Georgia Locock, a final-year undergraduate at Hull University is investigating the public’s perceptions of red kites and is interested in finding out why and how people feed red kites in their gardens.
If you’re UK-based and lucky enough to live near a red kite population and you’re up for completing a short online survey to help Georgia’s research, please click here for the survey form.
[Red kites picking up meat scraps in a Reading garden. Photo by Stuart Gay]
Back in December it was reported that a man had been found guilty of wildlife crimes against a badger and red kites in Wales (see here).
Dewi James Price, 39, of Commercial Street, New Tredegar, Caerphilly, faced a potential custodial sentence and the sentencing hearing was due to take place at Cardiff Crown Court on 23 December 2020.
However, it has since been reported that sentencing was delayed after Price’s lawyer told the judge that her client wanted to appeal the convictions. Apparently the court adjourned the hearing until 8th January 2021.
This seems a bit odd. Has anybody heard of sentencing being delayed in these circumstances before? Sure, appeals against convictions are common and are an important part of the judicial process, but don’t these appeals usually come after sentencing, not before?
Here’s a copy of the news report from Powys County Times:
Man convicted of killing Builth Wells badger to appeal
By Iwan Gabe Davies (23 Dec 2020)
A MAN found guilty after a trial of hunting and killing a badger is to appeal against his conviction.
Dewi Price, 39, of Commercial Street, New Tredegar, Caerphilly, was also found guilty of offences against red kites.
He was convicted in his absence at Newport Magistrates’ Court.
Price was found guilty of killing a badger in the Builth Wells area of Powys on February 18, 2018.
The defendant was also convicted of taking a red kite in Gelligaer, Caerphilly, on May 19, 2019.
He was also found guilty of intentionally or recklessly disturbing a red kite while it was in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young and of intentionally or recklessly disturbing the dependent young of a red kite.
Price had been due to be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court but Judge Michael Fitton QC was told by the defendant’s barrister Rosamund Rutter that her client wanted to appeal against his conviction.
The case was adjourned until January 8.
Price was granted conditional bail.
ENDS
UPDATE 13th February 2022: Badger killer and red kite chick thief avoids prison (here)
Further to yesterday’s news from Police Scotland that a poisoned red kite had been found dead on a Scottish grouse moor at Moy (see here), news has emerged that this bird was also being satellite-tracked, which has implications for the police investigation and any potential sanction imposed on the estate as a result.
An article in today’s Strathspey and Badenoch Herald (here) published a photograph of the young kite with two of its siblings when they were fitted with satellite tags in 2019. The article also notes that this kite was from the first brood to fledge in the Cairngorms National Park, and the first successful brood in the Badenoch & Strathspey area since 1880 (thanks to blog reader Dave Pierce for posting this as a blog comment yesterday).
[The three red kite siblings, fitted with satellite tags, in the Cairngorms National Park. Photo Scottish Raptor Study Group]
It’s not often, these days, that a poisoned satellite-tagged raptor is found (although there are some notable exceptions, including this satellite-tagged white tailed eagle, found poisoned on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park earlier this year).
Since satellite-tagging became more routine, poisoning offences have dropped considerably, presumably because the presence of a satellite tag increases the probability of crime detection. Instead, the shooting and trapping of raptors have become much more prevalent killing methods because the perpetrator has more control over the crime scene (and can thus remove evidence quickly). What we usually get with satellite-tagged raptors these days is a sudden and inexplicable ‘stop’ in the tracking data, and both the tag and the bird ‘disappear’, never to be seen again (well, only if the criminal has hidden the evidence of the crime properly, unlike in this recent case where a golden eagle’s satellite tag was discovered cut off and wrapped in lead [to block the signal] and dumped in a river).
So the discovery of this poisoned satellite-tagged red kite at Moy is unusual, but also very helpful. Depending on the type of tag and it’s ‘duty cycle’ (i.e. the frequency with which the tag had been programmed to collect and transmit data), information should be available to Police Scotland to inform them of the kite’s recent movements. For example, had it been on this grouse moor for several days (in which case the likelihood of it being poisoned there would seem high) or had it travelled in from a distance elsewhere shortly before dying, which might indicate it was poisoned elsewhere?
