And so it continues….
Two more sea eagles have been found poisoned in Ireland, one in County Mayo and one in County Donegal. One of the birds had also been shot.
Article in Irish Examiner here
Article in Mayo Advertiser here
The Director of the Golden Eagle Trust (the group behind the reintroduction of golden eagles, white-tailed eagles and red kites to Ireland) says he fears a pair of nesting golden eagles which have ‘disappeared’ from County Donegal may also have been poisoned (see here).
The case against John Winn Roberts, 43, of Woodend Meadow, Ballymagorry, Strabane, Northern Ireland, who was accused of intentionally injuring a wild bird (shooting a buzzard) on the Isle of Wight last November, was finally heard yesterday after several adjournments at the Isle of Wight magistrates court (see here and here).
He pled guilty to shooting a buzzard and was fined £400 plus costs (maximum penalty available for this type of offence is £5,000 and/or a 6 month prison sentence).
Putting aside the pathetic sentence, well done to Hampshire Constabulary, RSPCA and the quarry company Barton Vectis for getting this case to court.
We haven’t yet seen any media reports about this conviction.
In January 2012 we blogged about John Winn Roberts, a man accused of shooting a buzzard at a quarry site on the Isle of Wight in November 2011 (see here). He was up in court on 20th January where he pleaded not guilty to shooting the buzzard and his case was adjourned until 22 March 2012.
In court on 22 March 2012, this case was further adjourned and is now expected to result in a one-day trial at the end of April.
This case is not connected to the recent buzzard shooting on the Isle of Wight reported yesterday (here).
Take note, Northern Constabulary – it’s really not that difficult to put out a timely press release when investigating a raptor persecution crime, as your police colleagues on the Isle of Wight demonstrate here:
Specialist police wildlife crime officers on the Isle of Wight are appealing for witnesses following the discovery of a dead buzzard believed to have been shot. The buzzard’s body was found on 30 March 2012 at Lower Road, Adgestone near Sandown.
Anyone with information should contact Wildlife Crime Officer PC Nick Massey at Ryde Police Station by phoning 101.
Isle of Wight News (Ventnor Blog) here
BBC news story here
We’ve recently learned about the suspected shooting and decapitation of a white-tailed eagle on the Isle of Skye. Incredibly, this incident, concerning one of Scotland’s most iconic conservation species, has been a well-kept secret for almost a year!
The freshly-dead sea eagle was discovered on a Skye beach by a member of the public in late April 2011. This person is a member of the medical profession and in his opinion, the eagle had been shot by a rifle and its head had been removed with a sharp implement, probably a knife. It was also his opinion that the bird had been thrown from a cliff-top onto the beach; the rocks on the cliff-top above where the body was found are well-known sea eagle perching spots. Photographs of the shot, head-less eagle were taken and the incident was reported to the regional RSPB office and to the police (Northern Constabulary).
For a variety of reasons (and none of them sinister), the carcass was not retrieved from the beach for another two weeks. This unfortunate delay meant that the carcass was in an advanced state of decomposition. It was sent for post-mortem but this apparently proved inconclusive. We don’t know who conducted the post-mortem (the bird does not appear in the SASA reports so we assume it wasn’t tested for poisoning).
According to our sources, the police investigation was limited, at best. The dead eagle was discovered on the Easter weekend; many visitors would have been in the vicinity as this location is a popular tourist destination. A press release might have drawn potential witnesses from amongst the visitors, and also would have alerted local people to the incident. We understand that many locals were not informed, let alone asked for any potential intelligence leads.
The only public comment about this incident is a one-liner on the Skye Birds website (see here) dated 27 March 2012. Why all the secrecy? Was it deliberate, or another poorly-resourced investigation, or just incompetence? Not for the first time, questions should be asked of Northern Constabulary. It’s also surprising that the RSPB were not more vocal about this case. Sure, the RSPB doesn’t have a statutory duty to investigate wildlife crime (unlike the police), but it does have the ability and resources to publicise suspected wildlife crimes and you might have expected more from them when the suspected crime involved one of their own flagship reintroduction species.
Last December, Andrew Hutchison, a 67 year old pigeon-fancier from Newmills, Fife, was found guilty of maliciously shooting and killing a working falcon (called ‘Naph’, who was employed as a pigeon-scarer at Holyrood) with a .22 rifle. He was also found guilty of removing the bird’s body from his garden, separating it from its radio transmitter, and dumping the bird’s body and the transmitter with intent to defeat the ends of justice. During the trial, Hutchison had accused some falconers (who had been looking for Naph and had tracked his signal to Hutchison’s garden) of lying. “They’re all telling lies. It’s a witches’ coven“!! (see here for article in The Scotsman).
Today, Hutchison was finally sentenced at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He was fined £350 and was also ordered to pay £1,500 to Naph’s owners, towards the cost of buying and training a replacement falcon for their pest control business.
After sentencing, Hutchison was reported to have said: “I’m a pensioner. The fine and compensation is going to cripple me“.
BBC News article here
STV article here
Police in Merseyside are appealing for information after the charred bodies of six barn owls were discovered in a barn in Moss Lane, Formby. Police believe the owls had been deliberately set on fire. It is not known when they were burned, or whether these were wild or captive owls. Less than half a mile away, the body of a shot buzzard was found. News article in the Liverpool Echo here.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country a joint police/RSPB investigation has started in North Lincolnshire after the discovery of three dead buzzards in the area since October 2011. At least two of them are believed to have been shot. News article in the Grimsby Telegraph here.
