Illegal Bird Deaths Continue to Rise in UK

Cases of the illegal persecution of British birds are continuing to rise, according to the latest figures from the RSPB. The Birdcrime report, published on Friday, shows there were 208 reports of the shooting and destruction of birds of prey in 2012, including confirmed shootings of 15 buzzards, five sparrowhawks and four peregrine falcons.

In the same year there were more than 70 reported poisoning incidents including nine buzzards and seven red kites, the report found. But the numbers of poisoning incidents has fallen in recent years, with 101 reports in 2011, 128 in 2010 and 153 in 2009. The RSPB said it was difficult to tell whether there was a decline in poisoning overall because not all incidents are reported, although there were early signs in Scotland that the number of incidents were fewer. This is possibly due to the introduction of the offence of vicarious liability, where employers and landowners are held legally responsible for the wildlife crimes committed by their employees.

 “Levels of reporting could potentially be less but the real numbers may be higher as many incidents are likely to go unnoticed and unreported,” said an RSPB spokesman.

Some areas of the UK’s countryside including parts of the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland have become “no-fly zones” for birds of prey, the report warned, with grouse moors the key issue affecting some bird of prey populations. The intensively managed upland has prevented the populations of species such as the golden eagle and hen harrier from occupying parts of their natural range, especially in England.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s director of conservation, said: “There are few sights in nature as breathtaking as witnessing a peregrine stooping or hen harriers sky-dancing. These are sights we should all be able to enjoy when visiting our uplands. However, these magnificent birds are being removed from parts of our countryside where they should be flourishing.”

The report comes at the end of the first year since the 1960s in which hen harriers failed to breed successfully in England – despite enough suitable habitat to support more than 300 pairs. Just two pairs attempted to nest this year in England, but both failed.

Harper said current legislation was failing to protect the hen harrier. “The absence of successfully breeding hen harriers in England this year is a stain on the conscience of the country. It is therefore vitally important that the government brings forward changes to wildlife law in England and Wales that deliver an effective and enforceable legal framework for the protection of wildlife.”

Birds of prey have been protected by law in the UK since 1954. But the current laws regulating wildlife are spread over a collection of acts dating back to 1829, resulting in a legal landscape that has been called “out of date, confused and often contradictory”.

In 2011 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs tasked the law commission with a review of UK wildlife law. In October, the independent body set out its proposed principles, which will be published as final recommendations for a draft bill in summer 2014. They included measures to bring into line with EU regulations the rules on the killing and capture of wild birds, extending criminal liability to those who ultimately benefit from wildlife crime and introducing stronger penalties. Most wildlife crimes committed in the UK carry a maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000.

The RSPB said it was “heartened” by some of the commission’s recommendations, but called for the introduction of vicarious liability throughout the country to punish employers whose staff commit wildlife crimes. This may already be having some deterrent effect in Scotland with a reduction in the number of confirmed poisoning incidents, it said.

Nothing Glorious about the Twelfth

As expected there has been an abundance of correspondence in the press about the Glorious Twelfth, a rather inapt name for the day when many individuals, often untrained and inexperienced, invade the countryside to kill and, worse still, to injure wildlife - wildlife managed solely for this purpose. It is well documented that the suffering inflicted on wildlife in many cases surpasses the shooting itself. It is also a fact that a large number of native birds and mammals who interfere with grouse shooting are trapped, poisoned or snared. Victims include stoats, weasels and raptors such as hen harriers, red kites and golden eagles.

Mind you, Adrian Blackmore, Head of the shooting campaign, Countryside Alliance, completely refutes such inflammatory comments as unfair and misleading. Well, he would wouldn't he?

There is no doubt that careful grouse moor management does help many other species of birds, including waders. But there is no doubt that the biggest problem associated with driven grouse shooting  is the number of natural predators that are illegally killed to support the artificial environment of the grouse moor. The illegal killing of raptors happens, despite what Mr Blackmore says, and does nothing to help legitimate shooting, which is more and more populated by tweed-clad gentry who can afford to spend £1,000s on his/her 'sport'.

The illegal killing of birds of prey is rife in the Scottish uplands. What a pity that Mr Blackmore won't acknowledge that and do much more to improve the image of legitimate shooting.

The Red Grouse

Hen Harrier Under Threat of Extinction in Britain

The "Glorious 12th" is imminent - the 12th August when the annual grouse-shooting season starts. It will also mark the ongoing acrimonious row between conservationists and the body that represents English and Welsh grouse moorland owners.

England has just two pairs of breeding Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus remaining and, according to the RSPB, these birds failed this year to produce eggs for the first time in 60 years. The Hen Harrier is now on the point of extinction thanks to gamekeepers working for rogue moorland estate owners who have systematically persecuted these birds to protect baby grouse that live on the moors. These people should respect the law that protects these birds - but clearly they don't. The government's own wildlife advisers say that the harrier population has been forced into this precarious position by illegal killing by shooting and trapping.

The Hen Harrier is a large bird of prey and its breathtaking aerobatics are a joy to watch. In my birding life I have seen this once only and the tragedy is that I will probably not have the chance ever again owing to the actions of a ruthless few.

In 2007 there were 15 breeding pairs in England and the RSPB has argued that English moorland could support more than 300 pairs.

I fear it is too late for this magnificent raptor....