Report reveals continued persecution of birds of prey in Lancashire

Shot Hen Harrier Rowan - RSPB Images

 

·         RSPB’s Birdcrime report reveals a minimum of 81 confirmed incidents of bird of prey persecution in the UK during 2016.

·         Despite this, there were no prosecutions for these persecution offences, the first time this has happened in 30 years.

·         Illegal killing is not only robbing people of the chance to see birds of prey in the UK but has serious consequences for their populations.

·         The RSPB is calling for police and other enforcing authorities to make full use of all existing powers to protect birds of prey as well as the introduction of a licensing system for driven grouse shooting to ensure shoots are operating legally and sustainably.

 

Without urgent action some of UK’s birds of prey face a bleak future after the latest Birdcrime report revealed 81 confirmed incidents of illegal raptor persecution in 2016, without a single person prosecuted.

 

Birdcrime 2016 – the only report summarising offences against birds of prey in the UK – revealed 40 shooting, 22 poisoning, 15 trapping and four other incidents of illegal persecution against raptors. Among the victims were hen harriers, peregrine falcons, red kites and buzzards. However, evidence suggests these figures are just the tip of the iceberg with many illegal killings going undetected or unreported.

 

The report revealed that close to two-thirds (53) of the confirmed incidents took place in England. In Lancashire confirmed incidents included a shot peregrine, a shot kestrel and an illegally trapped peregrine.

 

People in Lancashire and across the UK have been robbed of the chance to see these spectacular birds because of these illegal incidents, yet there wasn’t a single prosecution related to them – the first time this has happened in 30 years.

 

Martin Harper, RSPB Conservation Director, said: “Birds of prey bring our skies to life. There is nothing like seeing a diving peregrine or a skydancing hen harrier. The sights of these spectacular birds are something we should all be able to enjoy, unfortunately illegal activity is robbing us of this and preventing them from flourishing. There are laws in place to protect these birds but they are clearly not being put into action. We need governments across the UK to do more to tackle the illegal killing to protect our raptors for future generations to enjoy.”

 

Previous research has shown that illegal killing of birds of prey is associated with land managed for intensive driven grouse shooting, leaving vast areas of our uplands without raptors. A Natural England report revealed ‘compelling evidence’ that persecution of hen harriers – associated with driven grouse moors - was the main factor limiting their recovery in England 

 

The RSPB believes the introduction of a licensing system for driven grouse shooting would help tackle the ongoing illegal persecution that occurs on these grouse moors. This would also help tackle the wider problems of intensive management of ‘big bag’ driven grouse shooting, like the draining of and burning on fragile peat bogs. A fair set of rules in the form of a licensing system could help ensure shoots are operating legally and sustainably and introduce the option of restricting or removing a licence in response to the most serious offences, for example where staff on an estate have been convicted of illegally killing birds of prey.

 

The RSPB welcomes a recent announcement by Scottish Government that will see an independent panel established to review options for regulation of grouse shooting and to look at the economic and environmental costs and benefits of the industry.

 

Bob Elliot, RSPB Head of Investigations, said: “This latest Birdcrime report continues to highlight that in the UK we have a major issue with birds of prey being deliberately and illegally killed, despite having full legal protection. This type of crime has serious consequences for the populations of species, such as the hen harrier, and we must see a change in attitude and more effective law enforcement to protect these birds for years to come.”

 

For the full copy of Birdcrime 2016 report summarising the extent of illegal persecution offences against birds of prey in the UK, visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdcrime.

  Birdcrime is a unique publication. It is the only centralized source of incident data for wild bird crime in the UK. The RSPB does not record all categories of wild bird crime. Instead we focus on recording crimes that affect the conservation status of species, such as bird of prey persecution and threats to rare breeding birds.

 

UK breakdown of the 81 confirmed raptor persecution incidents:

·         40 confirmed shooting incidents

·         22 confirmed poison abuse incidents

·         15 confirmed trapping incidents

·         3 confirmed other persecution incidents

·         1 confirmed nest destruction incident

 

Country breakdown of 81 confirmed raptor persecution incidents:

·         England 53 confirmed incidents (65%)

·         Wales 13 confirmed incidents (16%)

·         Scotland 9 confirmed incidents (11%)

·         Northern Ireland 6 confirmed incidents (7%)

A future for the Hen Harrier in England? A report by Natural England: http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/81030

  All birds of prey have been protected since the 1954 Protection of Birds Act (except for the sparrowhawk which received protection in 1961).

 

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is the primary legislation which protects animals, plants and certain habitats in the  UK. Under the act all wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected.

