Tag: kestrel

Kestrel found shot in Nidderdale AONB, North Yorkshire

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in North Yorkshire is one of the most notorious raptor persecution blackspots in the UK.

Here it is in the news again, following the discovery of a critically injured kestrel suffering shotgun injuries. This is the THIRD shot kestrel we’ve reported on this blog in the last week (for the other two see here and here).

APPEAL FOR INFORMATION FROM NORTH YORKSHIRE POLICE (23rd January 2020)

Appeal for information after kestrel found shot near Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information after a kestrel was found severely injured in Birstwith.

A member of the public found the kestrel grounded and suffering injuries in Birstwith near Harrogate on 30 December 2019. The kestrel was quickly taken to a specialist vet for treatment, where x-rays found the body contained two shotgun pellets.

One pellet was near the right stifle and the other in the shoulder region which it is likely had caused a debilitating fracture. The injuries were deemed to be very recent and would have rendered the bird unable to fly so it is unlikely to have travelled far from where it had been shot. The kestrel was also in good bodily condition so the injuries are believed to have been sustained fairly recently before it was found.

Given the location of the fracture and the kestrel’s need for very fine control of flight in order to hover, the decision was sadly taken to humanely euthanase the bird.

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for anyone with information about this incident or who may have seen anything in the area shortly before the bird was found to please call 101 quoting reference number: 12190238326

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

 

Kestrel shot in Gloucestershire

Just three days ago we blogged about a kestrel that had been found shot in Huddersfield (see here), one of several shot kestrels in the UK in recent years (e.g. see here, here, here, here and here).

Here’s another one.

This time the kestrel has had to be euthanised in Gloucestershire after suffering devastating injuries.

He was seen falling to the ground by two members of the public immediately after they heard the shot. The kestrel was taken to Vale Wildlife Hospital but his injuries were catastrophic.

[Photos from Vale Wildlife Hospital]

This incident happened at around 4pm on January 12 on Strawberry Hill on Tewkesbury Hill and Ford House Lane just outside Newent in the Forest of Dean.

Rural and Wildlife Crime Officer PC Cath McDay said: “Someone has broken the law in shooting this protected bird of prey, which sadly could not be saved. This is unacceptable behaviour and I’m asking for anyone with information to contact police.”

Contact the police on tel 101 and quote reference #196 (13 Jan) or contact the RSPB on 01767 680551 or fill in their  crime form anonymously.

Kestrel found shot in Huddersfield

A kestrel was found shot in the Hade Edge area of Huddersfield, Yorkshire on Saturday 18th January 2020. It has been rescued and is currently undergoing treatment at Meltham Wildlife Rescue.

[Photos from West Yorkshire Police Wildlife Crime Officer PC Newsome, on Twitter as @WYP_CNewsome]

Well done to this police wildlife crime officer for getting the news out so quickly. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Police on Tel 101 and quote reference #13200032608.

You have to wonder what sort of moron takes a shot at a kestrel. Sadly it’s not the first – see here, here, here, here and here and it most definitely won’t be the last.

Kestrel shot in North Yorkshire

A kestrel has been euthanised after being found shot in North Yorkshire.

It’s a kestrel, FFS. You’d have to be a gun-toting psychopath to shoot one of these. Unsurprisingly, it’s not the first kestrel to have been shot in North Yorkshire, England’s raptor-killing capital (see here here and here).

News of this latest shooting appeared on Twitter yesterday. We’ve been unable to find any more details:

Kestrel is latest victim of ‘vermin’ trap on grouse moor

We’ve blogged a bit recently about wildlife that has been caught/killed in traps set by gamekeepers on grouse moors (e.g. see here, here).

These traps are used to kill so-called ‘vermin’ (e.g. stoats and weasels) but we’ve seen plenty of evidence of non-target species also being trapped and killed (e.g. red squirrel, song thrush, mistle thrush, pied wagtail, red grouse, rabbits, ring ouzel).

Here’s another victim – a kestrel this time.

Thanks to the blog reader who sent us the following post from the Walkhighlands forum:

This incident took place on a grouse moor in south Scotland. We contacted the SSPCA for information on the fate of this kestrel. An SSPCA undercover inspector said:

“We can confirm that we responded to a call from a member of the public regarding a kestrel that had been reportedly removed from a trap.

Unfortunately due to the severity of the injuries and to prevent further suffering the kestrel had to be put to sleep“.

We understand an investigation is underway to determine whether the trap was set legally or illegally.

Kestrel found with shotgun injuries in Malton, North Yorkshire

Yet another illegally persecuted raptor in North Yorkshire, the raptor-killing capital of the UK.

This kestrel was picked up on Christmas Day with shotgun injuries to its wing.

The bird was found close to Amotherby crossroads on Amotherby Lane, Malton, North Yorkshire. An x-ray by Mark Naguib of Battle Flatts Veterinary Clinic revealed the extent of its injuries and the bird is now in the care of the wonderful Jean Thorpe of Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation. (Please, consider making a donation HERE to help Jean’s outstanding voluntary work).

If you were in the area and heard a shot on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, please contact police wildlife crime officer PC Jez Walmsley at Malton Police Station on 101.

 

Kestrel found shot dead in Worcestershire

A kestrel has been found shot dead in the village of Broadwas in Worcestershire. It was discovered on 10 January 2017.

