Natural England’s answers to some questions about the failure of two Hen Harrier nests on a Yorkshire grouse moor this season were published on this blog this morning.
To be fair to NE, they only responded to the questions I posed, rather than giving a full account of events on this grouse moor over the season, but the ‘official’ NE account differs in some interesting respects from the views of raptor workers who were heavily involved in keeping an eye on the birds.
Also, NE staff have to liaise with the owners and managers of the land and so what NE can do is limited by how keen the grouse moor is on working with NE to protect Hen Harriers.
2018 appeared to be a very good year for food supplies on this grouse moor. It was certainly a very good vole year and one raptor worker has told me that if Hen Harriers didn’t nest in a year like this then when would they nest.
Two females laid eggs, in nests about 4km apart, and the two females were paired with the same adult male. I’ve seen an image of the male and it is a classic grey male and is described throughout the season as an adult male by experienced observers. There is no indication that the male lacked experience.The two nests contained 4 and 6 eggs which again suggest that food supplies were really pretty good.
Having said that, it is disappointing that diversionary feeding was not set up to ensure that food supply was high for these two females. Although the spring turned out to be a pretty good one as far as weather was concerned that could not be guaranteed in advance. Perhaps the estate was not prepared to provide diversionary feeding, or perhaps NE never asked. The fact that NE never considered this as an option is a bit odd, as these things take some setting up and planning.
NE say that they liaised with raptor workers and had ongoing communication with them. The raptor workers with whom I have communicated feel that they were cut out of things by NE and given a very cold shoulder by the gamekeepers on the estate.
The raptor workers report that there was lots of vehicular activity on this estate in areas where Hen Harriers were taking nesting material early in the season. One of the females that eventually laid eggs may have been moved on twice earlier in the season. I am told that the police were informed of this. Disturbance of Hen Harriers early in a nesting attempt, perhaps during nest building, despite their highly protected status, is arguably legal. And in any case it is difficult to prove. But it is good that NE agreed with the estate that an exclusion area should be set up around the nests themselves. I am told that the nest areas were still visited by estate workers checking traps etc while the nests were active.
There is more that I could write on this subject but I’ll leave it there – at least for now.
This was a great opportunity for a grouse moor to protect two Hen Harrier nests – food supply was high, the nests were located early in the nesting attempt and there were local raptor workers already engaged in watching the birds.
However, despite all these things in favour of success both nests failed. They were not predated and the adult male appeared to be doing a good job at both nests. However, there was plenty of human activity in the surroundings of various nesting attempts which were reported to the police. Between them, NE and the estate did not set up a round-the-clock watch of the nests and no steps were taken to provide extra food to the nesting birds.
If these birds had chosen to nest on Forestry Commission or United Utilities land then they mighht well have had greater protection. These two nests on a Yorkshire grouse moor, were two of only four Hen Harrier nests that failed to produce chicks in England in 2018.
“Disturbance of Hen Harriers… during nest building… is arguably legal.”
Can that really be so? Shocking if it is.
I’m not sure that it is arguably legal.
Here is a shortened extract from the England and Wales legislation:
“if any person intentionally—
takes, damages or destroys the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built;
if any person intentionally or recklessly –
(a)disturbs any wild bird included in Schedule 1 while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young; or
(b)disturbs dependent young of such a bird,”
In Scotland the legislation which is different and stronger says:
“If any person intentionally or recklessly—
(b)takes, damages, destroys or otherwise interferes with the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built; or
(ba)at any other time takes, damages, destroys or otherwise interferes with any nest habitually used by any wild bird included in Schedule A1;
(bb)obstructs or prevents any wild bird from using its nest;
(c)takes or destroys an egg of any wild bird,
if any person intentionally or recklessly—
(a)disturbs any wild bird included in Schedule 1 while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young; or
(b)disturbs dependent young of such a bird”
There is an issue with it being legal to disturb the bird before nest building commences, which is why such efforts are regularly made on moors at present so that the legality is in question.
I can’t remember how recklessly is defined, but I know it’s better than intentionally.
It seems to me that in both England and Scotland, once nest building has commenced there is a likelihood of disturbance to a bird being an offence.
Sorry for being such a geek. I’ve been reading this endlessly which researching for my petition.
Many thanks Alex. That’s very helpful.
Alex – a key word there is intentionally.
There is also a second key word: “recklessly” (“if any person intentionally or recklessly…”)
According to Wikipedia recklessness is defined as “In criminal law and in the law of tort, recklessness may be defined as the state of mind where a person deliberately and unjustifiably pursues a course of action while consciously disregarding any risks flowing from such action.” It would surely be hard for a gamekeeper to argue that he was unaware of the risks associated with disturbing a nest building hen harrier.
Jonathan – I think it would be difficult to prove that someone knew that a bird was building a nest. The easiest way to prove that they know is to have told them and then seen their behaviour.
As I’m sure you know, how can you easily prove intentionally. Recklessly is easier to prove, I believe.
