Tag: red kite

What a great turn out in Inverness this afternoon for the public protest demonstration against illegal raptor persecution!

The protest was triggered following the recent mass poisoning of at least 19 raptors (14 red kites and 5 buzzards) in the Conon Bridge area of Ross-shire, all found during the last three weeks.

Well done to RSPB Scotland for organising the demo and allowing ordinary members of the public an opportunity to tell the Scottish Government that they’ve had enough and to demand they now take action. A big well done also to everyone who was able to attend. Special mention goes to the two people from Friends of Red Kites in Gateshead who made the long journey north to participate.

For those of you who weren’t able to be there, you can still show your support by contributing to the reward fund, which is currently at a whopping £26,800. Click HERE if you’d like to donate.

Press coverage of today’s event:

BBC News here

Courier here

Herald here

Other media coverage:

Chris Townsend Outdoors website here

WalkHighlands website here

Mark Avery’s blog here

Blog by Stuart Benn, RSPB Scotland Conservation Manager here

Previous blog posts on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

The number of dead raptors found in the Conon Bridge area of Ross-shire has risen to 19. These include 14 red kites and five buzzards.

Toxicology tests so far have determined that 12 of them (9 kites and 3 buzzards) had been poisoned. Tests have not yet been completed on all the corpses.

In response to one of the worst mass poisoning incidents in recent times, RSPB Scotland is organising a public protest in Inverness town centre this Saturday. The key aim of this protest is to let the Scottish Government know that we all want action to prevent this criminal persecution of our raptors from happening again.

Protest Date: Saturday 12th April at 2pm.

Meet at the top end of the pedestrianised High Street, Inverness (near Marks & Spencer & Santander).

All welcome (including children) and protesters are encouraged to make their own banners.

If you can’t attend the protest, please consider showing your support by donating to the reward fund HERE.

Previous blog posts on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Here are some pitiful images of some of the victims (via @RossKites)

 

The Inverness Courier is reporting that up to ten police cars and vans pulled up outside a number of farms in the Conon Bridge area this morning. The police officers were reportedly searching farm houses, outbuildings, barns and bins.

A Police Scotland spokesperson is quoted as saying: “Police are currently conducting searches in the Conon Brae area as part of ongoing enquiries into a wildlife crime investigation regarding the death of 17 birds of prey consisting of 13 red kites and four buzzards. Landowners in the area are cooperating with the searches“.

Inverness Courier article here.

Also reported on STV here.

Also reported in Ross-shire Journal here.

Previous posts on Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Well this is good to see. A group of landowners and farmers from the Moray Firth area have pledged £12,000 to the reward for information about the mass poisoning of at least 18 red kites and buzzards near Conon Bridge.

This donation takes the reward to over £26,000, following contributions of £5,000 by RSPB Scotland, £5,000 by an anonymous donor and over £4,000 raised so far by donations from the general public.

News article in the Northern Times here

What’ll be interesting is whether this extra £12,000, if unclaimed as a reward, will be donated to the RSPB Scotland Investigations Team, as the rest of the reward money will be. Probably not, given landowners’ organisation Scottish Land and Estates‘ constant criticism of the RSPB’s investigations work.

Let’s hope the lure of a £26,000 reward will draw out somebody who may be shielding the criminal(s) involved in this incident.

If you’d like to donate to the reward fund, please go HERE.

Previous blogs on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

This is the story that just won’t go away.

This morning we reported that a 13th dead red kite had been found (see here).

Now, a 14th red kite has been uncovered in the Ross-shire Massacre, bringing the total of confirmed dead birds to 18 (14 red kites & 4 buzzards). We fully expect this figure to rise again.

As the death toll grows, so does the reward fund, reflecting the public’s increasing frustration and anger. If you’d like to donate, please click HERE.

Previous blogs on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

The number of dead raptors found in the mass poisoning incident at Conon Bridge, Ross-shire, has now risen to 17 corpses following the discovery of another dead red kite.

