Another missing Hen Harrier. Read what the RSPB says about it here.
A bird from the Isle of Man which lived for nearly two years, and whose tag worked for nearly two years as she travelled widely in the Isle of Man, northern England, Shropshire and north Wales but failed (quite a while ago, 7 February) when she spent time on moorland near Ruabon Mountain near Wrexham.
Ruabon Mountain overlooks Wrexham – the headquarters of BASC. I wait with interest to see what the new BASC Chief Executive, Brigadier Ian Bell, will say about this disappearance.
It’s interesting that Aalin disappeared on Ruabon Mountain. Ruabon Moor once delivered Red Grouse bags of 6000 birds per year and daily bag records of c1700 birds! Ruabon Moor is described by another gamekeeper as being the only moor in Wales with a full-time gamekeeper.
The general area of Ruabon Moor is a pretty good place to go birdwatching, it has to be said. Driven grouse shooting has started again at Ruabon Moor and the aim is to restore the moor to ‘its former glory‘.
Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, has described the management of Ruabon Moor as ‘back to basics’.
So, it appears that there is only one driven grouse moor in Wales and that’s close to where Aalin disappeared. How unlucky can driven grouse shooting be?
A Welsh friend of mine, Iolo Williams, recently said ‘I am not, and never have been, anti-shooting but over the past decade, it has become patently obvious that the levels of bird of prey persecution associated with driven grouse shooting are sending some iconic species to the brink of extinction in many areas. This is totally unacceptable and is why I urge you to sign this petition.‘
To join Iolo Williams, please sign Gavin Gamble’s e-petition which calls for a ban on driven grouse shooting.
Mark, Thanks for confirming my suspicions that driven grouse shooting is returning to ruabon moor. I hoped my suspicions where wrong, but when they claimed to have 4000 birds or 140 per square km, which is only 10 birds less than the langholm project target for driven grouse of 150 birds per square km, the similarities where just too close to deny it.
Just for accuracy’s sake, BASC are (if I remember correctly) based at Rossett, which is in the unitary authority of Wrecsam but some distance from Ruabon Mountain.
9 miles as the crow will not fly. Not that far at all.
That’s from BASC HQ to the keepers house.
Ah yes..back to basics indeed…
The Welsh Grouse Project is doing good work, so far, I hope this incident is not connected.