 

 Reporting a wildlife crime:

Crimes against wildlife should be reported to the local police via the 101 number. Crimes against wild birds can also be reported to the RSPB online or by calling the RSPB. 

If you have any sensitive information about the illegal killing of birds of prey, please report it by calling the RSPB’s confidential hotline on 0845 466 3636. Calls to this number are not recorded and will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Standing up for Hen Harriers as the Inglorious 12th approaches

RSPB LIVERPOOL'S  HEN HARRIER CHAMPIONS

A momentous weekend is over and all the RSPB Liverpool group members should be proud of the Harrier twelve who stood, shouted and were counted supporting the Hen Harrier day in the peak district.

At the Palace 

I should say weekend really, as it’s  the second  Hen harrier day and it's  evolving. It actually started on Saturday at 6.30pm - Hen Harrier Eve, in the high peak room of Buxton's Palace Hotel. 300 tickets were sold, 290 turned up and I was one of them.

There followed 2 hrs of speeches, conversation, videos and Chris Packham roaring.  Mark Avery presented and introduced the evening.

First up was  Susan Cross and Gordon MacLellan, who gave us a snippet from  an  Arthurian story  of  Sir Gawain and the green knight, Gawain set out in search  of the green knight at the green chapel, and his journey  took him to the  Peak District - to put the local home of the Hen Harrier in context.(I admit a little complicated to follow at times, Olde English speak)

By the way I found a section in the pearl poet's account of St Gawain's journey a little closer to home, didn’t speak well of our patch!

“till he neared the neighborhood of North Wales,

held all the isles of Anglesey on his left

and reached the river where its headlands rose

high near Holyhead, and held on across

through the Forest of Wirral. Few or none lived there

whom God could love, or a good-hearted man.

And he asked often, of all whom he met

if they could give him news of a green knight

or how he could get to the Green Chapel.

We were then shown the RSPB Skydancer video, http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/skydancer/

Followed by a speech from Mike Clarke, RSPB CEO, supporting the Hen harrier day (he came on Sunday as well with quite a few staff)  enforcing the RSPB’s determination to fight Hen Harrier persecution  and remarking on it’s battles with the’ You forgot the birds’ group ,batting against criticism, slurs and lies. His presence  was applauded as the RSPB have been seen by some as sitting on the fence a little.

Mark Cocker 

Mark Cocker, Buxton-born author, then stood up and gave a very interesting talk on birds of prey and are relationships with them. Culturally respected, symbols of prestige, worship, strength and loyalty.   For example in history eagles and vultures were revered by the ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians and Syrians, to the American emblem, St Johns eagle on the pulpit of your local church, native American headdresses, to the more sinister luftwaffe symbol. And now demonised, nuisance to grouse moor owners, killers of ...mmmh  (http://markcocker.com/birds-and-people/4577013576)

Next up Mark cocker again , this time  in conversation with  Turner Prize winner 2004 Jeremy Deller.

World famous - A good day for cyclists

Remember ‘A good day for cyclists’ the enormous ringtail Hen Harrier mural, clutching a blood-red Range Rover in its talons. Deller a cyclist in London, fed up of being barged off roads by so called 'Chelsea Tractors, so he had a wee dig at the Range Rover driving fraternity. The hen harrier? Something to do with a certain member of  royalty and Chelsea tractor driver who allegedly shot 2 Hen Harriers over the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk in 2007. 

Monarchs of the Glen -Jeremy Deller

Another controversial image by Deller which includes a Hen Harrier entitled Monarchs of the Glen (Richard Benyon MP has an unexpected meeting on his grouse moor with some raptors)

https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/benyon-meets-the-raptors-on-his-scottish-grouse-moor/

Jeremy then indulged in a spot of fundraising, selling signed stamps for the audience to purchase-  raised nearly 650 quid for Birders against Wildlife Crime!!

Findley Wilde shows off  his Deller print

Findley Wilde followed with his video ‘mash-up’ showing the construction of his stone effect grouse butt which was on stage and reappeared in the quarry the following day. Findley is certainly going to be one to watch!

Another producer , another video, this time a video ‘mash-up’ of Henry’s travels around the UK composed by, Phil Walton.(https://youtu.be/qSc2faNGdJo
 ) You may have been following his progress on  https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/henrys-tour-day-79-the-rspb-slurs-lies/

Chris Packham

Last on was Chris Packham - the Lion of Goyt.

Another rousing, inspirational speech, starting with how he got into birds when young and linked this into the millions of birds that have disappeared from our countryside since then.

