Tag: hen harrier

“Why does a ‘keeper need an incinerator again?”

scotsman_logo_200The title for this blog entry is taken from a comment written in response to an article in the Scotsman this weekend.

The article, written by Alastair Robertson, is entitled: “Shooting and Fishing: It is relatively easy to whip up antagonism towards grouse moor owners” and discusses the precarious position of England’s hen harrier breeding population. Robertson mentions Mark Avery’s proposed campaign to ban driven grouse shooting if there isn’t a marked improvement in this year’s nesting pairs. Robertson suggests that the campaign would probably be unsuccessful, although he doesn’t write it off completely. He’s smart to not underestimate the public’s growing anger and frustration on this issue. The article can be read here.

There’s a good counter-argument to Robertson’s article, published today on the Scotsman’s letters page. Read it here.

Radio GaGa

bbcradio4120x120Raptors have been the subject of discussion in a couple of BBC Radio 4 programmes over the last two days.

On Sunday (6 January) there’s just under a minute and a half of misinformed information from Clive Aslet, editor-at-large of Country Life magazine. Mr Aslet claims that red kites are “eating up lots of larks“. You can listen here (starts at 56.32, ends at 57.52).

Today (7 January) there was a five minute discussion about hen harriers between Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director and Adrian Blackmore, the Countryside Alliance’s Moorlands Director. Neither covered themselves in glory, although Martin Harper’s arguments did get stronger as Adrian Blackmore’s got weaker. It’s a shame that Martin didn’t mention the scientific evidence to support his opinions, particularly the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework. You can listen here (starts at 52.25, ends at 57.30).

Time, and patience, running out for the survival of the hen harrier

Hen harrier being removed from illegal trap on Moy EstateThere’s another article out today about the imminent extinction of breeding hen harriers in England (see here).

None of you will be surprised by its content. It’s the same old opponents, using the same old arguments. How long has this ‘debate’ been going on? At least twenty years and probably longer. What’s changed? Not much. The accusations are the same (grousemoor owners and their gamekeepers are systematically eradicating the hen harrier from the British uplands). The denials are the same (“it’s nothing to do with us”). The one thing that has changed is the number of breeding pairs of hen harriers: just the one, solitary and pitiful breeding pair in England in 2012.

In the latest article, Adrian Blackmore, Moorland Director for the Countryside Alliance, suggests that the decline may be due to the hen harrier’s “susceptibility to bad weather, disturbance, poor habitat and lack of available food“. He clearly hasn’t bothered to read the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework which identifies illegal persecution as the main limiting factor. The game-shooting lobby dismissed this report when it was first published and claimed, amongst other things, that it used data that were now out of date (see here). In response, SNH has agreed to have the report revised to incorporate the 2010 national hen harrier survey data. Another delaying tactic by the game-shooting lobby? Do they seriously expect the report’s conclusions to change, considering the widespread population declines that were uncovered during the 2010 surveys?! Whatever, we’re all looking forward to seeing the revised text, especially as we understand that SNH is asking GWCT to be involved with the revision, that well-known independent scientific body with no axe to grind against hen harriers and no reason to favour the grouse-shooting industry. Ahem.

Meanwhile, back on the moors, how many breeding pairs of hen harriers will be ‘allowed’ to settle this year? And will it be enough to stop the huge and legitimate swell of public anger that may well just lead to a campaign to ban driven grouse shooting (see here)?

Here comes 2013….the year of natural scotland

imagesHappy Hogmanay!

Tomorrow marks the start of another Scottish government themed year: The Year of Natural Scotland, in which we’re encouraged to celebrate Scotland’s stunning natural beauty and biodiversity. Good job it wasn’t this year’s theme as there might have been some red faces in the government:

  • SGA gamekeeper Whitefield sentenced for poisoning four buzzards (he already had an earlier wildlife crime conviction). His sentence this time? 100 hours community service.
  • Scottish gamekeeper McLachlan, convicted for possession of the banned poison Carbofuran. Fined £635.
  • Scottish gamekeeper Barrie lost an appeal for his sentence of £520 for illegal possession and control of a wild bird.
  • COPFS choosing not to prosecute a Scottish gamekeeper who had been filmed beating birds to death with a stick inside a crow cage trap.
  • Scottish gamekeeper Christie convicted for wildlife crimes relating to the illegal use of a crow cage trap. His sentence? An admonishment (a telling off).
  • Scottish gamekeeper Graham convicted for allowing a buzzard to starve to death inside a crow cage trap. Fined £450.
  • Scottish gamekeeper McKellar convicted for possession of banned poison. Fined £1,200.
  • Scottish gamekeeper Scobie convicted for using banned poison. Fined £270.
  • A satellite-tagged golden eagle mysteriously ‘disappeared’ in the Angus glens.
  • A satellite-tagged golden eagle mysteriously ‘disappeared’ to the North East of the Cairngorms National Park.
  • Peregrine chicks mysteriously ‘disappeared’ from a nest site in Dumfries & Galloway.
  • A golden eagle was found dead, poisoned in Lochaber.
  • A golden eagle was found dead in suspicious circumstances on the Isle of Harris. Still awaiting results.
  • A satellite-tagged golden eagle mysteriously ‘disappeared’ in the Monadhliaths.
  • A poisoned raven, crow, and three poisoned baits were found in the Borders.
  • A satellite-tagged golden eagle was found dead near a lay-by in Aberdeenshire. Its injuries and its sat tag data suggested it had been illegally trapped on an Angus grouse moor and then dumped during the night and left to die.
  • A golden eagle was found shot and critically injured on a grouse moor in Dumfries & Galloway.
  • Barry, the sat-tagged hen harrier from Langholm mysteriously ‘disappeared’.
  • Buzz, the sat-tagged buzzard mysteriously ‘disappeared’ in the Angus glens. (More on this case in the New Year).
  • Willow, a sat-tagged marsh harrier mysteriously ‘disappeared’ in Galloway.
  • A hen harrier was found shot dead on an Aberdeenshire grouse moor.

These are just a few of the ‘highlights’ from Scotland this year – there are a few more that we can’t yet report but we will in the New Year. And of course this list doesn’t include other confirmed incidents from other parts of these fair isles such as England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic; a list that includes shot and poisoned sea eagles, buzzards, kites, harriers, peregrines and sparrowhawks. Nor does it include the incidents that went undiscovered.

We’ll be blogging quite a lot about the Year of Natural Scotland, which hopefully won’t be just a banner-waving exercise by the government but an opportunity for them to put their money where their mouths are. You don’t think so? No, neither do we. Why should 2013 be any different from the previous three decades of ineffective action?

A hint of what’s to come is the revelation that the theme will be highlighted during several events throughout the year. Two particular locations caught our attention: the Scone Game Fair and the Moy Game Fair.

The Scone Game Fair is of course organised by the GWCT. That’s the same GWCT that has recently asked for the addition of buzzards and sparrowhawks to the General Licences (that means they want permission to kill them…we’ll be blogging about that shortly). It’s also the same Game Fair that has previously attracted sponsorship from some very, how shall we put it, ‘surprising’ sources.

The Moy Game Fair is held on the Moy Estate near Inverness. If you’re unaware of this place, try googling it.

Thanks for all your interest and support in 2012…we’ll see you soon. Sláinte!

This golden eagle was found shot, critically injured &left to die on a Scottish grouse moor. Photo SSPCA
This golden eagle was found shot, critically injured and left to die on a Scottish grouse moor. Photo SSPCA

RSPB walks out of hen harrier ‘dialogue’

tec_logo_16271This isn’t especially new news, as it happened in the summer, but we were reminded of it today after reading something on Mark Avery’s blog – more on that later – and it does seem pertinent to blog about it now.

So, most readers will be aware of the Environment Council’s ‘Hen Harrier Dialogue’ – a process that started in 2006 that aimed to bring ‘stakeholders’ together to try and work out a way of resolving the hen harrier / grouse moor conflict in England (see here for website). Those stakeholders involved in these dialogue meetings included the usual suspects such as BASC, Countryside Alliance, Country Land and Business Association, GWCT, Moorland Association, National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, RSPB, Hawk & Owl Trust, Northern England Raptor Groups etc.

The ‘dialogue’ process has produced an awful lot of documents (and a lot of awful documents, see here) and meeting reports (see here), and a strong interest in pursuing a trial on a ‘quota system’ for hen harriers – a controversial idea spawned by Steve Redpath several years ago. In simplistic terms, this quota system would mean that grouse moor owners would ‘allow’ a certain number of breeding pairs (number yet to be established) and once a ‘ceiling’ had been reached, then they would be ‘allowed’ to remove harrier broods (non-lethally) to other parts of the UK away from grouse moors. This idea is still being discussed, although it brings with it obvious ethical and legal debates.

Hen harrier being removed from illegal trap on Moy EstateSome argue that conservation groups shouldn’t be sitting at the table with representatives from an industry that has been responsible for killing off England’s breeding hen harrier population. Others argue that the quota scheme may be the best way forward because at least there’d be some harriers, which is a better proposition than having none. Others have suggested that the quota system would never get off the ground anyway because the grouse moor owners would have to ‘allow’ a certain number of breeding hen harriers on their estates and they’ve shown themselves incapable of tolerating any.