Much will also depend on the type of poison used (which hasn’t been disclosed) and the dose and the toxicity. We know from the Police press release yesterday that it was a banned poison (one of eight listed on the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005, which are Aldicarb, Alphachloralose, Aluminium phosphide, Bendiocarb, Carbofuran, Mevinphos, Sodium cyanide and Strychnine) but some of these poisons are incredibly fast-acting and others are less so, which might also give clues to where the poison had been placed.
Information also hasn’t been released about whether a poisoned bait was found close to the poisoned red kite. Sometimes they are (especially if the poison used is fast-acting) but other times the bait is not present, which might suggest the bird was poisoned elsewhere and managed to fly some distance before succumbing to death.
In other cases bait has been found placed out on estate boundary fences – this has been a common ploy by some estates that aims to obfuscate a police investigation and point blame to an innocent, neighbouring estate where the poisoned bird may have been found dead.
For obvious reasons, the Police haven’t released much of the details because the criminal investigation is ongoing. However, it is these details that will inform the decision-making process at NatureScot (SNH rebranded) as to whether a General Licence restriction order should be imposed on Moy Estate after the discovery of this poisoned red kite.
As regular blog readers will know, General Licence restriction orders are pretty impotent because estates can simply circumnavigate them with applications for individual licences instead, but nevertheless, that’s not a reason for not imposing them where merited.
This’ll be an interesting case to follow.
UPDATE 22nd June 2022: General Licence restriction imposed on Moy, a grouse-shooting estate, after discovery of poisoned red kite (here)
Press release from Police Scotland (16th December 2020)
Appeal for information – poisoned bird of prey – Ruthven, Moy
Police Scotland has confirmed that a red kite found dead in the Ruthven area in October, had been poisoned with a banned pesticide.
[A poisoned red kite, photo by Marc Ruddock. NB: Not the poisoned red kite in this particular incident]
Further searches were carried out yesterday (15 December) with partner agency RSPB on hill ground near Meall a’ Bhreacraibh and Ruthven, Moy, in the northern Monadliath mountains.
No further poisoned raprtors or animals were identified.
Police Constable Daniel Sutherland, Highlands and Islands Wildlife crime Liaison officer, said:
“Traces of a banned pesticide have been detected in a Red kite found in the area. This incident is sadly another example of where a bird of prey has been killed through ingestion of an illegally held poison.
“I strongly urge anyone within the local and wider community to come forward with details on any information about this incident.”
Following consultation with the Scottish Government Rural Payments Directorate and the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), Police Scotland requests members of the public and any dog walkers to be cautious when walking in the surrounding area and the immediate vicinity.
Anybody who has information about this incident, banned pesticide possession or misuse, or other information relating to raptor persecution please contact Police Scotland on 101 or pass on information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
This is a very good response from Police Scotland – a press release out the day after the police search and a clear warning to the public to be cautious in this area, especially if walking with dogs. The name of the banned poison isn’t given, probably for investigative purposes, but by telling the public it’s a banned poison we know it’s one of eight highly toxic pesticides (or perhaps a combination) listed on the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005, which are Aldicarb, Alphachloralose, Aluminium phosphide, Bendiocarb, Carbofuran, Mevinphos, Sodium cyanide and Strychnine.
Now, about the location. According to Andy Wightman’s excellent Who Owns Scotland website, the area of land mentioned in the police press release is part of the Moy Estate in the northern Monadhliaths. Or at least it was when Andy compiled his data – it’s possible, of course, that there have since been boundary changes.
Regular blog readers will be familiar with the Moy area. Moy Estate was raided by police ten years ago after the discovery of poisoned bait and dead raptors and illegally set traps. A gamekeeper was later convicted of possession of a red kite after its bloodied corpse was found in the back of his vehicle. It had two broken legs and a head injury. A bloodied shinty stick was also found in the back of the vehicle.
The remains of two further red kites were discovered on the moor, including a severed red kite leg and some wing tags that had previously been fitted to a kite, all found buried in holes under some moss. A jar in one of the gamekeeper’s houses contained the leg rings of four young golden eagles – nobody could account for how they had ended up inside that jar. A live hen harrier was found caught by its leg in an illegally-set spring trap. It survived after being rescued by raptor workers.
No further charges were brought against anyone for any of the offences uncovered at Moy.