He referenced the usefulness of social media - google and twitter. 118 million pages on the recent killing of ’Cecil the lion’ one of Zimbabwe's most loved reserve lions.  Hen harrier day 2015   had 239, 000 pages but it will grow and hen harriers will become a focus for that.

 Quotes

 “People are tired of animal life being wasted and particularly when that life is becoming increasingly rare”

“‘Killing hen harriers is illegal. We are not here to voice our opinion; we are here to ask for the law of the land to be upheld so that this persecution stops”

“The type of shooting practised here developed in Edwardian times and they still want to do that”.

“Shooting for conservation is an oxymoronic lie”

“Just like the hen harrier, Cecil was a symbol of something far greater, Cecil became a symbol of the fact the world has become intolerant of this sort of wastage of our wildlife”

“We're not going away because we're right”

“Lets cut the crap, shall we; those birds were shot, poisoned and trapped”

“I came here last year as a man, this year I came here with the rage of a lion, if you kill 5 more, you’re taking on a tyrannosaur”

 

Crowds gather at the quarry

Next day I was in the Goyt Valley  with the rest of the team. Sunday morning 9^th August with, I guess 500 other folk.

We weren’t really alone in our quest though,  there were others as Hen Harrier events up and down the country. Down south in Dorset at the RSPB reserve at Arne 130 people attended their event. At RSPB Saltholme in Cleveland, 70 attended  and were treated to a talk by David Lindo

Tayside team

At Loch Turret Andrea Hudspeth (Our Terry was there)  reported ‘Hen Harrier Day Tayside went off without a hitch and was attended by around 70 harrier fans from far and wide across Scotland. Despite the wet weather, our spirits were not dampened.’

In Dunsop Bridge, Forest of Bowland 90 or so people came to the day. Interesting- Terry Pickford  believes the supporters mood is changing  wanting  more radical action, catalysed after the disappearance of the 5 male hen harriers, and may now be willing next year  to  disrupt a grouse shoot!

It was a warm sunny day, and rather than the sodden 570, we were more likely to be sunburnt and sadly  cursed by biting insects that devoured those unfortunate party members in shorts!

Along the River Goyt,  packhorse bridge

The Goyt valley walk along the river is beautiful, however further up the slopes a large area of burnt, cut moorland was clearly visible, an ugly patchwork, on a spectacular vista, a pertinent reminder of another reason why we were there - the damage that is inflicted on our natural environment in the name of management.

Scarred moorland above Goyt quarry

We came with our friends, our colleagues, our families, our banners and even our dogs (poodles were popular!) and most importantly our hearts and voices.

And we listened and applauded

We owed Henry a group hug, what a star

RSPB's Jeff  Knott.

“The more you try to silence us, the louder our voice will become, we will not rest until hen harriers fly free over England’s uplands again, and we will never ever give up”

Mark Avery

 “2000 pairs of these birds missing from our land this is awful- the more that the public know about driven grouse shooting, the more  the public will question it’s very existence.

 Jo Smith , CEO Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

“We want to see these magnificent birds back here in their rightful home, dancing in the sky”

Chris Packham

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIMAM9lh6zc

Hen Harrier day review

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFwXdzgeI-E

That bloke Packham gets in on the act

Mark Avery and our mate Tim Melling

Colin Wells from RSPB Burton Mere & RSPB Liverpool members

Mike Clarke and RSPB team

Tomorrow is penned the glorious 12^th,  and according to the weather forecast for Derbyshire it promises to be that. However I don’t see it being a delightful or enjoyable day for the birds that are about to be slaughtered in their thousands. There is no glory or honour in what these people do.

As a wildlife lover and birdwatcher I cannot fathom how you can feel pleasure by killing hundreds of innocent, unthreatening creatures in the name of sport, oh what fun.

Latest news from RSPB Scotland reports that Annie one of the Langholme Harriers met her end, she certainly got her gun

"Post-mortem confirms hen harrier found dead on grouse moor was shot, we're appealing for info: http://bit.ly/1DFhitC  

Our day has gone, but the fight continues, we will not stand idly by, our song is true and we’ll win through.

Laura

At the tea rooms, cat and fiddle, celebratory  tea and cake - of course!

RSPB issues challenge to shooting community as illegal bird of prey killing continues in Lancashire

Hen Harrier fledgling Sky - now missing

Illegal persecution continues to deprive the Lancashire countryside of our native birds of prey and the RSPB is challenging leaders in the shooting community to acknowledge this and take real action to stop the killing.

