News

Moorland managers fed up with Hen Harrier accusations

10th June 2005

Following allegations made yesterday (9th June 05 -Northern Echo) that grouse moor interests were responsible for the failure of a Hen Harrier nest in County Durham, moorland managers reacted strongly to the false allegations.

“Responsible moorland managers are fed up with these insinuations which are trotted out every time a Hen Harrier fails to nest successfully. There is not a shred of evidence that gamekeepers were in any way involved with this nest failure – indeed, they fully respected the exclusion zone set up while experts from English Nature closely monitored the nest “said Tim Baynes, Moorland Policy officer at the Countryside Alliance. “There was a lot of cooperation between the owners and English Nature on site, and it is especially distressing that three weeks later insinuations are starting to sneak out.”

“Amateur members of the Durham Bird Club were allowed to help with that monitoring and are now making wild allegations. There are many other reasons why Harrier nests fail, sometimes even because of over intensive nest monitoring, (see notes) . Comments by John Olley of English Nature/Durham Bird Club are based on assumptions that do not reflect the facts of this situation

The Harrier nest was discovered at Gilmonby, near Bowes on a managed grouse moor. Immediately, English Nature started round the clock monitoring of the nest . The male bird stopped provisioning the sitting female in mid May, leaving her with no option but to abandon the nest. This is not uncommon as Hen Harrier males are often polygamous and unable to feed all of their nests. The five eggs were taken away for examination and there was absolutely no allegation of persecution at the time, indeed this was confirmed at a senior level of English Nature.


Notes to Editors

• In 2004, Operation Artemis, a high profile Police Campaign was launched specifically aimed at Hen Harriers. This involved covert surveillance and appeals to the public for information, with considerable police time and public expense. This has not resulted in a single incident or valid investigation, let alone any prosecution. A number of questions about the validity of Operation Artemis were raised in Parliament and it has been downscaled in 2005.

• Allegations have been made that Hen Harriers with missing wing feathers are as a result of attempted shooting. This is clearly nonsense as a shotgun would not take out individual feathers. Like all other birds, Hen Harriers moult in the spring.

• In 2004, RSPB and the police conducted two high profile dawn raids on moorland keepers houses in the north of England, clearly hoping to find some evidence of Harrier persecution. These did not result in anything more than minor Health and Safety offences. Questions have been raised over the quality of evidence used in obtaining search warrants.

Responsible moorland managers are fed up with being smeared by generalised accusations of raptor persecution. Most do not have Harriers attempting to nest and see them in flight only occasionally, in transit from overwintering roosts to summer breeding grounds. Many would be happy to “host” a pair of Harriers.

Moorland managers do invaluable conservation work, looking after a range of protected bird species, and feel strongly that their commitment is being constantly undermined by accusations of collective law breaking, against which they cannot defend themselves. If accusations were specific, they could be dealt with appropriately.

Conviction for illegal killing of a bird of prey carries a custodial sentence, and probable loss of livelihood for any keeper. It would therefore be very high risk even to disturb a nest, especially as keepers are fully aware that they may be being watched at any time. In view of the seriousness of the crime, anyone making accusations of raptor persecution must have evidence that would stand up in court. This would be the case in any other aspect of the law.

All of the organisations representing grouse shooting interests are on record as not condoning any wildlife crime. However, no moorland owner or gamekeeper has even been prosecuted for killing a Hen Harrier in England.


HARRIERS ON THE INCREASE
In common with almost all other birds of prey in the UK, Hen Harriers are on the increase. This is by no means a bird on the verge of extinction in the UK, and it is gradually expanding its range.

• A recent survey by Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB has shown that the number of pairs in Scotland rose from 436 in 1998 to 663 in 2004 – an increase of 45%

• In England, according to recent RSPB press release, the number of successful breeding pairs has risen year on year since 2001:
o 2001 – 2 pairs
o 2002 – 7 pairs
o 2003 – 8 pairs
o 2004 – 10 pairs

• Harriers have nested successfully on Abbeystead and Brennand, managed grouse moors in the Trough of Bowland, Lancashire for some years, and the estate has been commended by English Nature Hen Harrier Recovery Project staff for their efforts. Currently there are known to be three pairs of Harriers nesting on this estate.


CAUSES OF POOR BREEDING

• Most of the potentially suitable Harrier nesting habitat in the English uplands has no grouse shooting interest, and therefore no motive for “persecution”. However, there are no pairs of Harriers breeding on these unmanaged moors, including significant areas owned by public sector agencies and “conservation” groups.

• The RSPB reserve at Geltsdale failed to produce any Hen Harriers in 2004, and there was no allegation of persecution. RSPB though it was due to a lack of voles for food supply. The recently announced initiative to spend £40,000 on nest surveillance at Geltsdale would seem to be an awful lot of member’s money. More Harriers are breeding in 2005 on privately owned grouse moors than bred at Geltsdale in 2004/05 – with not £1 spent on nest watching!

• Hen Harriers nest on the ground and are killed by foxes, crows, stoats, rats etc.
There is evidence that cessation of fox control was a significant factor in the decline of Harriers at Langholm from the peak of over 20 pairs in 1997 to the current two pairs. A number of Harriers were taken by foxes in the Glenapp Special Protection Area (Stranraer, Scotland) in 2004. RSPB cull only one tenth of the number foxes at their Geltsdale reserve compared to neighbouring grouse moors and do not control stoats or rats, which may well have been a factor in the failure to breed Hen Harriers there in 2004

• Figures collated by EN for failed English Hen Harrier nesting attempts in 2003 show that the majority were due to adverse weather, predation, accidental fires, polygamy and infertility – not persecution. Several radio tagged young harriers were taken by a Peregrine falcon near the Scottish border.

• Being ground nesters, Harriers are sensitive to human disturbance, including by walkers and increasingly by raptor enthusiasts. English moorlands are well used, especially where close to large cities. The new right of open access under CRoW Act will exacerbate this. Disturbance of Harrier nests by bird watchers is currently of great concern in the Trough of Bowland, the main breeding area in England.

For example, there are 9 million day visitors per year to the North York Moors, 95% of which is within 400m of a public right of way. Hen Harriers will take to flight if there is disturbance within 500m. Ornithologists report that Harriers have not shown territorial behaviour there for the last two years. Moorland keepers are very careful to limit their activity on the ground during the bird breeding season, and are concerned that casual disturbance by the public will increase.