Skydancer - England's hen harriers

Betty's back!

Jude Lane — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:04:00 GMT

I can’t believe that it has just turned a year since I started working in Bowland. Sadly, last year was not a good one for harriers in England to put it mildly, and so it is with nervous excitement that I look forward to this my second season on the United Utilities estate.

Despite the recent fall of snow reminding us that it is still winter, the first signs of spring are appearing. The snowdrops are flowering in my garden and as predicted, our young female 74843 or Betty as she has become known, has arrived back in Bowland. In fact, I've just been on a site visit to Gisburn forest on what has been a cracking sunny winters day, and whilst there I had a telephone conversation with Stephen Murphey who told me that she had been flying around the forest just a couple of hours previously. Our visits obviously didn't co-incide this time, but I can't wait to catch up with her again in the not too distant future!

Betty having her satalite tag fitted by Stephen Murphey © Jude Lane, RSPB 2011.

Hen harriers, like many birds of prey, are site faithful and tend to return to the area in which they were born to breed. We know that Martin sadly didn’t make it through his first winter but with any luck we will start to see some more of last years young and previously successful breeders, like our champion female 73587, joining Betty in the Bowland fells over the next month to six weeks looking to attract a mate. I’ll keep you all updated ...

In search of Sky Dancers

Jude Lane — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:28:00 GMT

Suffering from the winter blues? These dark, wet, blustery days getting you down? Why not cheer yourself up by looking forward to the warm, balmy days of spring and summer (well we have to be optimistic!) and get yourself signed up for some of the exciting events lined up as part of Festival Bowland, organised by the Forest of Bowland AONB.

Especially look out for In search of Sky Dancers, a series of guided walks on the United Utilities estate run by the RSPB and United Utilities*. You’ll get to see and learn about some of the fabulous species that occupy our amazing upland habitats as well as learn all about the management of the estate, you may also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a spectacular skydancing hen harrier!

We'll look forward to seeing you!

* With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Happy new year

Jude Lane — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:43:00 GMT

So what fortunes will this new year bring for the English Hen harriers? The first harriers will be starting to return to the uplands to establish territories in less than 8 weeks now. I am keeping everything crossed that they have a good year here in the Forest of Bowland, the stronghold for breeding attempts in England, but wouldn’t it be fantastic if there were successful nests elsewhere in our uplands this year too?

I am very sad to have to report in my first blog of 2012 that out young male harrier, Martin, has not transmitted any signal since November and is presumed to have died. Despite fieldworkers being out looking for him in the areas of his last transmissions in Brittany, northern France, no trace has been found so the cause of disappearance is unknown. On a much more positive note, our Bowland female has survived the gales and generally very miserable weather in the Yorkshire Dales over the Christmas period and is still giving good signals. On a couple of recent walks in the dales, I’ve seen lots of evidence of voles so hopefully she has been feeding well and with any luck we’ll see her cross the A65 and return to Bowland in search of a mate in a few weeks time ... not long to wait now!

Birds of Bowland 2011

Jude Lane — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:28:00 GMT

Hot off the press! Click here to download the latest edition of the Birds of Bowland newsletter.

It's full of news about the RSPB’s work in the Forest of Bowland during 2011, with contributions from myself, Gavin Thomas (Bowland Wader Project Officer), volunteers and local farmers.

Happy reading!

What needs to be done?

Jude Lane — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:40:00 GMT

As I wrote last week, harriers are on the brink of extinction in England.

The RSPB is appealing to the government to step up and do more for harriers. The revised England Biodiversity Strategy includes a commitment by Government to avoid any human induced extinctions of known threatened species by 2020. Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director has said: “this bird only has four steps before extinction and the Government has very little time to act to prevent breaking their promise.”

The RSPB and Natural England are also appealing to grouse moor owners to support techniques being trialed to reduce predatory impacts on grouse from harriers. Diversionary feeding, effectively a bird table for harriers, has been trialed as part of a partnership demonstration project at Langholm Moor in the Scottish borders. The early results of this technique look promising, in the last four years, no grouse chicks have been taken into monitored harrier nests. Martin Harper said of the technique “We believe the potential for diversionary feeding will provide a lifeline for the recovery of the English hen harrier and a way for grouse moor managers to maximise the number of grouse.”

We have got to do something, and urgently. To see this magnificent bird of prey, disappear from this country under our watch as a result of man’s actions, will be a national disgrace.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign this epetition which is asking the English Government to introduce Vicarious Liability, something the Scottish Government has already done. This would result in employers being held legally accountable for the actions being taken by their employees. Once signed, please forward to all your friends and ask them to do the same.

Thank you.

Four steps from extinction

Jude Lane — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:20:00 GMT

The RSPB has today released the 2011 breeding figures for hen harriers in England, confirming that the four pairs of harriers that fledged young on the United Utilities estate in Bowland were the only four pairs to successfully raise young in the whole country.

