Ah well, don't know why I hoped the situation would get any better for Hen Harriers in the North Pennines, and today's news reports show once again, that they haven't....
Pix are courtesy of Richard Saunders/Natural England./PA Wire
'PERSECUTION' PUSHES BIRD OF PREY TO BRINK
By Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent
Continued illegal persecution of hen harriers is pushing the bird of prey to the brink of extinction in England, the Government's conservation body warned today.
A report by Natural England said hen harriers were particularly at risk from systematic persecution and disruption in areas managed for red grouse or gamebird rearing.
As a result, there are critically low numbers of breeding pairs on areas which provide suitable habitat and could support healthy populations.
Natural England chairman Sir Martin Doughty said the hen harrier had become the "emblem of man's callous disregard" for the country's wildlife.
Only a quarter (26%) of breeding pairs on red grouse moors manage to produce fledged chicks, while Natural England said there was "compelling evidence" that persecution continued at communal winter roosts.
In one 12-month period, six birds fitted with satellite transmitters were tracked from the hen harrier stronghold of Bowland Fells into parts of the North Pennines managed as driven grouse moors - and literally disappeared off the map.
They have not been recorded subsequently, while in another incident three signals "went dead" in one geographical area between 2007 and 2008.
Monitoring work since 2002 revealed that the relative tiny area at Bowland, Lancashire, was the site of more than two-thirds of the 127 breeding attempts by the once-common hen harriers during that time.
Bowland, where Natural England and the RSPB work with private landowners and gamekeepers to manage the area in a way that supports the birds, is the only place in England where the bird has increased since the hen harrier recovery project started in 2002.
Some 50 of the 72 successful nesting attempts - in which hen harrier chicks fledged - in the past seven years were at Bowland.
A report in September showed there were just a handful of successful nests again this year, despite estimates by the RSPB that the country's uplands could support at least 200 breeding pairs of one England's rarest bird of prey.
The monitoring programme by the RSPB and Natural England found there were just 10 nests where the chicks were successfully reared, out of 19 attempts.
Last year the figure was 14 successes from 23 attempts, and the number of successful nests in England has not exceeded 15 in any year since 1994.
The hen harrier became extinct in the UK in Victorian times and recolonised in Scotland - where there are now 630 breeding pairs - in the interwar years.
They only began to come back in England in the 1970s and numbers remain extremely low.
Sir Martin said: "The hen harrier has unfortunately become the emblem of man's callous disregard for the spectacular and majestic wildlife that we have in England.
"Following seven years of intensive monitoring and detailed research, the picture is unequivocal - hen harriers are being persecuted while they attempt to nest and birds are simply not returning to their breeding areas the following spring.
"The hen harrier should have a much wider range than it does which begs the question why its breeding success is now restricted to one regular site.
"The simple answer is that this magnificent bird is being persecuted to the brink of extinction as a breeding species in England."
He said Natural England was looking at improving the hen harrier's fortunes by examining the feasibility of reintroducing hen harriers to the lowland part of its former range.
Mark Avery, RSPB director of conservation, said: "The findings of this report reinforce what the RSPB has been saying for years: the hen harrier is being driven to extinction in England by illegal killing.
"It is unacceptable in a modern society like ours that such crimes continue to be committed at all, let alone on such a scale.
"Hen harriers belong to the skies and to all of us; they are not pests to be killed out of hand by a selfish minority.
"The majority of those involved in shooting are decent, law-abiding people. This report puts the onus on them to root out those bad apples prepared to break the law and drag the good name of shooting through the mud."
He added: "We would urge people to show their disgust at these crimes by pledging their support for our campaign to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey."
To get involved in the RSPB campaign to stop low life weasels thinking they can off raptors with impunity, click here
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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John, could you include this link to The RSPB's online version of the campaign?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/birdsofprey/index.asp
Show your support via the website or get a pledge card now from your local RSPB reserve.
The Illegal slaughter of BoP must stop.
My pleasure Paul, the link is embedded in the original entry now.
Recent records - Kirkby, Coach Road area, (13.12.08): Sparrowhawk (fem); 30+ Fieldfare; Redwing; distant goose flock.
Hilbre Island (15.12.08): c120 Brent Goose; Great Northern Diver; 8 Red Throated Diver; 4 Great Crested Grebe; Little Egret; Purple Sandpiper.
Fox on the island, and the remains of a Little Egret on Middle Eye (killed by fox?)
Other recent visitors - Peregrine and Short Eared Owl.