Investigations

Durham Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a protected Hen Harrier disappeared in suspicious circumstances in County Durham in January: part of a clear pattern of Scottish birds disappearing on or near English grouse moors. 

The young female bird hatched on a Scottish nest in 2024 and was named Red by local schoolchildren. Whilst still a chick, Red was fitted with a satellite tag in 2024 as part of…

We’re not a team that's often associated with good news. When you hear from us, it’s usually because a beautiful bird of prey has been killed in a dreadful way, or another criminal has been handed a fine that feels, let’s say, unsatisfactory. 

But this time we have a reason to celebrate – and it’s thanks to you!  

Last year, we sought funding to secure three vital posts that were up for…

A new and exciting interactive dashboard, allowing the RSPB to share valuable and important information on the outcome of tagged hen harriers.

What is happening to the UK’s Hen Harriers?

It’s a question the RSPB has been trying to answer. In recent years, satellite tagging has helped shine a light on where young Hen Harriers go after fledging and, crucially, the circumstances in which they die or disappear.…

Devon and Cornwall police searching vehicle (credit RSPB Investigations)

• The discovery of a poisoned Buzzard next to a poisoned bait led to the search of a gamebird breeding farm in Chulmleigh, Devon conducted by Devon and Cornwall Police in March 2021.
• A number of pesticides offences were discovered including the presence of Carbofuran, the same highly toxic chemical that had caused the Buzzard’s death
• On 18…

• On 3 May 2024 at Norwich Magistrates Court, Daniel Lingham was given a suspended sentence, after pleading guilty to illegally possessing over 2,000 wild birds’ eggs and stealing eggs from a Nightjar nest
• This was Lingham’s third conviction for offences relating to the taking and possession of wild birds’ eggs
• Over the last 20 years, Lingham has been jailed twice previously after  possessing a total…

• A shot Peregrine was found in early April on Dove Stone nature reserve, land owned by United Utilities and managed in partnership with the RSPB
• Due to the severity of its injuries the Peregrine was euthanised
• This is the latest incident in catalogue of raptor persecution incidents in the Peak District
• The RSPB is appealing to the public for information relating to this incident

The RSPB has offered a £5,000 reward…

• A young Hen Harrier fitted with a satellite-tag to monitor its movements ‘suspiciously disappeared’ in Glen Esk, in the Angus Glens in late February 2024.
• This is the fourth sat-tagged Hen Harrier to have suspiciously disappeared in the area since 2017.
• Hen Harriers are being persecuted across the UK with many confirmed incidents associated with land managed for gamebird shooting.

RSPB Scotland are appealing…

• On 11 December 2023 Timothy Hall and his son, Lewis Hall pleaded guilty to multiple offences relating to the possession and trade of wild Peregrines in Scotland and were both handed community service orders yesterday for these crimes.
• Without the introduction of sentencing guidelines for wildlife crimes offenders will continue to receive penalties which do not reflect the severity of their crimes.
• Peregrine eggs and…

By Will Hayward, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer, Scotland

Since 2014, the RSPB has been fitting satellite transmitters to juvenile birds of prey across the UK to gather information about these magnificent birds. Data gathered from sat-tags have resulted in a better understanding of the ecology of some species, and has unexpectedly shone a light on suspected incidents of persecution. Often, these incidents where protected…

As we step into 2024 with continued commitment to tackling the issue of raptor persecution, it’s worth reflecting on 2023 and the work of the RSPB Investigations Team. Like most years, 2023 was full of highs and lows with the issue of raptor persecution persisting throughout. As seen in previous years, despite their legal protection, certain individuals intentionally and often regularly kill raptors. These incidents largely…

by Andrew Gouldstone, RSPB Ecologist and former Senior Site Manager, Rainham Marshes

The RSPB’s Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve is an important site for wildlife, sitting alongside the River Thames in east London, and inside the orbital M25. It rests in a very urban and industrial landscape, surrounded by housing, industry, transport corridors and a large waste landfill and recycling site.

The reserve itself is…

While we too often come across the bodies - birds either dead or injured containing shot, or caught in traps - it's not often we get a first-hand, eyewitness account of a bird of prey being killed.

Last summer, an individual (who understandably has asked not to be named) had the unhappy experience of seeing a Short-eared Owl shot in front of his eyes while birding on Broomhead Moor in the Peak District. His fast actions…

By Tom Grose, Investigations Officer

Satellite tags have been fantastic for helping to shed light on the lives of a wide variety of animals around the world. One outcome from their use on birds of prey in the UK has highlighted the scale of persecution facing some of these species. A peer-reviewed paper utilising the tagging data of 58 Natural England tagged Hen Harriers was published in 2019. The science showed what was…

By Guy Shorrock, Volunteer with RSPB Investigations

A Herring Gull - a ‘red-listed’ species of high conservation concern (Guy Shorrock)

The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries with huge pressures on existing wildlife populations. Further developments such an Avian Influenza are having devastating impacts for several species including many seabirds. In late 2022, a furore erupted after the RSPB…

This is a story about the illegal use of rodenticides. It is also a story about one particular rodenticide called brodifacoum. There have been some serious incidents where dogs out for walks have died from ingesting brodifacoum due to its illegal use. And the misuse and deliberate abuse of brodifacoum is having a troubling impact on our wildlife too, on a scale not yet fully understood but it is now widely recognised as…

By Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer

On 16 February 2023, Dorset gamekeeper Paul Allen received a 15 week prison sentence (suspended for 12 months) at Weymouth Magistrates Court, Dorset after pleading guilty to the possession of dead raptors and poisons. 

A poisoned Red Kite found next to a dead rat on the Shaftesbury Estate

This investigation was triggered when a walker found a dead Red Kite next to the carcass…

The RSPB Investigations Team has launched a free online learning module for veterinary professionals, to help identify potential incidents of raptor persecution which might otherwise go undetected and unreported.

Raptor persecution (predominantly shooting, trapping and poisoning)  is a UK wildlife crime priority and RSPB Investigations team works closely with enforcement agencies to tackle the issue. 

X-ray of dead raptor…

The RSPB has just issued the following press release:

Widespread shock as five shot Goshawks found dead in Suffolk Forest

• Five dead Goshawks containing multiple pieces of shot found in Suffolk
• The juvenile birds, which probably hatched only last summer, were found dead together in Kings Forest in Suffolk
• The RSPB is offering its highest ever reward - £5,000 - for anyone who has information which leads to a convicti…

By Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer

One of the buzzards found illegally killed at a pheasant shoot in Norfolk

On 5 October 2022 gamekeeper Matthew Stroud was convicted of a litany of offences at Norwich Magistrates Court. He pleaded guilty to the killing six buzzards and a goshawk, placing poisoned baits, possession of the banned poison strychnine hydrochloride and the illegal release of gamebirds onto a Special…

A gamekeeper has been fined for pesticide offences after a shot buzzard, a poisoned red kite, a poison bait and banned pesticides were found on a pheasant shooting estate in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog.

A shot buzzard found dead on the North Wales pheasant shooting estate

On 6 June 2022 at Wrexham Magistrates’, David Matthews - a gamekeeper on the McAlpine Estate - pleaded guilty to one charge relating to the possession…

Gamekeeper Archie Watson 

On 1 June 2022 at Swindon Magistrates’ Court gamekeeper Archie Watson (21) received a 12-month community order to carry out 180 hours unpaid work and told to pay £393 costs for pleading guilty to offences relating to the possession of five buzzards and three red kites. This conviction was the conclusion to a complex multi-agency raptor persecution investigation involving the largest number of…

Image credit: Peak District Raptor Monitoring Group 

The body of the bird was discovered in woodland at Langsett, within the Peak District National Park, an area sadly tainted by systematic raptor persecution

South Yorkshire Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a buzzard was found shot dead in the Peak District National Park.

The body of the bird was discovered in woodland at Flouch, near the popular…

By Katie-Jo Luxton, RSPB Global Conservation Director

A recent UN report, commissioned by Defra, and subsequent responses to Parliamentary Questions continue to cast serious concerns about the resolve of the Westminster government to tackle raptor persecution and other areas of wildlife crime. 

In March last year Defra announced the UK as the first G20 country to have invited a UN-backed assessment of wildlife and forest…

By Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations

Today a gamekeeper has received a total of 20 week’s imprisonment suspended for one year and a £1000 fine after he was caught on camera killing two buzzards in the space of two days, on a pheasant shoot in Nottinghamshire. Investigations Officer Tom Grose takes us through the story, from the beginning.

Shortly before New Year 2021 two members of the public found a live buzzard…

At the end of this month a gamekeeper from Nottinghamshire will be sentenced for several offences including the intentional killing of two common buzzards which were caught in a crow cage trap during harsh weather in January last year. This, and three other recent cases, have once again brought into sharp focus the concerns about the persistent misuse and abuse of these traps for the illegal taking and killing of birds…