Whatever your point of view, the bottom line is that six years on from the start of the dialogue process, and after all that talking over egg sandwiches and coffee, the English hen harrier breeding population has been reduced to one known pair. That’s it. Just the one pair. In a country that has suitable habitat to support over 300 breeding pairs.

This summer, the RSPB made a bold move and decided to walk away from the dialogue process. They said that as hen harriers have been systematically eradicated from English grouse moors then there was no longer any conflict and therefore no point in spending any more time talking about it. Instead, they intended to get on with their own plans for hen harrier recovery.

It’s not yet known what will happen to the Environment Council dialogue process now a major player has walked away. As far as we’re aware, there are still many questions about the lawfulness of the proposed trial quota scheme so it’s unclear whether attempts will still be made to push that through.

So what next for English hen harriers? After the recent sad story of the illegal shooting of Bowland Betty (see here), in addition to all the other horror stories we keep reading about from English and Scottish grouse moors (e.g. see here, here, here, here, here), is it time for a different approach? It’s obvious that the authorities can’t, or won’t deal with illegal persecution, and the grouse-shooting industry can’t, or won’t put a stop to it either. An alternative suggestion has been put forward by Mark Avery – unless things miraculously improve for breeding hen harriers in Northern England in 2013 then it will be time to start the campaign, on 12 August 2013, to end grouse shooting (see here for Mark’s blog).

Up until now we’d been supporters of the idea of estate-licensing schemes rather than an outright ban. Licensing seemed a fair and reasonable approach to regulate an industry so clearly incapable of expelling its criminal elements. But now?  The time for being reasonable has long since passed. Count us in, Mark.

For our anagram fans: Grouse moor – morgue or so

Hen harrier found shot dead on Yorkshire grouse moor

A young hen harrier has been found shot dead on a Yorkshire grouse moor. Regular blog readers will not be surprised to learn that it has taken over 5 months for an appeal for information to be made by North Yorks police.

The harrier was raised in a nest in Bowland, Lancashire in 2011. She was nick-named ‘Bowland Betty’ and was fitted with a satellite tag as part of Natural England’s so-called ‘Hen Harrier Recovery Project’. During her first year of life she was tracked through the uplands of Northern England and as far north as Caithness in northern Scotland. In June 2012 she was back in the Yorkshire Dales. Predictably, by late June her sat tag data suggested she was stationary and her dead body was found on 5 July on Thorny Grain Moor in Colsterdale in the Yorkshire Dales. Post-mortem results confirmed she had been shot.

This area is dominated by moorland managed for grouse shooting. We understand her body was found on Swinton Estate, although it is not known where she was actually shot as she could have flown for several miles before succumbing to her injuries.

RSPB and government data show the Yorkshire Dales as a hot spot for illegal raptor persecution, with at least 20 birds of prey illegally poisoned, trapped or shot between 2007-2011. This figure includes 10 poisoned red kites, 4 poisoned buzzards, 2 shot red kites, 2 shot buzzards, 1 shot kestrel and 1 trapped sparrowhawk. In addition there were at least 4 incidents of poisoned baits and a number of dogs were also poisoned.

Hen harriers have been tracked from Bowland since 1999. Wing tags were used to monitor hen harrier dispersal and survival between 1999-2002 (data from at least 42 birds). From 2002-2010, 118 hen harriers have been tracked either via radio transmitter or satellite tag. Astonishingly, Natural England have released very little detail about the results of this project, ten years on. They did produce a report in 2008 (see here) although this related to hen harriers over a broad geographic area and didn’t include specific detail about individual birds. What happened to all those birds? Where are their data? Why, when a satellite tag suggests that a harrier’s movements are suspicious (i.e. it’s been stationary on a grouse moor for several hours), do NE researchers have to seek the estate owner’s permission before they can go and search for the (presumably dead) bird? We’ve used an analogy before but it’s worth repeating – would you expect a police officer to call ahead to a suspected drug dealer to ask permission to go and search his house?

We all know only too well what will happen now. The death of this harrier will be added to the never-ending list of illegally-persecuted raptors found dead on UK grouse moors. Nobody will be prosecuted for shooting it. The public will express outrage for a few days but it’ll soon be forgotten, just like all the others that have been illegally killed before and all the others that undoubtedly will be killed in the future. The people who hold the positions of power that could bring this disgraceful practice to an end will continue to show wilful blindness and downplay the extent of the problem. The police will continue to form ‘partnerships’ with organisations who harbour the criminals responsible for this systematic killing. Nothing will change. Tune in next month to read about the latest victim. (Actually, tune in later this month….)

What can we do? The only thing we can do is to keep publicising these incidents. We can all play a part; don’t leave it to someone else. Tweet it, Facebook it, blog it, talk about it, email your MP about it. Do it.

Hen harrier shot in Ireland

The Kerry Birding blog in Ireland (see here) is reporting that a hen harrier has been shot at a winter roost site. There’s no further information about whether the bird survived.

The author emphasises the importance of confidentiality in relation to known raptor sites and especially hen harrier winter roosts. It’s not just at their nest sites where this species is vulnerable; winter roosts are known to be targeted by armed criminals  intent on wiping out hen harriers, and this happens in England and Scotland too, not just in Ireland.

Press release from BirdWatch Ireland here

Hen harrier found shot dead on Aberdeenshire estate

According to the Scotsman, Grampian Police are appealing for information after a protected hen harrier was found shot dead on the Fettercairn Estate, Aberdeenshire, last month.

The owner of Fettercairn Estate is quoted as saying this:

“Since its inception in 2006 Fettercairn Estate has been a long term participant in the North East Scotland Raptor Watch project. As such it was particularly distressing to hear that a dead hen harrier was found on the edge of the hill land  and I join in the appeal for witnesses to come forward“.

A Grampian Police spokesman is quoted as saying this:

“Investigations have established that the bird had been shot and officers are appealing to members of the public who may have been in the area and may have seen something suspicious. Gamekeeping staff at Fettercairn Estate have already provided significant assistance to police in their enquiries and continue to work closely in the hope that the offender can be identified and brought to justice“.

It must have been another one of those armed hill-walkers.

At least Grampian Police have made a public appeal in a (relatively) timely manner – that’s definitely progress so well done to them.

After hearing the news, Scottish Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse issued another warning about his intention to crack down on the continuing illegal persecution of raptors:

“We will not tolerate the illegal persecution of protected species such as the hen harrier and, as I have said recently in relation to another shooting [the golden eagle that was found shot on a grouse moor on Buccleuch Estate, see here], I am prepared to look at further measures to strengthen and assist enforcement if we continue to see this flouting of the law in respect of protected species“.

That’s great Paul, but how many more incidents are required before you consider this a ‘continuing’ problem? One? Ten? Twenty? A hundred?

Article in the Scotsman here

Langholm hen harrier ‘Blae’: starvation was likely cause of death

Regular blog readers will know we’ve been following the story of the two Langholm hen harrier chicks since the summer: the female chick, ‘Blae’ was reported dead in early September and her sibling, ‘Barry’ was reported ‘missing’ just a couple of weeks later. Since then we’ve been critical of the lack of information that’s been made available to the public (previous blog entries here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here).

Blae’s probable cause of death has now finally been reported on the Making the Most of Moorlands Project website (see here: a blog written by Cat Barlow, the education project officer at MMMP). Before we discuss the probable cause of death, it’s worth recognising that Cat Barlow deserves a good deal of credit for reporting anything at all to do with these two tagged hen harriers. We understand that some of the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project partners were not, how shall we say, enthusiastic about the prospect of tagging more harrier chicks this year. Why not? Well probably because they know very well what happens to the majority of the dispersing birds and this doesn’t exactly cover the grouse shooting industry in glory.  We believe that Cat Barlow, representing MMMP and so not directly answerable to the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project, has stuck her neck out by reporting on this year’s birds. It’s noticeable that the official Langholm Moor Demonstration Project website has made no mention of them.

So, here’s Cat’s explanation for what happened to Blae:

“Back in September we posted the news that the young female Hen Harrier from this year’s nest at Langholm had died. The satellite tag data allowed the carcass to be located and recovered. A post-mortem showed no evidence of shot and no visible injuries. The bird was very thin, suggesting starvation as the most likely cause of death. As a precautionary measure the carcass was sent for further tests. We have heard today that the toxicology results were negative for the commonly-abused pesticides. The body was not found on grouse moor and there was no evidence of human persecution. It is very rare to recover a Hen Harrier carcass, the last post regarding Barry’s demise October 10th 2012, describes a more common scenario, no carcass, no tag, no evidence of his cause of death“.