In Leicestershire, a previously convicted farmer/part-time gamekeeper, Ivan Peter Crane, has been fined £2,500 (+ costs) after being convicted of using a Larsen trap without an appropriate licence. Crane already had wildlife crime convictions from April 2011, for trying to kill raptors with an illegal pole-trap and also for the illegal and unsafe storage of pesticides (see here). It was because of these earlier convictions that Crane could no longer trap birds on the farm without applying for an individual licence, which he failed to do. Press release from Natural England here.
Thanks to the recent Wildilfe and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 [also known as the WANE Act], there is now a closed season which prevents the killing of hares during certain periods in the year. The closed season for mountain hares begins today (March 1) until 31 July. This means that it is now an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take a mountain hare in the closed season. The closed season for brown hares is Feb 1 – Sept 30.
It’s important that this new legislation is effectively enforced. Hares are an essential part of the golden eagle’s diet, especially in the summer months, and there have long been concerns that the widespread killing of mountain hares on grouse moors (estimated at 25,000 per year) is having a detrimental impact on golden eagle breeding productivity in certain parts of the country (see the SNH Conservation Framework for Golden Eagles here).
During the closed season, ALL killing of mountain hares is now unlawful, unless a specific SNH licence has been granted to permit killing within this period. Licences can only be granted for specific purposes which include preventing spread of disease and preventing serious damage. However, SNH guidance states that a licence will only be granted in exceptional circumstances (see here).
This is important for the general public to understand. If anyone sees any evidence of mountain hares being killed between now and 31 July, it will most likely be unlawful (although not ‘certainly’ unlawful) and should therefore be reported straight away so that the authorities can check with SNH whether a licence has been issued.
There are also restrictions on the methods used to kill mountain hares – and these restrictions apply throughout the year (even during the open season when killing mountain hares is permitted). In general terms, it is an offence to trap mountain hares in snares (although again, there are exceptions and a special licence is available in some circumstances). Whether the snare has been set to target the mountain hare specifically, or for some other animal (e.g. a fox) is irrelevant. It could be considered ‘reckless’ under the legislation if a snare has been set in an area known to be frequented by mountain hares. The ‘approved’ method of killing mountain hares is to shoot them (but only during the open season, NOT during the closed season, and even then there are further restrictions on the type of shooting permitted).
Anyone out and about on the moors this spring and summer should keep an eye out for any sign of unlawful mountain hare killing. Take photographs, note your location and REPORT IT. We recommend informing the police and especially the SSPCA.
SSPCA TELEPHONE HOTLINE: 03000-999-999
Mountain hare information from the Hare Preservation Trust here
Mountain hare information from The Mammal Society here
John Winn Roberts, 43, of Woodend Meadow, Ballymagorry, Strabane, Northern Ireland, appeared in front of magistrates on the Isle of Wight last Friday (20 January 2012) and pleaded not guilty to intentionally shooting a wild bird (a buzzard) on 26 November 2011 at a quarry in Newport, Isle of Wight. The case was adjourned until 22 March 2012 and Mr Roberts was granted unconditional bail.
The alleged offence was reported in the Isle of Wight County Press on 18 January 2012 (see here). Hampshire Constabulary led the investigation, with assistance from the RSPCA and the company ‘Bardon Vectis’, which runs the quarry where the alleged offence took place. The fate of the shot buzzard has not been reported.
More on this case after the next hearing.
Following the blog post on 6 December 2011 (see here), Cumbrian man Allan Armistead appeared at Preston Crown Court on 6 January 2012. Here is what was reported by the ‘In-Cumbria’ newsletter:
AN investigation into the suspected poisoning and shooting of red kites led to the discovery of breaches of regulations dealing with pesticides and firearms at a farm.
But it was accepted at Preston Crown Court yesterday there was no evidence 74-year-old Allan Armistead was in any way connected with the deaths of the birds.
The pensioner, who lives at Hulleter Farm in Oxen Park, Ulverston, was fined £7,000 and ordered to carry out 140 hours’ unpaid work.
He admitted seven offences in relation to pesticides, plus three other firearm-related offences.
The court heard a search warrant was executed at the farm last July.
Chemicals were found, most of which were unlawful to possess, due to regulations which had come in more than 10 years ago. Some of the pesticides were 60 years old.
Two rusting tins had a chemical capable of producing cyanide gas on contact with air or water. When one of them was open in safe lab conditions, some of that gas had already been produced.
Mr Brett Gerrity, prosecuting, said the finding of those tins had resulted in wildlife officers having to wear full face masks.
Other pesticides were also found. Among them was a bag containing bottles of crystallised hydrochloride strychnine. There was also a bottle of strychnine hydrochloride – a highly toxic poison used for controlling moles.
It was also found Armistead had his late father’s Home Guard rifle without authorisation, had more ammunition than he was allowed and had not disclosed he had at least three other guns. Mr Christopher Evans, defending, said the pensioner was genuinely remorseful. The chemicals had previously been legally held for many years before new regulations came in.
He said Armistead had lived at the farm since he was born. He had worked there all his life, following in his father’s footsteps, and works seven days a week.
His father’s old rifle had been kept for sentimental value.
Judge Graham Knowles QC cancelled the firearms certificate and shotgun licence that Armistead had held.
He told him: “You dealt with the guns and the ammunition and the pesticides as though the law didn’t apply to you, or didn’t matter.”
Armistead was also told to pay a total of £2,300 costs, plus a £15 surcharge.
Raptor Persecution UK 