[Chris Monk]

News from the RSPB:

England's 'Most Endangered Bird of Prey' Nests at North Pennines Site: Four
Young Hen Harriers Successfully Fly the Nest

Four young Hen Harriers - the most endangered bird of prey in England - have
successfully flown from a nest in the North Pennines, the RSPB announced
today.

The pair of Hen Harriers, one of England's rarest and most spectacular
birds, has nested at a remote upland site on the RSPB's Geltsdale nature
reserve, which covers a large area of moorland in Cumbria and
Northumberland.

Staff and volunteers from the RSPB and from English Nature's Hen Harrier
recovery project have kept a round-the-clock guard on the nest of the rare
birds since they arrived in April.

Only a handful of Hen Harriers nest in England, usually on moorland, and the
only regular breeding areas are in the North Pennines and in the Forest of
Bowland in Lancashire. In 2002, there were just seven successful breeding
females in England, which raised twenty-two chicks.

Dave Barrett, RSPB North of England reserves manager, said: "It is great
news that these magnificent birds have successfully nested at the Geltsdale
reserve. The English Hen Harrier population is perilously low, so every
chick that successfully fledges is precious and we are delighted to have
four new recruits to the population. This nest was only successful because
of a hugely labour intensive nest protection operation and we are grateful
to everyone who put in such long hours in all weathers to help safeguard the
nest, eggs and chicks."

RSPB Regional Director, Andy Bunten, added: "The absence of Hen Harriers
from wide swathes of upland England is a national disgrace. It's high time
we reached a situation where we no longer have to guard harrier nests 24
hours a day, where harriers can nest in England without constant danger of
persecution, and members of the public can have opportunities to enjoy
watching these spectacular birds."

The RSPB and English Nature will be following the progress of the birds
closely now that they have left the nest, and hope that they will eventually
nest and rear young themselves. The chicks from the Geltsdale nest - 2 males
and 2 females - have been wing and radio tagged for identification purposes
and their movements will be tracked by the English Nature project team
during the next few months.

Illegal killing is the principal reason why Hen Harriers are absent from
almost all areas of suitable moorland habitat in the north of England and
they are one of the most persecuted birds in the UK.

Hen Harriers, along with all other birds of prey, are fully protected by UK
law and anyone disturbing, killing, injuring or taking birds, their nests or
eggs can face a fine of up to £5,000 for each incident or six months in
prison.

This spring, English Nature and the RSPB also expressed concern about the
future of England's Hen Harriers following the burning of heather moorland
around several known Hen Harrier sites.



David Hirst, RSPB
Friday 27 June 2003

English Nature launched its Hen Harrier recovery project in April 2002
following Hen Harrier numbers failing to perilously low levels in England.
The project will run for 3 years and aims to: monitor the Hen Harrier
population in England and its breeding success; identify the factors that
are currently restricting Hen Harrier numbers; take measures to increase the
Hen Harrier population in England.

[Colin]

This is indeed good news but I would dispute the headline "England's most endangered bird of prey". Since there are a "handful" of Hen Harriers nesting, that would rank as more than two and as far as I know there are only two Golden Eagle nests in England and there is another bird of prey, which has only one nest in England, again, as far as I know. Perhaps it should have read "One of the most endangered birds of prey in Engand".

Nevertheless, there appears to be some good news at last for this species.

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Colin,

Depends on your definition of 'endangered'. There may be fewer eagles and ospreys, but they're better protected and less liable to be shot at.

I'd say Hen Harrier wins in terms of the degree of persecution it is subjected to.

Michael

[Colin]

Michael,
Agreed. My thoughts were if the anything happened to the 2 pairs of Eagles then they would be all gone and the same for the one pair of the other species. However, the bottom line is that it is good news for the harriers.

[Colin]

Spar,
Yes, I was considering the publicly known ones, the one pair in the Lake District where there may be more as there were just a few years ago and the pair in Northumberland direction and of the other species, well, I only know of one pair in the north east and even the internet has not thrown up another location. Nevertheless, Hen Harriers must number more than half a dozen pairs or thereabouts. Anyway, as I said in an earlier post the wording is not that important, what is, is the well being of the birds.

[jayhunter]

Come on boys it is only semantics after all. The really good news is that four chicks have been successfully reared and have left the nest. They should be safer now from any ground attack or likely abduction. Only problem now is gamekeeper's guns and poisoned bait.

[Gerry Hooper]

Well done to all who helped in the 24 hr. watch. It obviously worked .
All we need now is a couple more hurdred nests and the harriers will be back 'on line' in England.
We live in hope.

[Padraig]

I am sadened to hear that Hen Harriers are so rare.

Partly from a selfish reason too beacuase I would love to see one!

I did see a male once briefly but close up in the Aughrim mountains (hills really) in Co. Galway when I was about 14.
The memory is still vivid.

How to Montagu's Harriers compare in trems of numbers?

Regards,


Padraig.

[alanhill]

With reference to Hen Harriers breeding in the Trough of Bowland , as far as I remember there was great concern over these when the moorland fires were in full spate earlier in the year, including the Bowland area. It was strongly suspected then that some of the fires had been started deliverately by gamekeepers.