In 2016 Police Scotland issued an appeal for information following the discovery of disturbed and abandoned buzzard and goshawk nests in the Moy Forest. One goshawk and four buzzard nests were abandoned in suspicious circumstances, with some evidence of illegal disturbance. These nests were being monitored by staff from Forestry Enterprise Scotland. No charges were brought.
For previous blogs on Moy see here.
I would imagine, after this latest discovery, that Ministers in the Scottish Government who recently decided to press on with the introduction of a licensing scheme for grouse shooting estates, despite cries of ‘It’s unnecessary regulation!‘ and ‘It’s all so unfair!‘ from the shooting industry, can today feel vindicated that their decision was the right one.
They now need to get on with it and get it implemented ASAP, because this latest victim is evidence that raptor persecution continues, despite all the denials routinely chuntered out by the so-called leaders in the game shooting industry.
UPDATE 17 December 2020: Poisoned red kite found dead on Scottish grouse moor – an interesting police investigation (here)
Article from the South Wales Argus (13th December 2020)
Caerphilly man found guilty of hunting and killing badger
A MAN is facing a prison sentence after he was convicted after a trial of hunting and killing a badger.
Dewi James Price, 39, of Commercial Street, New Tredegar, Caerphilly, was also found guilty of offences against red kites.
He had denied the charges during a trial at Newport Magistrates’ Court.
Price was found guilty of killing a badger in the Builth Wells area of Powys on February 18, 2018.
The defendant was also convicted of taking a red kite in Gelligaer, Caerphilly, on May 19, 2019.
He was also found guilty of intentionally or recklessly disturbing a red kite while it was in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young and of intentionally or recklessly disturbing the dependent young of a red kite.
Price’s case sentence was adjourned and is due to take place at Newport Crown Court on December 23.
He was granted conditional bail.
ENDS
UPDATE 7 January 2021: Sentencing delay for man convicted of offences against badger and red kites (here)
UPDATE 13 February 2022: Badger killer and red kite chick thief avoids prison (here)
A red kite suffered a brutal and agonizing death when it was caught in a barbaric illegal trap at a pheasant-release pen on an unnamed Berkshire shooting estate in August 2020.
A member of the public found the dead kite, hanging upside down with its legs caught in a pole trap, a cruel device that has been outlawed since 1904.
[Red kite hanging dead in an illegal pole trap on a Berkshire shooting estate. Photos via RSPB].
The member of the public reported the incident to the estate (please note – if you find something like this report it to the police and the RSPB, straight away). A gamekeeper was reportedly abusive and threatening in response.
The incident was reported to the RSPB a couple of days later, who contacted Thames Valley Police. Fortunately in this instance, senior estate officials had already reported the crime to the police and had instructed the gamekeeper to retrieve the dead kite and the illegal trap.
The gamekeeper was interviewed and denied setting the trap on his pheasant pen and claimed it was ‘a set-up’.
There appears to be insufficient evidence to progress a prosecution.
For further details of this horrific crime, and the ongoing difficulty of securing sufficient evidence for a prosecution, please see the RSPB Investigations Team’s blog here.
Yet another raptor persecution case from North Yorkshire, and yet another crime committed as part of a reported ‘surge’ of similar crimes recorded during the first period of lockdown (e.g. see here and here).
This time it’s a red kite that was found dying in April 2020 at Scampston, near Malton, to the south of the North York Moors National Park.
[Photos via Jean Thorpe]
Her corpse was sent for toxicology at the Government’s Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) and the results have apparently just been released (presumably delayed due to Covid19).
She was poisoned by a mix of Brodifacoum and Bendiocarb ‘in quantities that would not be consistent with an accidental incident’, writes Jean Thorpe from Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.
Anybody with information about this crime please contact Police Wildlife Crime Officer Jez Walmsley at Malton Police Station (Tel: 101) and quote incident reference #12200055801.
Press release from Wiltshire Police (23 September 2020)
One arrest made after operation into bird of prey persecution in Wiltshire
A teenager has been arrested today following two warrants executed in East Wiltshire.
Led by the Wiltshire Rural Crime Team but supported by local officers, officers from Hampshire Constabulary, South West Forensics, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Natural England and the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, warrants were executed at locations in the Pewsey and Beckhampton areas.
