 2018: Hen Harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 April 2018: Hen Harrier Lia ‘disappeared’ in Wales and her corpse was retrieved in a field in May 2018. Cause of death was unconfirmed but police treating death as suspicious (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 August 2018: Hen Harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 August 2018: Hen Harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
3 September 2018: Hen Harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2018: Hen Harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2 October 2018: Hen Harrier Mabel (Tag ID 34342) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY851059. Tagged by NE.
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
23 October 2018: Hen Harrier Tom (Tag ID 161144) ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here). Grid ref SS906698. Tagged by NE.
26 October 2018: Hen Harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
1 November 2018: Hen Harrier Barney (Tag ID 34343) ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall (here). Grid ref SX140720. Tagged by NE.
10 November 2018: Hen Harrier Rannoch ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Her corpse was found nearby in May 2019 – she’d been killed in an illegally-set spring trap (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 November 2018: Hen Harrier River ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (here). Her corpse was found nearby in April 2019 – she’d been illegally shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2019
16 January 2019: Hen Harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here). Tagged by RSPB.
28 January 2019: Hen Harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
7 February 2019: Hen Harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
22 April 2019: Hen Harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 April 2019: Hen Harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 May 2019: An untagged male Hen Harrier was caught in an illegally-set trap next to his nest on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire. He didn’t survive (here).
7 June 2019: An untagged Hen Harrier was found dead on a grouse moor in Scotland. A post mortem stated the bird had died as a result of ‘penetrating trauma’ injuries and that this bird had previously been shot (here).
5 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 1 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor nr Dalnaspidal on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
11 September 2019: Hen Harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M2-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref SD920943. Tagged by NE.
23 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M4-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY952103. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
24 September 2019: Hen Harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
10 October 2019: Hen Harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 October 2019: Hen Harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 October 2019: Member of the public reports the witnessed shooting of an untagged male Hen Harrier on White Syke Hill in North Yorkshire (here).
November 2019: Hen Harrier Mary found illegally poisoned on a pheasant shoot in Ireland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
November 2019: Hen Harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
December 2019: Hen Harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2019: Hen Harrier Erin tagged on Isle of Man ‘disappeared’ (Stop No Malfunction) – location unknown (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020
27 January 2020: Members of the public report the witnessed shooting of a male Hen Harrier on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
5 April 2020: Hen Harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 April 2020: Hen Harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
19 May 2020: Hen Harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
21 May 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M1-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here). Grid ref SD770877. Tagged by NE.
27 May 2020: Hen Harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male Hen Harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
14 August 2020: Hen Harrier Solo (Tag ID 201119) ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here). Tagged by NE.
7 September 2020: Hen Harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 September 2020: Hen Harrier Fortune (Tag ID 162150a) ‘disappeared’ from a confidential roost site in Northumberland (here). Tagged by NE.
19 September 2020: Hen Harrier Harold (Tag ID 57272) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY830036. Tagged by NE.
20 September 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M4-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE103956. Tagged by NE.
19 December 2020: Hen Harrier Lagertha (Tag ID 201126a) ‘disappeared’ in Christchurch, Dorset close to winter roost. Not to be confused with RSPB-tagged bird also called Lagertha (2023). Grid ref SZ161924. Tagged by NE.
2021
24 February 2021: Hen Harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12th April 2021: Hen Harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 May 2021: Untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 1) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 2) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen Harrier Asta (Tag ID 201117) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines after establishing a home range around Gilmonby Moor (here). We learned 18 months later that her wings had been ripped off so her tag could be fitted to a crow in an attempt to cover up her death (here). Grid ref SE206937. Tagged by NE.
14th August 2021: Hen Harrier Josephine (Tag ID 213850) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY592841. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2021: Hen Harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213918) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ022667. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203003) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY959039. Tagged by NE.
12 December 2021: Hen Harrier Jasmine (Tag ID 213848) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE034733. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Maiden, tagged in Lancashire in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Awyr, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ on Ruabon grouse moor. Her tag/harness was recovered and an expert assessment concluded it had been cut off (here). Tagged by the RSPB.
2022
9 January 2022: Hen Harrier Ethel (Tag ID 213852) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY936632. Tagged by NE.
10 February 2022: An unnamed satellite-tagged Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated area of the Peak District National Park (here). One year later it was revealed that the satellite tag/harness of this young male called ‘Anu’ had been deliberately cut off (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 April 2022: Hen Harrier Free (Tag ID 201121) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Cumbria (here). It later emerged he hadn’t disappeared, but his mutilated corpse was found on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One (ringed) leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here). Tagged by NE.