This is believed to be the lowest population in England since they recolonised in the 1960’s after being wiped out in mainland Britain in the late nineteenth century. This extinction was caused as a result of their presence on upland moors being seen as a conflict with the ability to produce large numbers of grouse for upland shoots. Their recolonisation of mainland Britain coincided with the Second World War which left the majority of our uplands unmanaged. However, the last 20 years has seen the perilous decline of an already tiny English population, to the point where we find ourselves with harriers on the brink of extinction in England for a second time.

How can this have been allowed to happen?

Hen harriers are classified as specially protected, receiving full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

There are two sites in England, the Forest of Bowland and the North Pennine Moors, which have been designated as Special Protection Areas due to their international importance for harriers – one of these has had no breeding harriers for 5 years.

The Hen harrier is also listed under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. This means that it is recognised by Government as one of the species that is of ‘principal importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity’. It is a priority for conservation action.

Section 41(3) of the Act requires the Secretary of State to take steps to further the conservation of species on this list and promote others to do likewise.

Clearly if these measures were working and being acted on, we would be seeing an increasing population; as has already been calculated, there should be at least 320 pairs breeding in our English uplands. The measures are not working and as a result, the hen harrier is now the bird most likely to become extinct in England because of human pressure.

In this day and age this is an incredibly sad state of affairs.

Come back next week to find out what the RSPB is wanting to see done about this situation.

Bird of prey persecution - make your voice heard

Jude Lane — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:49:00 GMT

Crimes against birds of prey are widespread across the UK.

The results of the 2010 National Hen harrier survey showed that the harrier is on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England. Since 2004, the English breeding population has declined by 20% and remains perilously low with just 12 pairs attempting to breed in 2010. In 2011 that figure was even lower. The reason for this – illegal persecution.

A paper published by Amar et al. (2011) in the Journal of Biological Conservation, reveals the situation facing peregrine falcons on grouse moors in northern England. The success of breeding peregrines on grouse moors was found to be 50% lower than those breeding on non-grouse moor habitat. In addition, the analysis of wildlife crime data confirmed that persecution of peregrines was more frequent on grouse moors than in other habitat types.

The RSPB 2010 Bird Crime report states that there were 227 reported incidents of illegal shooting, trapping and nest destruction of birds of prey in 2010. Despite this being lower than the figure of 277 in 2009, it is still unacceptable, and almost certainly not representative of what is actually occurring due to the huge difficulty in detecting and gathering evidence of these crimes.

It is clear that bird of prey persecution is occurring on the grouse moors of northern England – there is suitable habitat for over 320 pairs of nesting hen harrier in England, yet there are fewer than 10 pairs – the absence of these birds speaks volumes. This is something the RSPB believes the UK Government and its devolved administrations must act on in order to secure the status of these birds, protected under European law.

The RSPB believes that vicarious liability is required to make the managers and employers of those committing bird of prey persecution also legally accountable. The Scottish Government took a huge step forward in attempting to reduce bird of prey persecution by introducing the criminal vicarious liability offence earlier this year. It is hoped that this will provide a significant deterrent for those carrying out these crimes as the landowner/manager can no longer place the blame on their keeper by denying any knowledge of the activity. Importantly, it will pose no threat to those working on shooting estates legitimately.

An independent e-petition has recently been posted on the UK government website, calling for Vicarious Liability to be introduced in England.

The RSPB is supporting this campaign, given that it too, would like to see the introduction of vicarious liability in England, and I would ask you to do the same. Please visit this link and add your voice (you will be asked for email verification, so please check your junk email box for this otherwise your name wont be added!). Please circulate and encourage any of your friends and contacts to sign up too.

Thanks for you support.

Update on Martin

Jude Lane — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:57:00 GMT

Just to keep you informed of the latest info on Martin, a little worryingly, as of Monday, no transmission has been received from him for 7 days. Whilst this length of gap between transmission isn’t unheard of, it is a little unusual.

Weather could be a factor in this, and I for one am very much hoping that this is the reason. His last fixes were still in Normandy around the town of Pontivy where he has been spending the last few weeks. Fieldworkers are out on the ground looking for him at the moment and I’ll let you know as soon as I get another update. In the meantime lets keep everthing crossed for him that it is down to a blip in the weather.

Speaking out for Skydancers

Jude Lane — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:42:00 GMT

So what bird is your job about again? Is it the hen hawk?

The majority of people, whether they have an active interest in birds or not, have heard of buzzards and kestrels. They might get them confused when asked to identify them, but they are aware that they exist. Many also know about peregrines, thanks in a lot of cases to the presence of RSPB Date with Nature schemes that run in many city centres these days. Hardly anyone has heard of the hen harrier.

My friends are a case in point, they are people who enjoy being out in the countryside, spend their weekends walking and cycling in the uplands, but have never heard of, let alone seen, a hen harrier. Some of them can’t even remember its correct name – although points for trying, they weren’t far off!

So, for this reason, I am very excited about Skydancer, an ambitious new RSPB project which aims to protect and promote the conservation of hen harriers across their remaining breeding areas in Northern England. Blánaid Denman has been appointed as the RSPB’s Skydancer Engagement Officer to inspire local people about England’s most threatened bird of prey.

