Wildlife in the Forest of Bowland A.O.N.B.

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!

© Amy Challis, RSPB 2008.

We'll look forward to seeing you!

* With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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!  

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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. 

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.