I probably like many others on this forum constantly visit the excellent Raptor Politics website. The work they and many others do to protect Birds in general is amazing, but the last few years seem to of been full of bad news. Looking at todays main page is so depressing you have to wonder if the battle is being lost. I do hope this is not so.
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Raptor Politics (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter markho
- Start date
rosbifs
PutAin STOP
Yes very depressing. However, when I was growing up, firstly in Suffolk, you barely saw any birds of prey. I think we saw Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and was lucky enough to see Monties Harrier. Maybe Marsh Harrier at Minsmere or Walbleswick (however you spell it). Buzzards didn't breed in Suffolk nor Peregrine now both do.
Yorkshire wasn't a lot better but you did see an odd Buzzard. Osprey was just making a return in Scotland, Red Kites were guarded by if I remember rightly the SAS at one site. Basically, everthing had been shot or poisened and press coverage, no internet etc. was very sparse and things were bleak!
Now raptors are a fairly common sight in the UK as a whole. The main areas of contention surround these shooting moors and or hunting (shooting and fishing) estates. At least there is a voice out there now and maybe things will change as they have, dramatically, over the last 30 years.
Yorkshire wasn't a lot better but you did see an odd Buzzard. Osprey was just making a return in Scotland, Red Kites were guarded by if I remember rightly the SAS at one site. Basically, everthing had been shot or poisened and press coverage, no internet etc. was very sparse and things were bleak!
Now raptors are a fairly common sight in the UK as a whole. The main areas of contention surround these shooting moors and or hunting (shooting and fishing) estates. At least there is a voice out there now and maybe things will change as they have, dramatically, over the last 30 years.
Yes I would agree with you there. Some birds have made an amazing comeback as Roy Dennis mentions in he's piece. It is however the constant persecution which he also mentions, that I find so depressing. Surely that should of stopped by now and Golden Eagles, Peregrines and Harriers should be spreading south from Scotland. The fact that we need a Hen Harrier day, and people volunteering to stop massacres on Mediterranean Islands in the 21st century is just so despairing.
Jimmybirder
Well-known member
It appears that raptors associated with some of the most remote and isolated parts of the country are ironically the ones suffering the most. Golden Eagles and Hen harriers being prime examples
Boro Birder
Well-known member
Its happening on most of our Uplands, North Yorkshire being the prime example, I have a friend who is a wildlife crime officer and I asked him if it was bad in his area (South West) and his reply was "It happens everywhere but is so underreported and the remote areas and upland areas are just so hard to cover effectively. I record nest for the BTO and have just apppled for my Schedule1 licence, the WC Police officer been one of my references and anther highly respected field Ornithologist for 2 Species, Merlin and Barn Owl, myself and 2 other nest recorders put cameras on our non S1 BoP plus other birds, warblers but that is just study work of a certain species, ie, what food adults are bringing back, how many time a hour, we even captured 3 young sparrowhawk eat the weakest bird, amazing, I not only record my BoP I make sure each nest no matter what species has a camera on and of I get my S1 I wont be just recording these birds ill be also protecting them
Damian
Damian
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Yes, same as with any other CCTV evidence with any other crime.
The problem will be hiding a camera close enough to the nest without the landowner finding out. Possible with birds in forests (like the recent Goshawk and Buzzard cases), less easy with moorland birds like Hen Harrier.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
rosbifs
PutAin STOP
Surely the problem would be using something in a court that was obtained by trespassing. I guess in Scotland with 'right to roam' you could get away with it. The other issue would be calibration of dates, times and authenticity of recordings.
Anyway, its not a bad idea to pursue....
string boozel
Well-known member
It does seem sad that raptor persecution continues into this day and age but it would appear that the resources and means to provide adequate protection are lacking. Raptors nesting in isolated sites are all the more vulnerable because there are so few potential witnesses to any criminal activity. I would imagine that placing a camera on all nest sites would prove prohibitively expensive and there is, as has been noted the problem of gaining legal access to a site in the first place. I'd like to see the land owner have a legal responsibility for the well being of raptors on their land but can't see it happening.
On a more positive note it seems the public enjoy seeing large raptors going about their business, my non- birding workmates love seeing the local kites and buzzards. I'm reasonably sure that any of them would report any suspicious activity if they saw it. Perhaps the answer is to gain the support and good will of the public, it's their opinion that shapes the politics of the country and only a more rigorously enforced policing of the law will help our upland raptor populations.
James.
On a more positive note it seems the public enjoy seeing large raptors going about their business, my non- birding workmates love seeing the local kites and buzzards. I'm reasonably sure that any of them would report any suspicious activity if they saw it. Perhaps the answer is to gain the support and good will of the public, it's their opinion that shapes the politics of the country and only a more rigorously enforced policing of the law will help our upland raptor populations.
James.
I think we need a complete rethink of landuse in the uplands. Its ironic that the wildest places in the UK are the most depleted in terms of wildlife, not just because of persecution but because of overgrazing. We need some radical thinking, rewild the uplands, get rid of grouse shooting and restrict sheep grazing in marginal areas.
keith
Well-known member
I'm not sure the landed gentry will be very enthusiastic in your very good ideas.