Birdcrime 2013 reveals 164 reports in the UK of shooting and destruction of birds of prey including confirmed shooting of two hen harriers, two marsh harriers, five peregrines and 28 buzzards. It also included 74 reported incidents of wildlife poisoning and pesticide-related offences. Confirmed victims of poisoning include 30 buzzards, 20 red kites, a golden eagle and a white-tailed eagle. These figures are believed to represent only a fraction of the illegal persecution in the UK, with many incidents thought to be going undetected and unreported.

Lancashire is one of the worst counties in England for bird of prey persecution. In January 2013 a dog walker discovered a peregrine near Preston that had been shot in its wing. In October, a dead buzzard in the Lancaster area was found with four shotgun pellets lodged in its body.

Birdcrime 2013 marks four years since over 230,000 people signed an RSPB pledge which was handed in to the UK Government, asking for action to put an end to bird of prey persecution. However, in the four years since around 560 birds of prey have been confirmed shot or destroyed. Public outrage has continued to grow in response to the recent horror of mass poisoning events, such as the 11 birds of prey poisoned by a gamekeeper in Norfolk in 2013, and the 16 red kites and 6 buzzards killed in Ross-shire earlier this year. There is no sign to this carnage ending.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s conservation director, said: “Witnessing a hen harrier’s dramatic skydancing display flight, or seeing the world’s fastest animal in action as a peregrine stoops over the moors is enough to take your breath away. These are sights that we should all be able to enjoy. Unfortunately, we are being robbed of the chance to see these beautiful birds flourish because of illegal persecution.”

Anne Selby, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, said: "It is worrying to read the Birdcrime report and to hear that Lancashire is among the worst counties for bird of prey persecution.  The report again proves that some individuals have little regard for our wildlife. It it is important to highlight the crimes they are committing and to ensure that prosecutions are given publicity so that nature lovers can remain vigilant.  

"Lancashire Wildlife Trust fully supports the work of the RSPB in helping to combat bird crime. The North West region is vitally important for all species of bird from the smallest wren to the largest raptors and wildfowl. It is vital that we all work together to protect our wildlife."

The RSPB is doing more than ever to help birds of prey, including satellite tracking threatened species, protecting their nests, monitoring and undertaking research, raising awareness among the public of the problems faced by these birds, and working with others to stop persecution. Tackling wildlife crime requires a joint approach but condemnation from organizations representing the shooting community is not resulting in a widespread reduction in illegal persecution.

More action is needed in the uplands of England, where illegal persecution associated with grouse moors suppresses the population of several bird of prey species. Attempts to bring about change through self-regulation have proved ineffective and tough decisions are needed to combat these crimes.

Martin Harper added: “Awareness of illegal persecution is increasing. This year we have seen people taking to the streets to demonstrate against the killing of these birds, and hundreds of people joined rallies in northern England in support of Hen Harrier Day. This shows that public desire for the return of our cherished birds of prey populations is at an all time high and we will continue our efforts to highlight this to the shooting community and DEFRA.

“Illegal persecution has tarnished the beauty of our uplands for decades and continues to do so to this day. The RSPB challenges members of the shooting community to acknowledge that illegal persecution is a problem within the industry and that a change of attitude is needed in order to make a serious and effective effort to finally consign bird of prey persecution to the history books.”

In the uplands of England, the grouse shooting industry must demonstrate they can operate in harmony with birds of prey and help restore the environmental quality of our hills, which is why the RSPB believes it is time to regulate the industry through the introduction of robust licensing system for driven grouse moor shooting.

Hen harrier day mascot

Furthermore the RSPB believes that tougher legislation is needed to punish employers who turn a blind eye to staff committing wildlife crimes and are calling on the government to introduce the provision of vicarious liability, where employers would be legally responsible for the wildlife crimes committed by their employees.

“The RSPB supports the licensing of grouse moors and the introduction of vicarious liability as we believe these measures could address the low levels of detection and weak deterrents which currently allow these crimes to continue.

“We will also continue our efforts to work any organisations that represent the shooting community and who actively oppose the illegal persecution of birds of prey.  Equally, we urge DEFRA to ensure the promised hen harrier recovery plan is robust and will drive hen harrier recovery by tackling the root cause of its decline: illegal persecution. Effective leadership is needed to end to illegal persecution, but there is little evidence in Birdcrime 2013 to build public confidence that this is happening”

RSPB Hen Harrier of peace

For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact:

Chris Collett, Regional Communications Manager, 0191 233 4317 / 07885 834889 (Wednesday 29 October only)

Grahame Madge, Senior Media Officer (Conservation and Policy):01767 693221 Out of hours: 07702 196902.

http://liverpoolrspb.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/gone-girls-threatened-birds-of-prey.html

http://liverpoolrspb.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/hen-harrier-day.html