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Across the uplands of Northumberland Spring has not sprung and the land seems locked down. In North Tynedale, only the crossbill and that honorary raptor, the raven, appear impervious to the snow and the ice and the incessant east wind (indeed the crossbills have been seen with juveniles in their loose...

Stephen Temperley returns to Skydancer this month, reprising his role coordinating the North Tynedale hen harrier nest protection project. As the breeding season gets underway in earnest, he has some positive early news... Greetings from the RSPB Species Protection Coordinator for Northumberland!...

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...

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...

In response to my guest post on Martin Harper's blog on Monday, Gavin Jones, who lives near the Forest of Bowland, was inspired to write a beautiful yet haunting poem. Thank you Gavin for sharing it with us. You can read it for yourselves by visiting Martin's blog here . © RSPB...

So 74843 continued her journey back down south, stopping off in the Cairngorms for about 5 days where she ranged both east and west of the A9 around Dalwhinnie. I have to say she’s been picking some cracking spots to hang out, it’s really stunning in that area if you ever get the opportunity...

So as promised here is a bit of a run down of what 74843 has been up to over her first year. As you will see, she’s been pretty hard to keep up with recently! As Stephen Murphy, from the Natural England Hen Harrier Recovery Project, will tell you, satellite tagging these birds has provided some...

Sitting out on the fells in Bowland these last few weeks has been a strange experience. By now, in all the years that staff and volunteers monitoring hen harriers on the United Utilities estate can remember, we would have been able to head up onto the fell knowing we would be able to watch harriers....

Looking for something exciting and different to do over the next few months? Why not come and help us look out for hen harriers on the United Utilities estate here in Bowland? I know we haven’t had much harrier activity to report so far but there’s still time for all that to change! Join...

So we’ve reached the beginning of April and what of the birds in Bowland I hear you all asking. Well, to be honest it’s pretty quiet on the harrier front. I reported the skydancing male back on the 19th March but alas, his efforts did not lead to him attracting a female and we have not seen...

I've just got time for a very quick blog today but I just wanted to let you know that over the weekend we have had our first sighting of a skydancing male harrier in Bowland! It was a pretty poor week last week in terms of the weather - persistent low cloud everyday, but harrier sightings have...

Spring is here! I'm so excited, the hills are coming alive again with our breeding birds beginning to return to the fells. I should start the 2012 breeding season blogs by introducing our new seasonal warden here in Bowland. Mick Demain has joined the RSPB team and brings with him extensive knowledge...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 for all your name suggestions, we've decided to go with the inspired suggestion of Martin - Hen harrier en français is Busard Saint-Martin! Martin © Stephen Murphy, Natural England. According to the most recent update, Martin is still enjoying northern France, with fixes...

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...

Plenty of hen harrier sightings but still no pair just about sums it up, I'm afraid. We are now in the last chance saloon for this season. Thanks to a remarkably dedicated cohort of volunteers, on-site monitoring has been both thorough and discreet. We have had at least one watcher covertly monitoring...