I half wrote this post before the Buzzard stuff kicked off.
That sort of took over for a bit, but I wanted to stick this up anyway since it's all related.
***
One day last November, I was sitting in the lounge of the
farmhouse I shared with the other RSPB volunteers out on the north Kent
marshes, when I became aware of a movement out of the corner of my eye; something
outside the window. I turned to look, and there, about 5 metres away, separated
by a pane of glass, was a female Hen Harrier, drifting over the hedge and across
the garden towards me. It was an amazing experience, not least because it was
the first I’d ever seen. The bird then glided up over the house and I raced
round the front to the kitchen just in time for another good view as it
disappeared across the yard, into the murk and the marshes beyond. I saw Hen Harriers a couple more times over
the winter, mostly quite unexpectedly; flushed from a reedbed one afternoon
when I was checking water levels at Northward Hill, another that drifted by
while I was counting waders on a Sheppey beach. What a bird! Those encounters
rank among my favourite birding memories from last year.
***
In this part of the country (South East), Hen Harriers are
mostly a winter bird, partial migrants and wintering ones from the continent.
But elsewhere in the country, they are present all year. Some pairs up north,
on the moors of northern England and Scotland even breed. Or they try to.
I was really gutted to read a few
weeks ago this news article reporting on the shocking turn of events that has left
this majestic Harrier on the verge of extinction as a breeding species
in England. That fact is hard to take but it gets worse when you read the story behind
it. A recent study showed that the most significant factor affecting breeding
success of the species in England was continued persecution by those with
grouse moor interests. Very simply - Hen Harriers prey on Red Grouse which is
the main quarry of many shooting estates in northern England. Rather than
accept this natural state of affairs, some landowners, who incidentally might describe
their interests as ‘conservation’, are involved in the systematic destruction
of the species. With this in mind it’s frustrating that Defra continually chose
to bang on about the apparently thriving Buzzard population in some areas.
This is not a recent development either
but has been going on since Hen Harrier numbers began to recover in the 1950s
and 60s. The species is afforded high level protection status across both
Britain and the EU and has been the subject of significant conservation efforts.
In 2002, Natural England announced the Hen Harrier Recovery Project, designed
to better understand and halt the plight of the remaining population. It focused
on a known Harrier stronghold in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. However
something isn’t quite right because as the article above points out, in 2012,
surveys so far suggest just one breeding attempt by Hen Harriers in
England. Not much a ‘recovery’ is it?
A lot’s been written and said on
the subject recently, in particular, on Mark Avery’s excellent blog. He does such a good job of reporting the story
and tying it together whilst being both passionate and even handed. I’d suggest
making that your first point of call. Mark’s blog revealed that as part of the
project and a soon to be published PhD thesis on the subject, a number of birds
were tagged with satellite transmitters to monitor their movements. Now apparently
of 119 birds tagged, only 1 is still transmitting a signal. That raises an
obvious question - where did the others go? A Natural England report in 2008 pre-empted
this, noting that “a number of birds, including six birds fitted with satellite
transmitters have been tracked from the Bowland Fells into parts of the North
Pennines managed principally as driven grouse moors, and have not been recorded
subsequently”. I think natural mortality can be discounted. A technical fault?
Hmm.
Mark’s blog also draws attention
to this exchange in a Commons debate in May this year. It’s pretty interesting I think. The link is here, the Harrier stuff is about half way down.
Last year I had an opportunity to
question Richard Benyon as part of an RSPB marine conservation ‘question time’
event in Westminster. The response I got to those questions reminds me of the
answers he gives here – slick and confident but ultimately rehearsed and totally
lacking in specifics. Again, he doesn’t really answer the questions but he does
reveal a couple of things. One thing that struck me was the 2012-13 financial commitment
to this project: £32,138 (+ one full time member of staff + associated staff
costs). Compare that with the £125k per year that Benyon’s department were
willing to spend on the Buzzard trial. Certainly that 32k would rise with a
staff wage but it still falls way short of the latter figure. I really don’t
get it – this is the response to the potential loss of a native breeding
species in England?? How much longer can a minister with a vested personal interest in grouse shooting be allowed to lead on this?
One of the main things that ‘Buzzardgate’
achieved was bringing Birds of Prey to national attention. That is a huge gift
and a baton to run with. It has real potential to increase awareness and help secure
a future for Hen Harriers and other birds of prey in England. So let’s keep it
going. Let’s get some answers regarding the last whereabouts of the tagged
harriers. Let’s push Vicarious Liability through and make landowners culpable
for wildlife crime perpetrated by those in their employment. Let’s make the
needs of grouse farming and harrier breeding compatible. It’s not easy but it
can be done. It HAS to be done.
2 Actions:
Sign the petition for the Introduction of the offence of vicarious liability for raptor persecution in England - It's really important and 9552 people have done it already!
- Support Birds of Prey in the UK
1 Outcome (I hope):
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| Hen Harrier chicks. Photo respectfully sourced from raptorpolitics.org |
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