However I haven't heard anything recently about that situation and whether it is known for certain that Hen Harriers, adults, chicks or nests, perished in the fires. Does anyone know?

Alan Hill

[pauco]

when alls said and done hopefully its another 4 harriers to take to
the skies.
bert

[saluki]

" It was strongly suspected then that some of the fires had been started deliverately by gamekeepers".

Alan,

Keepers, quite rightly, burn heather in the springtime. So do farmers. I'm sure the RSPB do too. For the maximum amount of species on moorland a 'patchwork' effect of different ages of heather is required. Old, long heather for species such as H. Harriers and Grouse to nest in, and short, new heather for them to use as a feeding ground. It isn't in the interest of keepers to burn huge tracts of moorland, as occured in the late spring of this year around the Trough of Bowland. They would be destroying not only the habitat of nesting H. Harriers, but also that of R. Grouse. By all means punish those keepers who continually persecute raptors, but to spread rumours that are unfounded is self-defeating. As shooting estates own huge tracts of moorland, might it not be better to try to change the opinions of those keepers willing to listen, rather than the blanket condemnation that they continually face? Grouse moors provide an ideal habitat for many species of birds (and other creatures), simply because they are managed, the conflicts arise from the persucution of raptors, not of other moorland species, which tend to flourish on grouse moors.

http://www.gct.org.uk/research/redgr...sehabitat.html

saluki

[alanhill]

Yes, I understand the need for heather burning for regeneration. This should be carried out on a rotational plan away from the bird nesting season. The suggestion that the fires in the Bowland area were started by gamekeepers was made by a spokesperson for English Nature. I don't know what the evidence for this amounted to.

Alan Hill

[Michael Frankis]

Actually, heather doesn't need burning for regeneration. One of the best (highest botanical & bird diversity) heather moors in Northumberland is Kielderhead Moor, owned by the Forestry Commission and managed as a nature reserve; it hasn't been burned at all for something like 50 years as far as I know.

Michael

[saluki]

"Actually, heather doesn't need burning for regeneration. One of the best (highest botanical & bird diversity) heather moors in Northumberland is Kielderhead Moor, owned by the Forestry Commission and managed as a nature reserve; it hasn't been burned at all for something like 50 years as far as I know".

Michael

I didn't suggest that it did. What I said was 'for the maximum amount of species on moorland a 'patchwork' effect of different ages of heather is required'. The easiest and quickest method to achieve these results is through burning - wouldn't you agree? Or one could wait 50 years to achieve a similarly diverse habitat . . .

saluki

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Saluki,

Burning may be easy and quick, but it certainly doesn't lead to high botanical diversity, in fact the opposite, with a very poor species composition as many species can't regenerate after fire. This in turn reduces the structural diversity - e.g. no larger shrubs like Creeping Willow (very fire-sensitive, and the main diet of Lagopus lagopus outside of Britain), and so also lower bird diversity.

Since most grouse moors have been under that land use for centuries, waiting 50 years is no hardship. Personally, I feel that the tradition of rotational burning depends more on received wisdom, than real benefit. And probably also improved access and grouse-visibility for the shooters (which of course also makes for improved access and grouse visibility for other predators - hence part of the problem the owners percieve with harriers). **

Personally, I believe that an unburned (and ungrazed) moor would have higher grouse densities and fewer 'problems' with raptors, but more difficult shooting for the owners. But equally, more difficult shooting can be sold as 'more challenging'.

Michael

** Edit added - I'm fairly sure there's some research been done on Kielderhead Moor that supports all this, but I don't have the details

[saluki]

Michael,

I'd agree that indiscriminate burning (either large areas, or to such a degree that the peat catches fire) is certainly not benificial to moorland, leading to errosion, the spread of bracken and even the permanent loss of heather. The Bowland fire last spring for instance, covered 250 hectares of moorland - hardly benificial to harriers or grouse alike. But I do think that, on the whole, a well-maintained and managed, rotationally burned moor will retain more flora and fauna than one that is simply left to it's own devices, so to speak. I don't doubt your word for a moment Michael concerning Kielderhead Moor, though I do find it surprising. As you suggest, a large percentage of British moorland has been burned for many hundreds of years (in fact, in many instances, the moorland wouldn't be there at all if it were not for man clearing woodland in the first place), one would have thought that the natural inhabitants of such a contrived habitat would have developed precisely because of the conditions imposed upon them rather than despite of them. There may be many other factors why Kielderhead has such a rich diversity of botanical and bird life - lack of sheep, drainage, peat cutting or access for instance - it isn't neccessarily simply because the heather isn't burned.

An unburned moor wouldn't make it any more difficult for the shooters - certainly on a 'driven' moor - but it would make it more difficult for the poor beaters who'd have to slog through waist-high heather! If all heather were left unburned then wouldn't this present a problem for hunting harriers? Plenty of places to nest, no places to hunt. And let's not forget the fact that seasonally-burned heather creates a substantial fire-break should a fire actually occur during the breeding season.

Finally, you might like to take a look at the Heather Trust's - who work in close liason with the RSPB, EN, GCT, FWAG and SNH amongst others - website:

http://www.heathertrust.co.uk/index.htm

Shall we agree to differ Michael? I don't think either of us is going to convince the other :-)

saluki