It appears that NE are acting just as you and others have suggested. Their performance was unfit for purpose. To simply say they did everything they could but don’t understand why the nests failed is totally inadequate. I like the idea that they blamed the male.
It could not be that NE or the estate did anything wrong, could it? If they and estates they work with cannot deliver successful nests, why should the French provide birds for target practice in England?
This brings up the question of ‘vole years’. Work done in Scandinavia has shown food is more important than cover [snow] so how can an area have voles when most other areas like Geltsdale and Langholm voles collapsed in 2018? Barn Owls at Geltsdale did not produce any young when the year before 4 pairs produced 27 young from their first clutch and a record year with Short eared Owls produced 27 pairs [2017]!Only 7 pairs in 2018 finishing early [no young counted].
Of course the moor you are talking about will have had 10+ pairs of Short eared Owls [some how not mentioned!] and lots of Kestrels, Buzzards and Barn Owls also. The Langholm project also tried to claim that if you have a ‘Vole Year’ you don’t have a Red Grouse year as too many predators are drawn onto the moor. Sadly for the scientist this did not run true as 2014 was ‘a Vole Year’ and a peak of Red Grouse were also seen [and could have been shot at].
Langholm also showed that with no voles you can have plenty of Hen Harriers as they are more dependent on birds with one year showing no Short eared Owls but 11 female harriers. So more work is needed to show why voles have amazing years and could real management keep voles from crashing?
I’m interested in the attitude towards disturbance during nest building. The biggest problem Goshawk have faced on FC land in recent years is occasional disturbance during nest building – due to harvesting contracts planned to avoid nesting overrunning resulting in timber being uplifted after what should have been the end of the contract. Whilst there has never been any suggestion of intentional disturbance, nor has the law been invoked, the absolute assumption amongst all parties has been that this should not happen and action has been taken to make sure it doesn’t – but, as you kindly point out, a lot of the other disturbance you cite, whether it did harm or not, would not have happened to HH on FC land.
I can remember many moons ago during the “Hen Harrier dialogue” having to argue quite strongly with one of the game lobby organisations there that disturbance whilst nest building is an offence, they were claiming it as a legitimate management technique. As Alex has pointed out it quite clearly is an offence. Although it would be almost impossible to take to court I have heard at least one SNH person argue that disturbance once the birds are paired and the male is feeding the female it is a breeding attempt in law and disturbance is an offence. Actually because of their ranging behaviour harriers are quite difficult to disturb until they have at least picked a territory at that point the female at least is there constantly and could be disturbed or killed more easily. Clearly the law needs tightening and grouse shooting needs to be more tightly controlled or banned.
On a different tack 4km apart seems a very long way for a polygamous male to have his females, I have come across polygamy in harriers quite a number of times but have never had nests further than a little over 2km and often much closer. If one of these females at least was disturbed several times was this pushing the females further apart one wonders? Is this the best of the co-operation and use of the Harrier plan that a certain Amanda Anderson bragged about? If it was it sounds as false as she does, not surprising then that they fail on private grouse moors.
I was warden on the Calf of Man, Isle of Man in 1991 when Hen Harrier nested for the first time. The male ( not fully adult plumage) abandoned the nest during incubation and may have moved to take up another territory on the adjacent mainland. The female reared three young to flying, leaving one infertile egg. In 1992 the same female went through it all again, this time with a male who abandoned her shortly after the brood hatched. Once again she reared three young to flying, and would regularly fly across the Sound ( half mile of sea) to hunt on the main island. She mostly fed the chicks on young rabbits and the occasional Meadow Pipit, I did provide some supplemental rabbit in 92 as damp weather made hunting for the lone female difficult. Although my experience of HH nesting is limited beyond this remarkable bird, she did not seem to have much difficulty feeding broods of 3 on her own, so what goes wrong on grouse moors?? I think we all know the answer to that one!
To clarify the position in Scotland, the Hen Harrier (along with Red Kite, Golden Eagle, and White-tailed Eagle), is on Schedule 1A.
This means that any intentional or reckless harassment at any time of year, is a criminal offence. It is not restricted to the breeding season.
I am puzzled by the focus on voles, as my understanding is that they are not the main prey species for Hen Harriers (unlike, say, for Short-eared Owls). I’ve only witnessed a few prey captures over the years, but these were a Starling, grabbed from a mobbing flock, and a Snipe, flushed from cover. Are voles the predominant food source for Hen Harriers in this particular region?
Graeme – voles are an important source of food for hen Harriers, particularly in the years when voles are high in numbers.
Graeme as I understand it out with persecution vole and pipit density are one of the driving forces determining harrier settling rates during the breeding season. Perhaps it is a measure of reliable food sources, I too have seen harriers take both Starlings and Snipe. I can remember one very special occasion when a female harrier with large young flew into a roving flock of juvenile starlings on the moor( how common is that now!) and came out with a bird in each foot!
Wouldn’t it be great if vole numbers could be maintained at a high level, possibly by the use of
medicated pellets, thereby removing the natural population cycles that cause so much bother ?.