Blogs

As spring starts to seep into the uplands of northern England, all of us here at the RSPB would like to make a fresh appeal to those of you who are out and about in the hills over the spring and summer to keep an eye out for hen harriers and to call or email in with your sightings. After a disastrous...

If any of you didn't manage to catch it last night or happen to live outside the region, you can now watch Jude Lane talk about the tragedy of Bowland Betty and the issues facing hen harriers in England on Inside Out North East & Cumbria on BBC iPlayer ! It's only 8 minutes long but it does...

As you’ll remember, back in December, the tragic story of Betty the Bowland hen harrier hit the local and national news. I wrote at the time that I saw Betty as a symbol of hope for harriers, that her death would hopefully help raise the profile of this incredible species and the critical situation...

Science and technology play an integral part these days in allowing us to learn more about our native wildlife and in the fight against wildlife crime. The satellite transmitter fitted to ‘our Betty’ as a young chick, is a fantastic example of this. In the first instance we learnt a huge...

Following on from Dan’s inspiring blog of hen harrier sightings a plenty on the Dee over the last few weeks (what a fantastic picture he included!) I just wanted to let you know about the events RSPB and United Utilities* will be running in the Forest of Bowland again this spring/summer. If...

This week's blog is brought to you by Dan Trotman, who runs the Skydancer roost watch event at RSPB Dee Estuary reserves. Hen harriers can travel great distances, often to coastal areas, in the winter to escape the harsh upland weather. Many Scottish birds will come south to England, spending time...

Running with the theme of positivity for 2013, if one were to try and find some sliver of good in the tragedy of Bowland Betty, it's that the circumstances of her untimely demise have finally brought the hen harrier issue to national attention. In the last week alone, there has been a strong article...

After the heady rush of Christmas feasting and New Year celebrations, poor old January always seems a bit bleak. Back to work, strapped for cash, the last of the chocolate coins consumed in a vain attempt to alleviate the New Year morning hangover (or was that just me?)... it's a time when we could...

Christmas is just a week away. A further seven days hence, and the world will quietly slip into the New Year, with all the hopes, anticipation and promises of fresh starts that brings. But what of 2012? What lessons can we take with us from this, The Year that Almost Wasn’t for hen harriers in...

Boys from Honrby St Margaret's CE Primary School get close up and personal with some of Bowland's moorland mini-beasts on a Skydancing Schools moorland visit, July 2012.

Pupil from West Woodburn First School displays an example of the peat-building sphagnum moss, on a moorland visit. Pupils learned all about how important sphagnum is to the moorland ecosystem and how it's so good at soaking up water that historically, people dried it out and used it as an absorbant...

Great shot of a female hen harrier in flight over the upland landscape. Note the characteristic white rump. Hen harriers are often confused with short-eared owls who are a similar size and also nest on the ground in the heather. The owls don't have this white patch so this is a quick and easy way...

Newly hatched hen harrier chick, Bowland 2005. Hen harrier chicks will hatch one after the other in the order in which they were laid, rather than all at once. This means that the eldest chick can be up to five or six days older than the youngest and a whole lot bigger! As the first to hatch, this little...

With his pale ash-grey colouring and black wingtips, this male hen harrier cuts a striking figure against the greens and the browns of the moorland landscape. This ability to stand out will make his skydancing antics even more breathtaking to behold and most importantly, even more obvious to a female...

Female hen harrier who laid 13 eggs in 2010 and fledged 5 chicks in 2011, Bowland - photographed by Mick Demain

Students at St Joseph's Middle School, Hexham, get into character to debate the issues of hen harriers and grouse shooting in their local area.

Students at St Joseph's Middle School, Hexham, get into character to debate the issues of hen harriers and grouse shooting in their local area.

Students at St Joseph's Middle School, Hexham, get into character to debate the issues of hen harriers and grouse shooting in their local area.