A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of raptor persecution under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Firearms were seized as part of ongoing enquiries, and the carcasses of a number of birds of prey, including red kites and buzzards, were located at the location in Beckhampton.
PC Marc Jackson, Wiltshire Police Rural Crime Team, said: “Following an extensive search of both locations, we have recovered the remains of a number of birds of prey, including red kites and buzzards.
“The recovery of these remains presented a number of complex challenges and we are grateful for the support from other agencies.
“Our enquiries continue into how these birds were killed and disposed of. If anybody has any information that they think could support our investigation, please contact us on 101.”
Inspector Liz Coles, Tactical Lead for Rural Crime in Wiltshire, said: “Today’s warrant shows that we take all aspects of rural crime seriously and we will proactively work with partners to protect wildlife and our rural communities.
“Last week saw the introduction of the new dedicated rural crime officers to the team, and this is a prime example of how they will help us moving forward.
“We continue to develop more intelligence-led policing in relation to prevention, detecting criminal activity and proactive operations“.
Wiltshire Police are part of the national initiative called Operation Owl. The initiative sets out to raise awareness of raptor persecution, encouraging the public to be vigilant for signs of this criminal activity, and to report suspicious activity to the police.
ENDS
Well now this doesn’t look good for Natural England’s ridiculous project to ‘reintroduce’ hen harriers to southern England, does it? And after all that work they’ve done trying to convince potential donor countries that raptor persecution is no longer an issue in southern England (e.g. see here and here).
[RPUK map showing proximity of Natural England’s ludicrous hen harrier reintroduction site to the area where a large police investigation in to raptor persecution is underway]
UPDATE 7th May 2022: Wiltshire gamekeeper due in court to face multiple raptor persecution charges (here)
UPDATE 12th May 2022: Wiltshire gamekeeper facing multiple charges of raptor persecution is named (here)
UPDATE 20th May 2022: Court case delayed against Wiltshire gamekeeper Archie Watson (here)
UPDATE 2nd June 2022: Gamekeeper Archie Watson convicted of raptor persecution & firearms offences on Wiltshire pheasant shoot (here)
In April, during lockdown, two dogs became violently ill on a dog walk near Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire.
One of them survived but sadly the other one (Molly) did not.
[Molly, photo by Chloe Ambler]
In August, North Yorkshire Police confirmed (here) that Molly had died after ingesting what has widely become known as the ‘Nidderdale Cocktail’ – a lethal combination of four pesticides (Bendiocarb, Chloralose, Isophenphos and Carbofuran) that has been identified in a number of raptor persecution poisoning crimes in the area.
The police investigation has included conducting high profile raids at several Nidderdale addresses, accompanied by poisons experts from Natural England and persecution experts from RSPB (see here). The police have also issued a warning notice (here) for local residents to take extra care, one in a long line of warnings given Nidderdale’s notorious reputation as a red kite poisoning hotspot (see here).
[Photo by Ruth Tingay]
A local resident has now stepped forward to offer a £5,000 reward for information leading to the poisoner(s). Keith Tordoff, who owns the sweet shop in Pateley Bridge, told BBC news:
“It affects tourism. It affects business. Everybody’s affected by this stain on the reputation of Nidderdale and we’ve got to get the message across to these people, this has got to stop.”
You might recognise Keith’s name. It’s not the first time he’s put up a reward for information to help catch the raptor killers and he featured in a recent Channel 4 News documentary about raptor persecution on grouse moors in North Yorkshire, where he told the presenter he’d faced a backlash for speaking out, including having eggs thrown at his windows and receiving anonymous threatening letters (here).
Molly’s owner, Chloe Ambler, wants the poisoner(s) to be held to account. She told the BBC:
“[It’s] absolutely devastating. You feel like you’ve been robbed.
I need someone to be held responsible because at the end of the day we’ve lost amazing Molly.
It’s been so awful for us and I don’t see why people should get away with that.”
Howard Jones, an investigations officer at RSPB, said:
“It is absolutely dreadful and this underlines what is the completely irresponsible nature of placing poison out into the countryside.
These people are doing it and know it’s illegal but they don’t care.”
