Henry in Bowland 2

Henry is pining for a ringtail. He’d heard that the Forest of Bowland was his best chance for a hot date.  ‘this one looks rather cute’ Henry told me. ‘I’m sure you’re right, Henry’, I said ‘They all look much the same to me’. Henry gave me a bit of a glare, I thought.

He came across these interesting figures in John Armitage’s blog which show that it is the United Utilities land where Hen Harriers have most often nested successfully in Bowland in the period 1981-2005 in this area. Two thirds of successful nests were on the UU land and the other third on the three sporting estates of Abbeystead, Bleasdale and Clapham.

Natural England’s excellent report (before they were muzzled, castrated and chained up), A Future for Hen Harriers in England? shows that Hen Harrier nesting success was far higher on one side of the Bowland fence, the United Utilities’ side of the fence, than it was on the other side, the grouse moor side. Isn’t nature remarkable? How can such big differences, 65 pairs raising an average of 1.96 chicks/breeding attempt on UU land, compared with a mere 18 breeding attempts, producing an average of 1.22 chicks/breeding attempt on the grouse moor side of the fence, have come to pass in the period 2002-2008?

I told Henry to be careful.

#HaveYouSeenHenry?

 

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