So far, 13 red kites and four buzzards have been dead.

The search of the surrounding area continues.

If you’d like to contribute to an on-line fund to help increase the reward for information (currently stands at over £13,000), please click this link HERE.

[£5,000 donated by RSPB Scotland; £5,000 donated by an anonymous donor; £3,000+ (to date) donated by members of the public].

If the reward goes unclaimed, the funds will be given to the RSPB Scotland Investigations Team to help their important work.

Previous blogs on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here

 

The RSPB has set up an on-line donation page where those of us who want to show our disgust and outrage at the Ross-shire Massacre can contribute towards the ‘reward for information’ fund.

The reward was initially set up by RSPB with a £5,000 contribution. This has now been increased to £10,000 thanks to an anonymous donor. Here’s our chance to further increase the reward.

If the reward is unclaimed, the funds will be used directly for contributing towards the RSPB’s Investigation Unit – a small team of dedicated professionals doing their utmost against the powerful, well-funded and influential game-shooting industry.

If you’d like to show your support, and ramp up the pressure on the poisoning criminals who continue to commit these atrocities, you can donate here.

RSPB press release here.

Previous blogs about the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

BBC News video footage here, including an interview with the RSPB’s Black Isle Red Kite Officer, Brian Etheridge, and a local resident calling for a jail term for the poisoner(s).

A detailed article in the Guardian, written by Severin Carrell here, providing good background information about the poor conservation status of the Black Isle Red Kite population.

Previous blog posts on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Photo of a red kite by Claire Marshall.

An anonymous donor, so concerned about the reported mass poisoning of 12 red kites and 4 buzzards in Ross-shire, has come forward and increased the value of the reward for information to £10,000.

He/she has added an extra £5K to the £5K reward already put up by RSPB Scotland.

The reward is offered to anyone who provides information leading to a successful conviction.

£10,000 is a lot of money. Let’s hope it will prompt someone to go and talk to the police. If you’re that person, dial 101 and ask to be put through to Dingwall Police Station.

The photo shows dead red kite ‘F8’, one of the 16 victims (and there may yet be more corpses to be recovered).

 Previous posts on Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here, here and here.

Brian Etheridge should have been celebrating this week; it’s the 19th anniversary of his work as the RSPB’s Red Kite Officer in the Black Isle area. Instead, he’s witnessed one of the worst mass poisoning incidents in recent times: 12 red kites and 4 buzzards found to date. The 12 red kite victims were birds that he’s known for years.

Brian said: “This has been the worst two weeks of my life. I have worked with all of the birds – each one was ringed and tagged by me. I was there at the very beginning when they were only a few weeks old and I was there at the end when I went to collect their bodies. It’s a huge mix of emotions; I’ve gone from being very, very angry to extremely sad. Some of these birds I’ve known very well and for a very long time.”

One of the dead birds was a 16-year-old female that Brian first tagged in 1998. She had been breeding in the Black Isle for 14 years and had raised between 25 to 30 young – one of which, an eight-year-old female, was also among the dead.

Brian said: “I’ve gone to her nest every year since she first bred back in 2000 and I’ve climbed up to her nest so she probably knew me quite well. She was like an old friend and a very familiar sight so I will miss her this year. She had mated with one male for 13 years and he was so faithful. He has been sitting on their nest, waiting for her to come back.

Something like this can just wipe out so many birds and so many years of work. This is by far the worst example I’ve ever witnessed. There has been a huge reaction from the public. The community has really taken these birds to its heart. This was the very first reintroduction programme in Scotland so most people are very proud of their red kites.”

Many of the poisoned birds will have been regular visitors at the nearby Tollie Red Kite Visitor Centre – an initiative between RSPB Scotland the Brahan Estate – where the general public can go and watch the daily feeding of the kites. Some of the volunteers from the project have also been talking about their reaction to this latest atrocity – see here.

Previous blogs on the Ross-shire Massacre here, here, here, here and here.