To make sense of the figures for 2023 UK Hen Harrier numbers, released today by RSPB, they need to be seen in context. There are five important contextual considerations. There are pretty good estimates of how many pairs of Hen Harriers could exist in different parts of the UK in the absence of illegal persecution…
Category: BAN DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING
RSPB press release – UK Hen Harrier survey results
Hen Harrier survey results 2023: Numbers improve, but much more to be done Numbers of one of the UK’s rarest birds of prey, the Hen Harrier, are increasing across the UK, but their future still hangs in the balance according to a new survey. Results of the 2023 Hen Harrier survey have been released, which…
Bye, bye Amanda
Comments Off on Bye, bye Amanda
The news that Amanda Anderson is leaving the Moorland Association after 10 years as Director doesn’t come as a great surprise. Ten years of batting on a very sticky wicket would be enough for most people. Also, Amanda has not been very high profile for a few years and the Moorland Association’s Twitter feed is…
New Defra non-exec director is a grouse moor owner
You couldn’t make it up, but then, you don’t have to. The latest non-exec appointment to the Defra Board, made by the Secretary of State Therese Coffey herself, is a grouse moor owner from the Yorkshire Dales on whose grouse moor two Hen Harriers are reported to have disappeared. Although Defra somehow manage not to…
Paper published today on Hen Harrier killing
This paper, published today, is a re-run of the previous publication of Natural England’s similar dataset back in 2019 – if you understood the previous paper then this new one won’t alter your understanding (click here for what is actually a much-praised explanation of the previous, excellent, but highly technical, paper). I don’t use ‘re-run’…
RSPB press release – Illegal killing major cause of death in Hen Harriers
Illegal killing major cause of death in Hen Harriers New study shows yearly survival rates of Hen Harriers ‘unusually low,’ with birds typically living just four months after fledging. Illegal killing is the main cause of death for older birds, accounting for up 75% of deaths each year in birds between one and two years…
RSPB press release – Rare bird of prey found mutilated as 20 other individuals go missing
Rare bird of prey found mutilated as 20 other individuals go missing One of the UK’s rarest birds of prey, a Hen Harrier, has been found dead with its body mutilated A post-mortem examination concluded that the bird was killed by having its head pulled off whilst still alive. Twenty more Hen Harriers, including…
A reader writes and asks…
I received the email in blue below a few days ago, but since I was looking at gentians on The Burren (I think that’s what they were) and seeing hundreds and hundreds of Whimbrel in Galway Bay (I’m sure about them), hearing my first Cuckoo of the year in Connemara (yep, that’s a positive identification)…
Good news on Hen Harriers
This news from Natural England is very welcome – for two main reasons. First, it is good news, and second, it is fairly informative and doesn’t look as though it was written by the shooting industry. 119 Hen Harrier chicks fledged from 49 nests (actually from the 34 successful nests, and some nests were re-nests…
Always think of the land!
It’s somewhat ironic that a few weeks after the Labour Party said it was dropping its policy to renationalise water utilities the idea is gaining more currency in public debate. On Today this morning, at around 08:23, Baroness Young, a Labour peer, was asked about the idea and sounded somewhat sceptical and on PM this…