I was sent this photo by a reader of this blog. It comes from ‘An Illustrated Manual of British Birds’ by Howard Saunders (1889) :-
‘As regards the British Islands, the epithet “common” is annually becoming less and less applicable to this species; but there are wild and wooded districts in England – especially on the western side – and in Wales, where the bird may still be seen circling high in air, and be heard uttering it’s plaintive mewing cry. Fifty years ago it used to breed in Norfolk and in other counties abounding with partridges and grouse-game, without being considered incompatible with their existence; but with the increase of Pheasant-worship the doom of the Buzzard sealed, for the larger the “Hawk” the worse it must necessarily be!‘
‘Pheasant worship’. We must use that more often.
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Yes pheasant worship we must use more often along with the English translation of what the Dutch call game shooters—— pleasure killers.
Strangely the illustration above looks far more like a Honey-buzzard rather than a Common Buzzard.
Puritanism is alive and well in the Netherlands, as it is in Britain, defined by H.L. Mencken as ‘The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy’
Buzzards have been present on Exmoor all my life. They now inhabit Britain in numbers, as they do the developed countries of Northwest Europe, 80,000 breeding pairs in Britain alone, common indeed.
But black grouse, red grouse, curlew, green plover, golden plover, merlin, ground nesting birds all, are not doing so well on Exmoor, extinct as breeding species.
The idea that any ground nesting bird can extend its range in England in the current climate of adulation for predators, many protected, is simply cloud cuckoo land, soon to be the only place where cuckoos will be found as well.
Monro – I wonder whether you would like Buzzards to inhabit Britain in anything other than numbers. Maybe minus numbers?
Buzzards mean blue skies and open moorland to me, happy associations enhanced by the piercing shrieks of the soaring birds carried on the wind.
But the cry of the curlew is a great deal more attractive, and I miss the variety of ground nesting birds with which those moors used to abound.
I have nothing against buzzards, or indeed any predators. I am ashamed to admit that I have been a danger to other road users for years whenever a soaring bird of prey can be viewed whilst driving.
However, if we want ground nesting birds in general, and hen harriers in particular, to recover in England, then tough choices will have to be made.
Control of predators is complex and has to be comprehensive to be effective.
If protected predators cannot be included, predator control is significantly less effective:
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/5/617
A populist petition for an unattainable goal is quite simply a cop out.
Monro – ahh. So now we come to it. You want to be able to cull legally, those predators that are currently culled illegally, as a conservation measure. Makes an awful lot of nonsense.
Thank you, Mr Phillips, for your considered reply.
Exmoor national park is, of course, mainly Somerset (79%)
Red grouse from Wales have been reported, historically, as crossing the Bristol Channel to Exmoor.
Man is undoubtedly ultimately responsible for the decline of all ground nesting birds on the national park of Exmoor.
It is the detritus from humankind on which the predators, ground and avian, now sustain themselves on the moorland of Exmoor, since most prey species have disappeared. Human disturbance is also a major factor; degraded habitat, overgrazing, particularly on the margins of the moor, ideal for black grouse, hen harriers, is another.
The volume of predators prevents any likelihood of the region’s birdlife restoring itself to its former glory.
In any case, I am certain that you are not saying that it is fine for national birds, introduced to a particular region, to be wiped out.
No-one knows, for sure, the range that the hen harrier formerly enjoyed in England:
http://www.bto.org/national-offices/scotland/our-work/selected-highlights/hen-harrier
No doubt everyone on this blog is of one mind that we wish to see hen harriers ranging freely across the entire country.
Why should we not feel the same about grouse, red and black alike?
Why is nothing being done to reintroduce any of these birds onto Exmoor?
Because they wouldn’t stand a chance. What an indictment of a ‘national park’.
Monro
I echo your thanks for your reply. An interesting debate. I hope Mr Avery doesn’t mind!
I suspected you might mention Exmoor being mainly in Somerset when I made my original post, but I think it makes little difference, it is still Exmoor.
I also know Welsh red grouse have crossed the sea. Many vagrant birds turn up in England annually but that does not mean they find mates or even suitable breeding habitat. Is there any proof the Welsh birds have bred?
I think you have agreed with my thoughts that the black grouse have gone due to human disturbance. I would in principal welcome the return of black grouse both to Exmoor and Dartmoor. I do not agree with the introduction of species to areas they did not formerly occupy, so for me red grouse is a no. However even if every predator could be removed from Exmoor (how unnatural would that be?) is there enough suitable, undisturbed habitat left for the grouse? I feel you have given the answer to that.
Of course we cannot say how widespread the hen harrier once was. However in the early 19th century they had been recorded breeding in EVERY county in the UK. The loss of habitat from the spread of agriculture and the arrival of the Victorian gamekeeper put paid to that. Now we perceive the hen harrier to be a bird of the lonely high moor, instead we should recognise that these moors are their last refuge, the last place they have clung to for survival. Indeed in France I believe they have been introduced to and have bred in areas of cereal crops. This is a favourite on many hunting websites. ie GWCT and Shooting UK. Stop the killing first before we have a go though, eh lads?