Over the next four years, Skydancer will focus on nest protection and community engagement activities in and around the Forest of Bowland, the RSPB’s Geltsdale reserve and North Tynedale in Northumberland. Blánaid will be working with other RSPB colleagues and partners to develop and deliver a comprehensive and inspiring programme of events and activities in each of the three project areas, aimed at educating and enthusing school children and local people about harriers. We can’t ask people to ‘Step up’ for harriers if they don’t know they exist or how valuable they are to our natural heritage.

Female hen harrier © RSPB-images.

Skydancer will also include sharing experiences and demonstrating the latest management techniques for hen harriers with land managers and sports shooting interests. The project will also involve listening to the concerns of upland driven grouse moor managers to gain a greater understanding of the issue and identify potential opportunities.

The project hopes that by carrying out these activities, harriers numbers will be able to increase from their current, perilously low level, to more sustainable numbers, and co-exist in the uplands with other rural businesses. So look out for Skydancer over the coming months and for opportunities to get involved, hopefully helping to secure a more sustainable future for hen harriers in our English uplands.

Skydancer is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, United Utilities, SITA Trust and the Forestry Commission.

Introducing Martin ...

Jude Lane — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:14:00 GMT

Thanks for all your name suggestions, we've decided to go with the inspired suggestion of Martin - Hen harrier en français is Busard Saint-Martin!

According to the most recent update, Martin is still enjoying northern France, with fixes coming from an area around Pontivy in Brittany.

Our female is also still alive and well, she is still around the Yorkshire Dales occupying an area between Malham and Masham.

Suggestions please!

Jude Lane — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:42:00 GMT

Instead of referring to our male harrier as ‘our male’, ‘Bowland male’, or ‘73852’ (his sat tag reference number), we thought it would be nice if he had a name! So I'm putting out a request to you, the readers of this blog, to help us come up with a name for him.

If you could get your thinking caps on and email your suggestions via the ‘E-mail blog author’ link to the right of this post it would be great. I'm looking forward to hearing what you come up with already! Hopefully you'll have lots of suggestions for us to choose from so that by the next time I blog about ‘our male’ he’ll have a proper name!

Il est allé en France

Jude Lane — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:12:00 GMT

What was I saying about our birds not doing anything too exciting? What a difference a day (or two) can make! The first email I read yesteday morning, as the rain and wind lashed against the office window, was from Stephen Murphy (Natural England) informing me that our Bowland male has up and left for France! His latest satellite fix from Sunday afternoon shows him in northern France about 150km west of Paris.

What’s really interesting, is that a juvenile male from Langholm moor also headed south and arrived in France within hours of the Bowland male. The Langholm bird is a little further west, latest fix putting him close to Cherbourg.

We are still learning so much about post fledging dispersal in harriers. Where they decide to go and why is still a mystery to us, we can only guess at their reasons. These two birds flew across the prevailing winds, had they ‘gone with the wind’ they’d be in Denmark so it was presumably a conscious decision to go south. Where will they go next? Make sure you come back and find out!

Bowland juveniles update

Jude Lane — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:38:00 GMT

So after spending a few days on the east coast of Yorkshire, our male headed back west and has been ranging around the same moorland areas in north Yorkshire as our female for the last three weeks.

Neither have been up to anything exciting. The male has been making journeys of about 15km a day and changing roosts on a nightly basis whilst our female is sticking to just three roosts and only travelling about 8km each day.

Importantly, both are alive and well, so let's wait and see what they get up to as the autumn progresses.

Thanks for reading.

When they decide to go they go!

Jude Lane — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:21:00 GMT

Well as predicted, our juvenile male harrier has finally become curious about the world outside Bowland and spread his wings!

Last week, after a brief foray to the west as far as the M6, he passed back over Bowland and then headed directly east, (straight over my house by the looks of things) and out into the north sea! Presumably he wasn’t quite ready for the challenge of crossing the 300+ miles of open water to get to Denmark and after about 40km he turned tail and headed back to the dry land of east Yorkshire.

If you want to know what he decides to do next, keep checking back, you never know he might well make the crossing yet!

Where are they now?

Jude Lane — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:21:00 GMT

So here is what I hope will be the first of many updates I’ll be able to provide you with on the progress of some of our juvenile harriers from this year – details kindly passed to me by Stephen Murphy, Natural England’s Hen harrier Recovery Project Officer.

One of our females has decided to head north east from Bowland and is currently ranging around a series of grouse moors near Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales. According to Stephen, this is quite a common pattern of behaviour for Bowland born females. Fingers crossed she’ll stay safe, as unfortunately the Yorkshire Dales are not known for their bird of prey populations.

Our male on the other hand has stayed put! He seems pretty happy making the most of the still plentiful numbers of voles and passerines that are still populating the Bowland fells. Males very rarely stay faithful to their natal areas but it looks like as food availability is still so good, he’s a bit reluctant to chance his luck elsewhere! I would imagine though that next time I blog about his whereabouts he will no longer be with us as by early September the males have usually headed off, often in a southerly direction.

So if you have the chance to take a walk in Bowland over the next week or so you may still have the fortune of spotting a harrier, if you do, don’t forget to let us know via the hotline - or indeed if you spot one further afield!