April 2022: Hen Harrier Pegasus ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2022: An untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 1) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 2) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
14 May 2022: Hen Harrier Harvey (Tag ID 213844) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY918019. Tagged by NE.
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #1 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #2 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #3 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #4 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
17 August 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 232637) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD804893. Tagged by NE.
September 2022: Hen Harrier Sullis ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 October 2022: Hen Harrier R3-M2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213920a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY791016. Tagged by NE.
10 October 2022: Hen Harrier Sia ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
October 2022: Hen Harrier R1-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213919) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by NE.
1 December 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 55145a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD917620. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55144) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB. Later found dead on 26 June 2023 with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY730372. Tagged by NE.
14 December 2022: Hen Harrier R3-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213921a) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead on 10 April 2023 with two shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY708423. Tagged by NE.
15 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213931) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD847831. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Heath, tagged in Lancashire in 2019, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Syrcas, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2023
30 March 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY823039) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY823039. Tagged by NE.
March 2023: Hen Harrier (tagged), last transmission/sighting in Lancashire. No tag number provided. Reported in RSPB Birdcrime 2023, Appendix 4 (here).
1 April 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY846027) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY846027. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Hen Harrier Lagertha ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB. Not to be confused with Lagertha tagged by NE & disappeared in 2020).
April 2023: Hen Harrier Nicola (Tag ID 234078) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SD831860. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 3) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 4) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Co Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Hen Harrier Rush ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9/10 May 2023: Hen Harrier Dagda tagged in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘disappeared’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
17 May 2023: Hen Harrier Wayland ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
31 May 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213932) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY765687. Tagged by NE.
11 June 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213922) ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY757000. Tagged by NE.
12 June 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203004) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY976322. Tagged by NE.
6 July 2023: Hen Harrier Rubi (Tag ID 201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY911151. Tagged by NE.
23 July 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55154a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where Rubi disappeared) (here). Grid ref NY910126. Tagged by NE.
9 August 2023: Hen Harrier Martha ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier Selena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier R3-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 201118a) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NZ072136. Tagged by NE.
15 August 2023: Hen Harrier Hepit ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 August 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55155a) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY679863. Tagged by NE.
August-Sept 2023: Hen Harrier Harmonia ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). ‘Stop No Malfunction’. Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Saranyu, tagged in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Inger, tagged in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
15 September 2023: Hen Harrier Rhys (Tag ID 213847a), tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD798896. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2023: Hen Harrier R2-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213929) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY888062. Tagged by NE.
26 September 2023: Hen Harrier Hope, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD801926. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M3-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55153) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham (here). Grid ref NY935192. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R4-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213925a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SE003981. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2023: Hen Harrier Hazel’ (Tag ID 240292) tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man (here). Grid ref SC251803. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55146a) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham. Grid ref NY963211. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2023: Hen Harrier Aurora, tagged in Dumfries & Galloway in 2022, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2024
12 February 2024: Hen Harrier Susie (Tag ID 201122), found dead in Northumberland. Later revealed to have been the victim of shooting (here). Grid ref NY759585. Tagged by NE. Susie’s chicks were stamped to death at nest on moor at Whernside in 2022 (here).
15 February 2024: Hen Harrier Shalimar, tagged on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 April 2024: Hen Harrier Ken (Tag ID 213849a) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland (here). Grid ref SD684601. Tagged by NE.
17 May 2024: Hen Harrier R2-M2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213928) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale (here). Grid ref SE043754. Tagged by NE.
7 June 2024: Hen Harrier Edna (Tag ID 161143a). Decomposed corpse found next to a wind farm nr Otterburn, Northumberland. Listed as ‘suspected illegally killed’. There has been a suggestion she was killed elsewhere & dumped at the wind farm as a ploy to cover up the crime (here). Grid ref NY910827. Tagged by NE.
25 June 2024: Hen Harrier R2-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213923) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY985082. Tagged by NE.
July 2024: Hen Harrier Helius, tagged in Lancashire in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 July 2024: Hen Harrier (Tag ID 254843) tagged in Northumberland on 5 July 2024, decomposed corpse not suitable for post mortem but forensics work on her satellite tag showed shot damage (here). Grid ref NY824937. Tagged by NE.