I would like to make a more general point about the former numbers of raptors in the UK, as I feel it is not mentioned enough. I feel we would be staggered if we could go back in time and see for ourselves. Charles Kingsley wrote about Whittesley Mere as being “kite beyond kite as far as the eye could see”. I am fond of books by 19th century naturalists, I have one that talks of Sea eagles being far more commonplace than golden eagles and of being in no danger of extinction, even though the same writer talks of a shepherd who killed 52 and took many eggs, and of a gamekeeper who shot 57, on Skye alone. He talks of merlins being caught in the heart of Glasgow, feeding on sparrows, living on the slate roofs and being as ” black as a chimney sweep” as they huddled next to chimneys for warmth. The records of gamekeepers claim prodigious numbers of slain raptors. There are many other examples available, but my point being no red grouse, no black grouse or even any songbirds were made extinct by all these many raptors, they co-existed as is natural for predators and prey.
My only comment about National Parks is they are generally places for man and not nature. We should look to the USA on how to do it properly.
Thank you once more. The only reason I mention that Exmoor is mainly in Somerset is because of your claim that the black grouse is the only indigenous form of Devonshire grouse. You may very well be correct. Nevertheless red grouse have, historically, flown across the Bristol channel onto Exmoor, but no doubt avoided the Devonshire bit, clotted cream not forming part of their diet.
Grouse of both kinds are well capable of co-existing with predators; of course they are. There is enough habitat but more could certainly be done to improve that situation. It is the overabundance of predators, many, like buzzards, ravens, badgers, now protected, that makes a grouse come back on Exmoor an impossibility. The overabundance of predators is a direct result of man’s activities. A national park, if it had any real claim to that title, should be able, licensed, to remedy that situation. Landowners, properly licensed, would do it at no cost to the exchequer. Pheasant shooting has taken over from grouse shooting and is thriving, but, without the necessary predation control licences, wild birds cannot thrive on the open moors. Pretty much everything you say about the hen harrier is also true of the black grouse: http://www.blackgrouse.info/about/history_trends.htm
All parties are united in protecting the black grouse but it is still in decline in England. What chance then for the hen harrier, particularly when the rspb stands out against a key part of the DEFRA action plan, that would unite all parties?
If the rspb is still attempting to reintroduce the great bustard onto Salisbury Plain (http://www.itv.com/news/west/story/2014-08-19/new-phase-for-the-great-bustard-reintroduction/), then a great deal more should be being done for grouse of both types, all ground nesting birds, on Exmoor.
We are too fastidious in our concern for the wellbeing of predators in this country at the expense of their prey; during my lifetime, that has significantly diminished the attraction of Exmoor as a birdlife viewing destination.
Given that the nation has taken it upon itself, in a major way, to preserve the moor, that is a significant failure, in fact nothing short of a disgrace.
Birds of prey are doing extremely well in this country:
http://www.countryside-alliance.org/ca/file/Birds_of_Prey_Report_A4_HR_103.pdf
I have seen peregrines regularly in London, Leeds, Harrogate. I had a goshawk in my small suburban garden last year.
Illegal killing of birds of prey is greatly overstated. The lack of evidence, in a world awash with video recording devices gives the game away. Only 5 out of (only) 28 instances of illegal killing of protected birds last year were connected with game shooting, across the whole of England. Latest CCTV evidence shows how adept foxes are at killing hen harriers, leaving no trace:
[Mark: repetitious text edited out]
I was lucky enough to be paid to roam far and wide across the plains of North Germany, night and day, as a young man. I saw for myself an abundance of avian predators, different varieties of kites, harriers, buzzards, goshawks aplenty, but, thanks to them, and plenty of wild pig, no ground nesting birds, at all.
Do we really want the uplands of this country to resemble Germany?
Monro, I consider your idea of ecology to be erroneous but I love your quote to the extent that I think trumps the nonsense below. And for that reason, and only that reason I’ve given your comment a like.
Monro. I would agree with Bimbling that your views on ecology are erroneous. I also feel perhaps your ornithological knowledge of Exmoor is incomplete and that the decline of red and black grouse on Exmoor were not caused by predation.
It is likely that red grouse are not indigenous to Exmoor. There was an introduction in 1820 that failed, and another introduction 1915-16, more successful but numbers always remained low. (Red Data Birds in Britain- LA Libby et al)
The decline of the black grouse on Exmoor had already begun by the early 19th century.
“Tétrao Tètrix, Black Grouse. This is the only Devonshire species of grouse. They were formerly abundant on the borders of Dartmoor and Exmoor; but the increase of population and cultivation has diminished their range” (Moor, 1837, p. 228). Note the “only species of Devonshire grouse”.
Another commentator in 1848, Samuel Rowe, wrote “There is a great deal of poaching and too many lurchers are kept in the moorland villages just now”.
Around this time there was a large increase in grazing on both Exmoor and Dartmoor and widespread burning to encourage fresh grass became common. In the 20th c the huge increase of visitors to the moors would certainly have affected this shy bird . Of course as the species declined predator pressure would have become more critical , but without doubt the probable extinction of the black grouse on Exmoor was begun and ended by man.
I refer you to my response above