This information was sent to us by a blog reader (thank you). The kestrel had been ringed in Warwickshire in June 2016 and whoever found the body in Worcestershire reported the ring number to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), who then sent a ‘ringing return’ note to the bird ringer, to inform him / her of the bird’s death.

According to this ringing return, the bird had been categorised as being ‘dead for more than a week, not fresh, found shot’.

What’s interesting about this, apart from the utter stupidity of the person who shot this bird (it’s a kestrel for god’s sake, what possible reason would there be for shooting it?), is what happens to the data after being reported to the BTO.

It’s our understanding that the BTO does not, as a matter of routine, forward data about suspected persecution incidents to the Police or the RSPB.

If our understanding is correct, this situation is quite astonishing. Surely there’s an ethical responsibility for the BTO to report suspected persecution incidents, to allow the Police or RSPB to undertake follow up investigations? Even if nothing comes of any investigation, these cases would still provide useful background intelligence and, importantly, would contribute to a better understanding of the extent of illegal raptor persecution in a given area. Reporting suspected crimes to the Police / RSPB would not affect the usefulness of the data to the BTO – the BTO could still use the data for trend analyses etc, it’s not as though the data point would be ‘lost’ if it was reported to the authorities.

How many of these suspected persecution incidents go unreported by the BTO every year? Is it the BTO’s responsibility to report suspect crimes, or is it the responsibility of the ringer (once notified of the circumstances of a bird’s death via the ringing return from the BTO), or is it nobody’s responsibility?

It’s all very strange.

Photo of a kestrel by Graham Catley

UPDATE 3.30pm: The BTO has responded to this post on Twitter as follows: ‘The finder has responsibility to report any suspicious deaths but we will review to see if there is more we can do’. Good for them.

Norfolk businessman puts up £5K reward to catch raptor persecutors

Mervyn Lambert NorfolkLast month somebody stole a clutch of eggs from a Marsh harrier nest in Norfolk (see here). Around the same time, eggs were also stolen from a Kestrel’s nest and a wagtail’s nest. Norfolk Constabulary are linking the three thefts.

In response, local businessman Mervyn Lambert is offering a £5,000 reward for information, adding to the other £2,000 already available (£1K from the Eastern Daily Press and £1K from the Hawk & Owl Trust).

However, Mr Lambert isn’t limiting his offer to these three crimes. “I’ll give £5,000 for any information, not only about stealing birds’ eggs but poisoning, trapping and shooting protected birds“.

Good stuff.

Further details in the Eastern Daily Press here.

Henry’s Tour: Day 20

Monday 27 April Copy

Henry’s arrived in Yorkshire in his quest to find a mate. This should be interesting.

North Yorkshire (includes North York Moors National Park & Yorkshire Dales NP) is the worst county in England for recorded incidents of bird of prey persecution.

Between 2004-2013 there were 70 confirmed raptor persecution incidents. (2014 data not yet published).

These 70 incidents included:

  • At least 26 confirmed incidents involving the illegal use of pesticides – these include the illegal poisoning of 14 red kites, six buzzards, one goshawk, one peregrine plus the finding of a number of poisoned baits; several domestic pets were also poisoned.
  • The confirmed shooting of 25 birds of prey – consisting of 10 buzzards, three red kites, three kestrels, two goshawks, two peregrines plus singles of hen harrier, sparrowhawk, short-eared owl and eagle owl.
  • The illegal trapping of seven birds of prey plus another 11 illegally set traps for raptors.

In connection with these incidents six individuals, all gamekeepers, were prosecuted.

Hen harrier last bred successfully in North Yorkshire in 2007, despite huge areas of suitable habitat.

A Natural England study between 2002 and 2008 showed that of 11 HH breeding attempts recorded in North Yorkshire, only five sites reared any young and most of the sites that failed were believed to be due to human persecution.

#HaveYouSeenHenry

Henry’s Tour: Day 19

Fri 24 April Copy

Henry went for a skydance across the lawns of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk.

This place is home to Viscount Coke, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of that well-known raptor-loving organisation Songbird Survival.

In 2000, a Holkham Estate gamekeeper was prosecuted for 17 offences including the shooting of two kestrels and the poisoning of a third. He kept his job on the estate. Case write-up here.

In 2009, a dead buzzard was found at Holkham. It had been shot. The Holkham Estate put up a £500 reward for information leading to a conviction, as did the RSPB. Nobody was ever prosecuted.

Henry didn’t see any female hen harriers during his visit but he did watch a buzzard and three red kites. One kite had what some would call the ‘Malta Moult’ – a large hole blown through the feathers of one wing.

Henry thought it was time to get out of Norfolk but not before he called in for tea and cake with the legendary Richard Porter, author of the 1974 classic Flight Identification of European Raptors. More recently, Richard’s studies on the local buzzard population helped to convict Stody Estate gamekeeper Allen Lambert. Lambert had claimed that the ten poisoned buzzards found on the Stody Estate had been killed elsewhere and then ‘dumped’ on his estate in an attempt to set him up. His defence was to claim that they couldn’t possibly have been poisoned at Stody because there weren’t that many local buzzards to start with. He hadn’t banked on the evidence of one of the world’s leading raptor ID experts, who had recorded 233 buzzard sightings and had counted 73 pairs. Oops.

Thurs 23 April Copy