Henry’s hoping Prince Harry is still in Australia.
Tag: hen harrier
Henry’s Tour: Day 13
Today Henry visited a National Nature Reserve.
It’s part of a very well-known estate.
This site should be perfect for Hen Harriers.
But it isn’t.
Find out why later this week….
Henry’s Tour: Day 12
Henry orders a Carbofuran-free mippit omelette with a side order of voles. He’s feeding up because he’s on his way to the badlands and doesn’t know when he’ll next find a safe meal.
After dinner his minders are taking him to the Pictures to see this new release from the Haltwhistle Film Project.
Muirkirk hen harrier: shot and killed at nest site
Last June we blogged about the death of an adult female hen harrier near Muirkirk, south west Scotland. Her corpse had been found in May 2014 on moorland close to a nest containing two young hen harrier chicks (see here). At the time, Police Scotland refused to reveal the cause of death. A statement from Detective Inspector Graham Duncan of Kilmarnock CID went as follows:
“Whilst at this time we cannot divulge how the bird was killed, we do believe it was the result of a criminal act and we need to establish why this has happened“.
Quite an astonishing statement if you’re aware of the 30+ years of hen harrier persecution in this supposed Hen Harrier Special Protection Area (e.g. see here).
We didn’t hear anything else from Police Scotland about this ‘investigation’.
Eight months later in February 2015 we blogged about this case again (see here) when SASA published a report on persecution cases in 2014. Here’s what the report said about this particular crime:
“Cause of death withheld due to specialist knowledge“.
Now 11 months after the bird was killed, we finally find out the cause of death. She’d been shot. We only know this because the information was released as part of the Government’s raptor persecution crime maps, published 10 days ago (see here).
Wonder if/when SNH is going to place a General Licence restriction order on this moorland? Although SNH’s track record for implementing restrictions hasn’t been very impressive to date (e.g. see here).
Langholm hen harrier ‘Annie’ is down
One of last year’s young hen harriers from Langholm is missing in action.
‘Annie’ was satellite-tagged on Langholm Moor last summer, along with a young male called Sid.
Sid ‘disappeared’ a few months later in North Yorkshire in September 2014 (see here).
Annie ‘disappeared’ a few weeks ago in March. The last signal from her sat tag showed she was in an area of South Lanarkshire. Hmm.
Photo of Annie from the Making the Most of Moorlands Project.
Henry’s Tour: day 11
Henry visited Stonehenge to consult the Druids.
He asked where he might find a girlfriend.
The Druids told him that although their prophecies are legendary, even they couldn’t answer that one.
Henry’s Tour: Day 10
Henry is visiting Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Owned by the Ministry of Defence, this is an important winter roost site for Hen Harriers.
Despite the shells and mortar bombs, this site is safer for Hen Harriers than on driven grouse moors. Says it all, really.
Henry was escorted by his friends Michael Groves (a volunteer with the South Wiltshire Owl & Raptor Nest Box Project) and Nick Adams (Wiltshire Raptor Group).
Henry’s Tour: Day 9
Henry’s still not found a girlfriend so he calls the RSPB’s Hen Harrier Hotline (0845-4600121) for tips on where he might find one.
#HaveYouSeenHenry
Henry’s Tour: Day 8
Most of the people Henry met in the Upper Derwent Valley had never even heard of a hen harrier, let alone the dire straits they’re in thanks to the criminal actions of some grouse moor owners and their gamekeepers.
They have now!
#HaveYouSeenHenry
Henry’s Tour: day 7
Today, Henry was skydancing at a significant site in the Upper Derwent Valley.
This location is significant because last year, 570 sodden protesters and a hen harrier called Harry came here to celebrate Hen Harrier Day and to call for an end to the illegal killing of hen harriers.
Raptor Persecution UK 