Tag: hen harrier

Compare and contrast

How very curious. Have you heard about the new project set up by SNH and University of Exeter to fit satellite tags to basking sharks on the west coast of Scotland (see here)? The purpose of this fantastic project is to help solve some of the mysteries about basking shark behaviour and to identify important marine areas that may need greater protection.

Apart from the scientific importance of this research, a substantial effort has been made to engage with the general public, which is a good thing seeing as though we, as tax-payers, have helped fund part of the project. First of all we were asked to help name eight of the tagged sharks, and then a dedicated website was launched, where we can follow the daily movements of each named shark, in close-to-real time (see here). We can even subscribe to receive daily project updates!

Now, compare and contrast the glut of detail available from the basking shark sat-tagging project (which has only been running for several short weeks), with the barely discernible detail available from the hen harrier sat-tagging project at Langholm Moor, which has been running for several years and which, incidentally, we as tax- payers also helped to fund. The ‘detail’ (and that word is used generously!) of the hen harrier sat-tag data can be seen here.

Interesting difference, eh?

Blundering Benyon gives evidence at wildlife crime inquiry

Everyone’s favourite Minister Richard Benyon has been giving evidence at the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into wildlife crime (see here, here and here for earlier blog posts about this inquiry).

Some of the topics on which Benyon was questioned included #buzzardgate, hen harriers, the introduction of vicarious liability in England, the legislation concerning possession of illegal poison, and the independence of Natural England.

So how did he do?

He started off badly when questioned about the need for legislation to criminalise the possession of certain poisons. The legislation is already in place in Scotland but a loophole in the English legislation means that ‘possession’ (rather than ‘use’) is still not an offence – see here for an RSPB press release last year on this very topic. Bungling Benyon suggested that the current legislation was adequate and didn’t require updating. He was picked up on this a bit later by the Committee Chair, who insisted on clarifying whether there was a difference between ‘possession’ and ‘use’ in the legislation. Benyon chose the safe option and asked whether he could make the clarification in writing at a later date, presumably to give himself time to actually go and read the legislation.

On the issue of whether to introduce vicarious liability legislation in England for raptor persecution crime, Benyon commented that there were no plans to introduce VL but he will watch the impact of it in Scotland. That’s fair enough. Why waste time and funds to introduce something that may be completely useless as a tool to combat raptor crime until you’ve seen whether it can make a difference in Scotland. It was suggested to Benyon that some might say the Scottish government takes wildlife crime more seriously than their English counterparts. Benyon rejected that and said there are wildlife crime measures that are making a difference and the legislation is adequate. Unfortunately he didn’t give any examples.

When asked about #buzzardgate, he basically said he loved buzzards but that some of the people protesting about the ‘study’ had misunderstood the research. Er, what was there to misunderstand? Benyon and his game-shooting cronies wanted to spend our money removing native buzzards from the wild, on private shooting estates, for the benefit of mass-introduced non-native species that are bred for the sole purpose of being killed for sport. “I recognise that it hit a wall of credibility“, said Benyon. Too bloody right it did.

When asked whether he was doing anything specific to protect the hen harrier, Benyon stated, “Yes, we are“. He said he was looking at the possibilty of a project that might work, but he didn’t want to provide any specific details because “it is at a very conceptual stage“. Hmm. Could this be the controversial plan to introduce a so-called ‘ceiling’ for hen harrier numbers, a concept that has been knocking around since 2008 (see here and here)? We’ll have to wait and see.

Benyon was then asked: To what extent are you satisfied that Natural England is making sufficient use of its civil enforcement powers in relation to SSSIs? Benyon’s response: “…….It is also very important that Natural England is an arm’s length body with the neccessary statutory basis that they have, and that they are able to operate the laws and sanctions that they have freely and unencumbered“. Now that’s an interesting statement! If you’ve been following Mark Avery’s superb analysis of what went on in the Walshaw grouse moor fiasco (see here for his 23rd blog entry on the subject), you’d be hard pressed to believe that Natural England acted “freely and unencumbered”. There’s still plenty more to be uncovered about what happened between Natural England and Walshaw Moor Estate but rest assured that Mark Avery will have a good go at getting to the bottom of it. Benyon’s statement may just come back to haunt him.

To read the full transcript of Benyon’s evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee, see here. Bear in mind that this is the uncorrected version; the corrected version should be posted shortly.

The EAC has now finished compiling the written and oral evidence in this inquiry and a report should be published in due course.

The future of the Hen Harrier in Scotland: public seminar

A public seminar on the future of the hen harrier in Scotland is to be held in September, hosted by the Watson Bird Centre in Dalry, Dumfries & Galloway. The centre was established to celebrate the achievements of the late Donald and Jeff Watson, the father and son who were recognised as world experts on the hen harrier and golden eagle respectively.

The seminar day is Saturday 22 September 2012:

13.00-14.00hr – Lunch at Lochinvar Hotel / Clachan Inn

14.00hr – A History of Hen Harriers in the South of Scotland (Chris Rollie, RSPB)

14.20hr – Hen Harriers in Orkney – A Success Story (Erik Meek, RSPB)

15.00hr – Hen Harriers and Grouse on Langholm: Managing a Special Challenge (Aly McCluskie, Langholm Moor Demonstration Project)

15.30hr – Tea / Coffee

16.00hr – Hen Harrier in Scotland Today – What Does the Future Hold? (Brian Etheridge, Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme)

16.30hr – Discussion

For further information, contact the Watson Bird Centre here

Species Action Framework conference 2012

Scottish Natural Heritage will be organising a major conference later this year to discuss the results of their five-year Species Action Framework programme, which ended in March 2012.

‘Managing Species in a Challenging Climate: Scotland’s Species Action Framework’ will be held 22-23 November 2012 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

There will be two presentations specifically on raptors; one on the white-tailed eagle and the other on the hen harrier.

The hen harrier presentation should be fascinating, especially as it’s being led by Des Thompson (SNH) and Simon Lester (head gamekeeper at the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project). A recent (2011) SNH-commissioned report (later attributed to JNCC, presumably for political reasons) on the conservation status of the hen harrier identified illegal persecution as one of the key constraints affecting hen harriers in Scotland, and particularly when associated with grouse moor management (see here). However, at the recent 2012 police wildlife crime conference in Scotland, Des Thompson claimed that “the great majority of these [grouse moors] are well managed” (see here). An interesting statement and completely at odds with the findings of the hen harrier conservation framework report as well as with the findings of the SNH-commissioned 2008 golden eagle conservation framework report (see here). Hopefully there will be an opportunity to question Des at this conference, and also Simon Lester – especially about the lack of transparency on the fate of all those satellite-tagged hen harrier chicks from the Langholm project (see here and here).

The Species Action Framework conference programme can be viewed here

Details on how to book your place at the conference can be found here. It’s worth noting that the registration fee rises after 13th July 2012.

English hen harriers flying around in invisible cloaks

‘Given the population of hen harriers in Europe, it is wrong to talk of “extinction”‘ [in relation to the single hen harrier breeding attempt in England this year], claims Alasdair Mitchell in his latest article for Shooting Times. He goes on to say, “To talk in emotive terms about “a second extinction” is a tad over the top“.

I don’t think there’s anything emotive or over the top about stating that England’s HH breeding population is on the verge of extinction – it’s a biological fact! With only one known nesting attempt in 2012 (and rumours circulating that the attempt has failed), the species is most definitely on the brink of an extinction as an English breeding species. What else would you call it? Birds-now-wearing-invisible-cloaks?

The term ‘extinction’ is a valid, scientific term that can be used to describe the loss of a species (in this case a breeding species) at a local, regional, national or international level. In this case, the first three levels are applicable. Perhaps Mitchell objects to the word because he knows it is a word the general public can understand far more easily than other scientific terms such as ‘population decline’, which just infers a loss but doesn’t explain the extent of that loss. The public understands that ‘extinction’ means curtains, lights out, elimination, end of the line. This is probably of concern to the game-shooting industry as they realise there’ll be no place to hide once the public understands the full impact of all that illegal killing.

Mitchell points to the hen harrier’s international conservation status as a species of ‘least concern’ to support his view and says: “There are many thousands flying around Western Europe – including several hundred pairs breeding happily in Scotland“. What he (deliberately?) fails to mention is that Scotland’s breeding HH population fell by more than 22% between the 2004 and 2010 national surveys (633 pairs recorded in 2004; 489 pairs recorded in 2010) (see here). He also fails to comprehend the concept of biological diversity and it’s importance on various scales, including, again, local, regional, national and international scales. It’s illogical to ignore the loss of local, regional and national biodiversity just because the species’ international status is still ok. Yeah, let’s kill all our native wildlife – we don’t need it ‘cos it’s all doing fine in other parts of Europe.

Mitchell is a hill farmer in Northumberland. In addition to his weekly column for Shooting Times (under the heading ‘Sharpshooter’) he has also written for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation as well as acting as their media advisor. In May 2012 (see here) Mitchell was appointed as the Northern Regional Director for BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation). That potted bio probably explains Mitchell’s failure to grasp the principles of biodiversity conservation, although to give him his due, he ends his article by saying:

“I am not pretending that illegal persecution has not had an impact, over the years, on the hen harrier population. It has – and that’s bad. We need to find ways of hosting more hen harriers but without destroying the commercial grouse shooting that actually pays for their moorland habitat“.

It’s certainly refreshing to hear someone from the shooting industry admit that persecution has affected HHs – it’s usually just outright denial, and it’s also encouraging to hear him calling for more hen harriers, although that now seems an unlikely prospect without formal government intervention. In the meantime, while we all argue about the semantics of extinction, the UK’s breeding hen harrier population continues to fade.

Mitchell’s full column can be read on the Shooting Times website (although it appears that this one hasn’t yet been posted).

George Monbiot: a journalist who says it like it is

George Monbiot is fast becoming my favourite journalist (and not just because he uses this blog as a source of information!).

In his latest article, due to be published in the Guardian tomorrow but released on his website tonight (see here), Monbiot digs a little deeper inside the #buzzardgate debacle and uncovers some fascinating information.

In addition to #buzzardgate he also discusses the scandalous state of the English hen harrier population. He is one of very few authors willing to state, categorically and without caveats or apologies, that the missing English hen harriers [approx 329 pairs] ‘have been shot or poisoned by grouse-shooting estates’. There’s no dilution or ‘maybes’ or ‘possiblys’ in the name of so-called ‘partnership building’ – English hen harriers have been wiped out by grouse-shooting estates and Monbiot is not afraid to say so.

If you read Monbiot’s biography  (here) you’ll see that the thing he fears is ‘other people’s cowardice’.

We can all learn from him.

Would jubilee’ve it: hen harriers finished in England?

We’ve been hearing rumours that the last remaining pair of hen harriers attempting to breed in England have now failed. We don’t yet have confirmation but several (usually reliable) sources are telling us the same thing.

In a recent BBC news article (here), a spokesman from the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said:

“We are unaware of any instance of human interference with hen harriers in England in recent years“.

Yeah, of course you are. Just like Bashar al-Assad is unaware of any instance of government troops massacring the Syrian people?

So, while the country celebrates ’60 glorious years’, take a moment to reflect on the effects of 60 years of raptor persecution.

Yet another golden eagle mysteriously ‘disappears’

Last month we blogged about the ‘disappearance’ of a satellite-tagged golden eagle (see here). Now 22 days later we’re blogging about another one. Isn’t it strange how many UK satellite-tagged raptors go ‘missing’; not just golden eagles, but white-tailed eagles, hen harriers and red kites too. Wonder how these figures compare with tagged raptors in other parts of the world?

The last signal from the latest young golden eagle (#32857) to go ‘missing’ was received on May 11, just to the north-east of the Cairngorms National Park (see here).

Was it just a satellite tag failure and the eagle is still alive and well? Possibly.  Did it die of natural causes? Possibly. Was it poisoned? Possibly. Was it shot? Possibly. Was it caught inside a crow cage trap and bludgeoned to death? Possibly. Will we ever find out? Possibly. If it is found to have been killed illegally, will the perpetrator be brought to justice? Probably not (see here for the ever-growing list of dead and/or missing eagles in recent years for which nobody has ever been prosecuted).

Somebody asked a question the other day and we’ve still not been able to provide an answer:

“What does it take to secure a conviction for killing an eagle in the UK?”.

We’ve heard all the excuses in the book, some valid, some not:

(i) The discovery of a poisoned eagle on a sporting estate isn’t enough to secure a conviction because either it could have been poisoned elsewhere and then flown to die at that location, or, it could have been ‘planted’ on the estate by the anti-game-shooting lobby (according to claims made by various gamekeepers over the years although without any actual evidence).

(ii) The discovery of a poisoned eagle lying next to a poisoned bait on a sporting estate isn’t enough to secure a conviction because it’s virtually impossible to identify which individual gamekeeper laid the bait, especially when they all deny it.

(iii) The discovery of a poisoned eagle and a stash of the same poison found on premises on the same sporting estate, and an admission from an individual gamekeeper that he had sole access to the poison isn’t enough to secure a conviction because….well, we don’t know the answer to that one, you’d have to ask COPFS.

(iv) The discovery of a poisoned eagle and a stash of the same poison found in vehicles and traces of it on knives and gamebags on the same estate isn’t enough to secure a conviction because….we don’t know the answer to that one either – ask COPFS.

(v) What if somebody was filmed laying out a poisoned bait and was then later filmed returning to remove the eagle poisoned by that bait? The film evidence would probably be ruled inadmissable because the cameraman was operating ‘covertly’ (i.e. without the landowner’s permission!).

(vi) What if a gamekeeper was found with a dead eagle in the back of his vehicle, and the eagle had injuries consistent with being caught in an illegal spring trap (e.g. broken legs) and having had its head caved in with a blunt object (e.g. smashed skull)? This wouldn’t be enough to secure a conviction because the keeper would probably claim he had just found the dead bird and was taking it home to report it to the authorities. At best he’d be charged with ‘possession’.

The shocking truth is, there has never been a successful prosecution for the illegal killing of an eagle in the UK, in spite of the sometimes overwhelmingly compelling evidence in some cases. So, just what does it take for someone to be convicted of killing an eagle in the UK?

Hen harriers, again

Last week we mentioned that Mark Avery had come out fighting on behalf of hen harriers (see here). Today he’s back on the same subject, knocking at Natural England’s door to try and find out what has happened to 119 hen harriers that have been radio and satellite-tagged since 2002 (see here).

He’s not the only one who’s been asking questions of Natural England about missing hen harriers. Last November we blogged about a satellite-tagged hen harrier from the Langholm Project that had mysteriously ‘disappeared’ (see here). Natural England are in charge of the hen harrier satellite tag data from Langholm. In December, MSP Elaine Murray asked Scottish Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson how much he knew about all of the missing hen harriers that had been satellite tagged at Langholm. His response was vague (here) and didn’t shine any light on what might have happened (notably he failed to mention that the last known signals of many of these young birds just happened to come from grouse moors).

‘Ah’, cried the grouse shooting lobby, ‘but no dead birds were discovered so you can’t assume that they died on a grouse moor’. Of course no dead bodies were discovered. The Langholm Project protocol for investigating the disapearance of their young tagged harriers was to first call up the landowner where the last signal had come from and ask permission to visit the estate to search for the bird! That’s as stupid as a police commander phoning up a suspected drug dealer and telling him the police are coming to search his house later that day so he’d better be ready!

It’s interesting that Natural England were put in charge of all the hen harrier satellite tag data from the Langholm Project (a project that is based in Scotland). Why was that? Was it perhaps because they’d done so well in protecting (keeping secret) all the hen harrier satellite tag data in England since 2002? Both projects have received a considerable amount of public funding – why are we not entitled to read the results?

It’s worth re-visiting something we blogged about at the end of March (here) concerning the UK parliamentary audit on wildlife crime. It included a statement from the Moorland Association (pro-grouse shooting crowd) about hen harriers:

“The scale of crime against the hen harrier and its impact on the hen harrier population has been overstated and is misleading. A lack of breeding success on grouse moors does not automatically mean that laws have been broken. There are many, many more birds in England than four successfully nesting pairs, which can be seen over grouse moor during migration and at winter roost sites.

Until a full set of special rules allowing the positive management of hen harriers breeding on grouse moors is forthcoming from the Environment Council’s Hen Harrier Dialogue, moorland owners are within their rights and the law to deter the birds from settling on their moors to breed.”

That kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

Bits and blogs

Some sad news from the Irish Republic – the white-tailed eagle pair who were the first sea eagles to attempt to breed in Ireland for over 100 years (see here) has failed. The birds abandoned their nest on Tuesday evening. In a double blow, the remains of a young satellite-tagged sea eagle have been discovered in County Mayo. The cause of death is still being investigated (see here for a report in the Irish Examiner).

In other news…Mark Avery has come out fighting over the English hen harrier debacle. This morning’s blog (here) focuses on Natural England’s lack of transparency over the results of their ten-year hen harrier satellite tracking project. Good for him, and much stronger than the blog he wrote on Monday (here) where he discussed the poisoned red kites found in the Chilterns. He asked readers to connect the dots but when they did, he claimed he couldn’t see the same picture. Perfectly understandable of course but totally improbable that Mark hadn’t joined the dots within about five seconds flat.

There’s another blogger in town. Stuart Housden is the Director of RSPB Scotland and has kicked off his own [RSPB] blog this month. It was pleasing to see that his third post was about wildlife crime sentencing in Scotland (see here). We’re waiting to see whether he blogs about this weekend’s inaugral Scottish Birdfair. As RSPB Scotland Director, it was probably Stuart’s ill-informed decision to co-host the event at Hopetoun; we’ve blogged before about this incredible lack of judgement (see here and here).

If anyone is attending the Scottish Birdfair this weekend, you might want to pay a visit to the Scottish Land and Estates table (the Scottish landowners’ representative body) and ask them whether any of the following are (a) members of their organisation and (b) signed up the Wildlife Estates Initiative:

Aswanley Estate, Auch Estate, Blythe Farm, Breconside Farm, Culter Allers Farm, Dunecht Estate, Edradynate Estate, Farr and Kyllachy Estate, Glenbuchat Estate, Glenlochy Moor Estate, Glenogil Estate, Glenturret Estate, Innes House Estate, Invercauld Estate, Inverinate Estate, Lawesknow Farm, Leadhills Estate, Lindertis Estate, Lochindorb Estate, Millden Estate, Morvich Estate, Moy Estate, Raeshaw Estate, Redmyre Estate, Seafield Estate, Skibo Estate, Sluie Estate….

Why these particular estates? Oh no special reason, just randomly selected from across the country…If the SLE is unable to give you a credible answer you could always ask them to explain why the organisation supports government-issued licences to kill buzzards.