October 2024: An un-tagged Hen Harrier was apparently shot on a grouse moor at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen Harrier Dreich (Tag ID 254842) ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire (here). Grid ref NS826020. Tagged by NE.
15 October 2024: Hen Harrier Baldur (Tag ID 240291) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ038961. Tagged by NE.
19 October 2024: Hen Harrier Margaret (Tag ID 254844) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). It was later reported that her tag had been found (‘removed’) but no sign of the carcass (here). Grid ref NY878497. Tagged by NE.
2025
15 January 2025: Hen Harrier Red, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2024, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in County Durham in the North Pennines, in the same area another tagged Hen Harrier (Sia) vanished in 2022 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
January 2025: Hen Harrier Ataksak was found poisoned close to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Apparently a police investigation is ongoing. Tagged by RSPB.
3 February 2025: Hen Harrier R3-F2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213924) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Grid ref SE759996. Tagged by NE.
27 February 2025: Hen Harrier Sita, tagged on behalf of Hen Harrier Action in Bowland in 2024 ‘disappeared’ from a roost site on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
4 April 2025: Hen Harrier Bonnie (Tag ID 254841) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Moorfoots, Scotland (here). Grid ref NT415575. Tagged by NE.
10 April 2025: Hen Harrier Gill (Tag ID 240294) ‘disappeared’ in south Scotland (here). Grid ref NT440344. Tagged by NE.
1 May 2025: Hen Harrier Pete (Tag ID 213843) ‘disappeared’ in Cumbria (see here). Grid ref NY309418. Tagged by NE.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 5) with an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Another untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 6) with another active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Hen Harrier Dynamo with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here).
31 August 2025: An unnamed Hen Harrier, hatched and tagged on National Trust-owned moorland in the peak District National Park in 2025, ‘disappeared’ from Ruabon grouse moor, north Wales after arriving there three days earlier. Her tag data indicated she was dead on 31 August. Her tag/harness were recovered on 2 September and an expert assessment concluded it had been “intentionally severed” (here). Tagged by RSPB on behalf of National Trust.
9 September 2025: Hen Harrier Maria (Tag ID 281718) tagged in Northumberland on 25 July 2025, ‘disappeared’ near Belford in Northumberland. Grid ref NU125340. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2025: Hen Harrier Beatrix, who fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ from an area dominated by grouse moors near Allendale in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
27 September 2025: Hen Harrier Wadrew, who fledged from the RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor near Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (see here). Tagged by the RSPB.
30 September 2025: Hen Harrier Morrigan ‘disappeared’ in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 October 2025: Hen Harrier Circe, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2025 and tagged on behalf of charity Hen Harrier Action, ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoots, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
To be continued…
Of these 149 incidents, only one has resulted in a conviction – Head gamekeeper Racster Dingwall pleaded guilty at York Magistrates Court in January 2026 to conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on the Conistone & Grassington Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in October 2024 (see here).
I had thought that when we reached 30 dead/missing Hen Harriers then the authorities might pretend to be interested and at least say a few words about this national scandal. We’ve now reached at least ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE Hen Harriers, and still Govt ministers remain silent on the illegal persecution issue. They appear not to give a monkey’s. And yes, there are other things going on in the world, as always. That is not reason enough to ignore this blatant, brazen and systematic destruction of a supposedly protected species, being undertaken to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of a minority of society.
And let’s not forget the response from the (now former) Moorland Association Chair (and owner of Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire) Mark Cunliffe-Lister, who told BBC Radio 4 in August 2023 that, “Clearly any illegal [Hen Harrier] persecution is nothappening” (here), in the year when a record 32 Hen Harriers had been confirmed ‘missing’ and/or illegally killed.
Nor should we forget the response from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Director of Policy Dr Alistair Leake who wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper in November 2023 stating that the Hen Harrier brood management [meddling] scheme “is surely a shining example of human / wildlife conflict resolution that would be the envy of other countries trying to find similar solutions“ (I kid you not – here).
Detective Inspector Mark Harrison of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) who leads on the national Hen Harrier Taskforce gave a live online presentation on 27 January 2026 for the charity Friends of the Dales, about the work being undertaken to tackle the ongoing illegal killing of Hen Harriers in the UK. You can watch it on YouTube, here.
For new blog readers, an RSPB report Hen Harriers in the Firing Line, published last year provides a good overview of the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, as does this news reel from Channel 4 News:
