In many ways, the fortunes for birds of prey have improved over the last 30 years – so some such as the red kite, buzzard and peregrine very much so. And that is an important context to remember when our attention turns to the fate of hen harriers in England – take the pressure off and birds of prey will bounce back.
Every year we put out a story about the outcome of the breeding season, and it has developed a familiar pattern – quite a good year in the Forest of Bowland (at least in terms of the numbers of young produced) and grim everywhere else, overall only seven successful nests, with five in Bowland.
The Forest of Bowland is one of my favourite places – I hold it in great affection not just because it is a lovely place but long ago (1982 to be precise), I started working there for the RSPB. My mission was to work with the landowners, then the North West Water Authority (NWWA), to protect the hen harriers that were nesting on their patch. It was a good year for Bowland’s harriers, the fine spring and summer enabled them to fledge plenty of young – the picture below was taken then and all of them fledged successfully. And, crucially – and more important than the good weather, they were not threatened by human intolerance. The reason NWWA had started working with us was because of the exposure of illegal persecution on their land.
The North West Water Authority has been transmogrified over the decades into United Utilities and we are still working closely with them. Their commitment to the harriers of Bowland is, in no small part, one of the reasons we still have nesting hen harriers in England.
Elsewhere in England? Utter frustration. Occasionally pairs are successful, but the pattern is one that indicates the birds are still not tolerated. But just to repeat the point I made at the start, changing attitudes do change the future for birds of prey.
Side shows will come along – currently there is concern that eagle owls establishing breeding sites in the uplands will add further pressure on the English hen harriers. When all your eggs are in one basket, it may not help to have an eagle owl sitting in it too – but let’s not be deflected, the reason that our English uplands are not graced by hen harriers is because of systematic intolerance.
You can read more about this story here and on Mark Avery’s blog, here.
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