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RSPB media release
Reporting on joint working by the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police
For immediate use: 21 June 2007
NORTHUMBERLAND NEST WATCH SUCCESS…
…AS RARE HARRIER CHICKS HATCH OUT
With the extra hours of daylight of this week’s Summer Solstice, the protection team watching over a family of rare birds of prey nesting in north east England will need to be extra vigilant.
For the last few weeks, a harrier task force – co-ordinated by the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police - has mounted a guard on a pair of hen harriers nesting in Tynedale, to protect them from any illegal human interference.
Today, (Thursday 21 June) the team received the good news that all their hard work so far has paid off and that the harriers are raising at least five chicks in their nest in a secret location somewhere in Northumberland.
With only 15 hen harrier nests known in the whole of England this year (only three of which are outside the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire), the project team are overjoyed that the Northumberland pair has hatched out so many chicks.
Phil Curtis of the RSPB, who is organising the nest protection scheme, said: “We are delighted that the harriers have five chicks in the nest, this is better than we could ever have hoped for. It was an unpromising start to the season; with the disappearance of one clutch of eggs, the disappearance of a female, and some atrocious weather. With the arrival of the chicks and the long daylight hours, it’s more important than ever that we maintain the 24-hour guard on the nest over the coming weeks. We will continue to watch over the nest and now that the male bird’s favourite hunting areas have been identified, we will be monitoring his movements as well.”
The male harrier offers food to his mate in gravity-defying aerial food passes and performs a magnificent aerobatic display or ‘skydance’ in spring. The male is a stunning grey, and the female subtly coloured brown and cream.
Tom Dearnley, Forestry Commission Ecologist, said: “It's fantastic news that the chicks have successfully hatched. There'll be some hungry mouths to feed over the next few weeks, keeping their parents busy. So it's vitally important we do all we can to ensure the birds remain undisturbed. We're eternally grateful to all the volunteers who have signed-up to watch over the nest. The prospect of seeing beautiful young hen harriers take to the skies next month will be a just reward for their hard work.”
The project team are hoping that the harrier chicks will be ‘adopted’ by a local school. Pupils at the school would receive regular up-dates on the progress of the chicks and will be invited to pick names for the chicks. A similar initiative has proved hugely popular with schools that have ‘adopted’ Tyneside’s red kites.
The Northumberland Harriers Nest Watch is a partnership between the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police, with additional funding from SITA Trust and the Northumberland National Park’s Action Areas programme.
The Northumberland harriers have already had a tough start to the breeding season. Before the round-the-clock nest guard started, two earlier nesting attempts in the area had already failed, and the current nest is the third one in the area. The first nest was built by the current male bird and a different female but the eggs disappeared from the nest. Northumbria Police are treating the disappearance of the eggs as suspicious and a potential offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act. The pair started to nest again, but this nest was abandoned after the female bird disappeared. A different female arrived on the scene and the new pair finally settled down to nest.
ends
Reporting on joint working by the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police
For immediate use: 21 June 2007
NORTHUMBERLAND NEST WATCH SUCCESS…
…AS RARE HARRIER CHICKS HATCH OUT
With the extra hours of daylight of this week’s Summer Solstice, the protection team watching over a family of rare birds of prey nesting in north east England will need to be extra vigilant.
For the last few weeks, a harrier task force – co-ordinated by the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police - has mounted a guard on a pair of hen harriers nesting in Tynedale, to protect them from any illegal human interference.
Today, (Thursday 21 June) the team received the good news that all their hard work so far has paid off and that the harriers are raising at least five chicks in their nest in a secret location somewhere in Northumberland.
With only 15 hen harrier nests known in the whole of England this year (only three of which are outside the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire), the project team are overjoyed that the Northumberland pair has hatched out so many chicks.
Phil Curtis of the RSPB, who is organising the nest protection scheme, said: “We are delighted that the harriers have five chicks in the nest, this is better than we could ever have hoped for. It was an unpromising start to the season; with the disappearance of one clutch of eggs, the disappearance of a female, and some atrocious weather. With the arrival of the chicks and the long daylight hours, it’s more important than ever that we maintain the 24-hour guard on the nest over the coming weeks. We will continue to watch over the nest and now that the male bird’s favourite hunting areas have been identified, we will be monitoring his movements as well.”
The male harrier offers food to his mate in gravity-defying aerial food passes and performs a magnificent aerobatic display or ‘skydance’ in spring. The male is a stunning grey, and the female subtly coloured brown and cream.
Tom Dearnley, Forestry Commission Ecologist, said: “It's fantastic news that the chicks have successfully hatched. There'll be some hungry mouths to feed over the next few weeks, keeping their parents busy. So it's vitally important we do all we can to ensure the birds remain undisturbed. We're eternally grateful to all the volunteers who have signed-up to watch over the nest. The prospect of seeing beautiful young hen harriers take to the skies next month will be a just reward for their hard work.”
The project team are hoping that the harrier chicks will be ‘adopted’ by a local school. Pupils at the school would receive regular up-dates on the progress of the chicks and will be invited to pick names for the chicks. A similar initiative has proved hugely popular with schools that have ‘adopted’ Tyneside’s red kites.
The Northumberland Harriers Nest Watch is a partnership between the RSPB, Forestry Commission, National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northumbria Police, with additional funding from SITA Trust and the Northumberland National Park’s Action Areas programme.
The Northumberland harriers have already had a tough start to the breeding season. Before the round-the-clock nest guard started, two earlier nesting attempts in the area had already failed, and the current nest is the third one in the area. The first nest was built by the current male bird and a different female but the eggs disappeared from the nest. Northumbria Police are treating the disappearance of the eggs as suspicious and a potential offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act. The pair started to nest again, but this nest was abandoned after the female bird disappeared. A different female arrived on the scene and the new pair finally settled down to nest.
ends