This result is not at all surprising. The fact that the carcass had been recovered was an early indication that persecution was not a factor; usually, as the above statement indicates, illegally persecuted hen harriers simply ‘disappear’ (e.g. they are buried or burned in order to hide any evidence of the crime). And they don’t just ‘disappear’ on any old random bit of land – they ‘disappear’ on land that’s managed for grouse-shooting. Without direct evidence though (e.g. a carcass), it’s all too easy for the harrier-killers to deny that systematic persecution is taking place, even though endless scientific studies have shown that persecution is so widespread that it’s having population-level impacts.

The persecution-deniers will probably make a big song and dance about Blae’s post-mortem and toxicology results. They’ll probably claim that they are vindicated and the reports of widespread hen harrier persecution are simply propaganda aimed at discrediting the grouse shooting industry. However, if Blae’s premature demise is representative of the majority of young hen harrier deaths, then where are all the other corpses? If they’ve been sat-tagged, surely their carcasses would be retrievable? Sure, young hen harriers, like the young of many species, suffer high natural mortality rates in their first year. That’s what makes the illegal persecution of these birds so damaging – the population loses extra birds in addition to the natural high losses and the population cannot be sustained with these additional losses (read the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework [here] for a more detailed explanation). 

We understand that Barry’s last satellite signal came from a grouse moor in the north of England. Predictably, his body has not been recovered and the grouse moor has not been named.

Well done Cat Barlow for making Blae’s results available. Perhaps the Langholm Project partners will feel inspired and reveal information about all the other lost hen harriers, and not just the ones who’ve died of natural causes.

SNH held their Species Framework conference in Edinburgh last week and this included a presentation on the Langholm hen harriers. During the conference, @SNHMedia put out the following tweet:

“Hen harriers faring alot better in Scotland than in England – 550 pairs in the latest national survey“.

What an astonishing piece of spin! Of course hen harriers are faring better in Scotland than in England – with only one breeding pair of hen harriers in England this year, it’s not that difficult! What @SNHMedia failed to mention was that the Scottish hen harrier population is also in continuing decline and the reason for that, according to the Hen Harrier Conservation Framework report that they commissioned, is illegal persecution!

In other satellite tag news….did anyone see the news yesterday where an appeal went out to the public to help find a lost basking shark tag? Guess who put out the appeal? Northern Constabulary! Not only did the appeal feature on the BBC news website (here), but also on Northern Constabulary’s own website (here). This seems a bit strange, given that the loss of the basking shark tag was not related to a criminal offence, whereas all those ‘missing’ satellite-tagged golden eagles, whose disappearance is more than likely related to a criminal offence, don’t get so much as a mention…..

The lost Langholm harriers: an update

The news is……there is still no news. Here’s a quick re-cap:

Blae, the young satellite-tagged female hen harrier was found dead on or around the 11th September 2012. Her death was made public on September 25th by a posting on the ‘Making the Most of Moorlands’ blog (see here) and we were told her carcass had been recovered and was undergoing a post-mortem.

On October 8th we were told, “No news yet on Blae’s post-mortem results“.

On October 10th, the terminology changed slightly and the word ‘post-mortem’ was replaced by the term ‘toxicology results’: “We are still awaiting toxicology results from the female Harrier Blae“.

Today it’s November 10th. Eight weeks after her body had been found and still no news about what had happened to her. Did she die of natural causes? Did she starve to death? Was she killed in an accidental road traffic collision? Did she ingest rodenticide? Did she eat from a poisoned bait? Was she shot? Or was she caught in an illegally-set spring trap and bludgeoned to death with a metal pole? Where was her carcass found? ‘South of Edinburgh’ is about as useful as saying ‘her body was found in the UK’. Has the Langholm Project received the results of the post-mortem and/or toxicology tests? If no, what’s causing the delay? If yes, why haven’t they released the results to the public?

And then there was her brother, Barry. Barry lasted for a couple of weeks longer than his sister. On October 10th we were told that Barry’s last sat tag signal was received on October 2nd, and he was now presumed dead. A search was underway for his carcass. One month later, still no news.

Where was he when the final sat tag signal was received? Has his body been recovered? If so, has it gone for post-mortem? If not recovered, is the search continuing? How long do you search for before you call it off?

We checked a few websites to see if any news updates had been provided. The first place to look was the ‘Making the Most of Moorlands’ blog – no updates since 10th October.

Next we looked at the official Langholm Demonstration Project website – no news updates since July.

Next we looked at the PAW Scotland website – apparently nothing newsworthy happened between 15th June and 31st October – not even a whisper on the two golden eagle ‘incidents’ (of which more later).

There may be some people/organisations who would prefer that this story just quietly melted away. Sorry, it ‘ain’t gonna happen. We’re going to keep asking.

Previous blog entries on this story here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here