TAKE ACTION
If you’re sick to the back teeth of illegal raptor persecution on driven grouse moors, please consider participating in this quick and easy e-action to send a letter to your local Parliamentary representative (MSP/MP/MS) urging action. Launched on Hen Harrier Day by Wild Justice, RSPB and Hen Harrier Action, over 58,000 people have signed up so far.
This means that over 58,000 pre-written letters complaining about illegal raptor persecution and the environmental damage caused by intensive grouse moor management, are winging their way to politicians of all parties across the UK. If you want your local politician to receive one, Please join in HERE
Thank you
RSPB press release (4 August 2020)
Another red kite vanishes in suspicious circumstances in problem area
Two red kites and one hen harrier – one of England’s rarest breeding birds – have vanished suddenly and unexpectedly in the same area of the North Pennines AONB since last October.
The birds, all of which are protected by law, were wearing satellite tags to help experts understand more about their lives after leaving the nest.
The most recent of these, a young red kite named ‘BB’, vanished in the Derwent Gorge in June 2020, triggering a police appeal for information.
BB was fitted with a satellite tag near Gateshead in June 2019 by Friends of Red Kites (FoRK) with NERF support. It has been monitored since by the RSPB.
[Red kite ‘BB’ in the centre. Photo via RSPB]
BB’s tag had been functioning reliably and as expected when it suddenly stopped on 7 June 2020. Police have been conducting enquiries including a search of the area of the bird’s last fix, between Muggleswick and Castleside, where the bird had been present for the previous month, but found no trace of the bird or the tag. BB has not been heard from since.
Two further birds have suffered similar fates. In April 2020, another red kite, KK, which hatched last summer also near Gateshead, suddenly stopped transmitting on a grouse moor near Derwent Reservoir. And in October 2019, a rare hen harrier named Ada vanished after similarly sending her last transmission from a grouse moor, east of Allendale in Northumberland, also within the AONB.
All of these birds were tagged in the summer of 2019 and were under a year old when they disappeared. It is believed the birds may have been illegally killed.
Howard Jones, RSPB Investigations Officer, said: “There is a distinct pattern emerging of satellite-tagged birds of prey vanishing without a trace on or near land managed for driven grouse shooting in this area.
“BB, KK and Ada’s disappearances are categorised as a ‘sudden stop’. These are reliable tags which continue transmitting even after a bird has died. To cut out suddenly like this strongly suggests human interference.”
Birds of prey are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) which makes it an offence to deliberately kill or injure one. Those found to have done so could be given an unlimited fine and/or a prison sentence.
The persecution of raptors including red kites is a national police wildlife crime priority. Red kites, which are mainly scavengers, went extinct in England in the early 1900s largely down to persecution and egg collecting. Reintroduction programmes in recent decades have been a huge success in the UK, yet red kites remain listed as globally-threatened by the IUCN/BirdLife International.
Harold Dobson, spokesman for the Friends of the Red Kites, said: “It is with a combination of sadness, frustration and anger that we have learned of yet another red kite disappearing under suspicious circumstances. Red kites were re-introduced in the Lower Derwent Valley between 2004-2006. They continue to fare well in the valley itself but evidence such as this strongly suggests they are being prevented from naturally expanding their range, at least in part, due to human persecution. Since 2010, seven red kites have been found poisoned or shot near the Derwent Gorge and surrounding Durham moorland. We fear that this may be the tip of the iceberg and that many more persecuted kites are never found.”
Inspector Ed Turner, from Durham Constabulary said: “It is sad that, within a matter of months, I am appealing to the public for information again regarding another red kite that has disappeared without explanation in the same area of the North Pennines. The fate of this bird is not yet clear. Until we can rule out the possibility that a crime has been committed, we will continue to take this matter very seriously.”
Chris Woodley-Stewart, Director of the North Pennines AONB Partnership, said: “I’m immensely disappointed that we’re back here again having to ask for information on missing birds of prey in this part of the AONB. We never jump to conclusions about single satellite-tagged birds going off-line – there could be several reasons for that and we always want to get to the bottom of why it’s happened, where possible – but there’s a pattern here, and this part of the North Pennines has been a problem location for ten years or so now with shot, poisoned and missing birds. Please come forward if you can help locate this bird or know what happened to it.”
ENDS
Raptor Persecution UK 