The RSPB Investigations Team has recently welcomed a new Raptor Officer to their ranks.

Niall Owen

Niall Owen has taken up the post of RSPB Cymru Raptor Officer in a new Welsh government-funded role, in a clear joint statement of intent in the fight against raptor persecution in Wales.

Niall is a keen wildlife photographer with a wealth of knowledge and passion for birds of prey, and has already began undertaking fieldwork…

The RSPB have issued the following press release:

Greater Manchester Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a buzzard was found shot near Diggle, in the Peak District National Park, on 11 May 2020.

The buzzard had to be euthanized due to the extent of its injuries

A member of the public found the bird dying on the ground and contacted the RSPB. However it had to be euthanized at a vets the next morning…

By Howard Jones, RSPB Investigations Officer

You’ll probably know as well as we do that helping to catch those responsible for killing raptors is no easy task. We might have a body, we might find an illegally set trap, but all too often the person responsible walks free.

At the end of last year (2019), we became aware of an incident in the Forest of Bowland: a reliable witness gave an account of seeing someone shoot…

North Yorkshire regularly emerges as the worst county in England for the illegal killing of birds of prey. In the past seven years, RSPB data shows that more protected raptors like red kites and buzzards have been shot, trapped and poisoned here than anywhere else.

Within North Yorkshire, the countryside around Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale – which is heavily dominated by driven grouse shooting – is a particular blackspot…

• The RSPB has received a surge in reports of birds of prey being illegally killed since lockdown began 
• The majority of incidents have been on or close to sporting estates managed for game bird shooting 
• The public are being asked to stay vigilant and report crimes against birds of prey 

The RSPB’s Investigations Unit has been ‘overrun’ with reports of birds of prey being illegally killed in recent weeks. 

…

The RSPB has just issued the following press release:

Durham Police, the RSPB, the North Pennines AONB Partnership and Friends of Red Kites are appealing for information following the disappearance of a red kite in County Durham.

KK being tagged as a chick

The young bird was fitted with a satellite tag at Rowlands Gill, near Gateshead in June 2019 by Friends of Red Kites (FoRK) with NERF support. It has been monitored…

Police and the RSPB are appealing for information regarding the shooting of one red kite, and the suspected shooting of two more in Wales.

The third bird, found by Iolo Williams

A protected red kite was found shot dead in Tregynon, near Newtown, Powys on Sunday 19 April 2020. At least two more are suspected to have been illegally killed in the area, which is managed for pheasant shooting.

A local woman found the two dead…

The RSPB has just issued this press release:

Devon and Cornwall Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a protected sparrowhawk was found illegally shot near Plymouth.

The female bird was discovered alive but injured in a paddock in Tamerton Foliot, Plymouth. Seeing it was unable to fly, the finder recovered the bird and contacted the police on 2 February 2020.

The bird was x-rayed by Westmoor Veterinary…

We have just issued the following press release:

Police and the RSPB are investigating the illegal killing of two protected wild birds of prey.

A red kite was found dead in a field in Wigmore, Herefordshire on New Years Eve 2019 by a member of the public. The RSPB and West Mercia Police were notified. When the police collected the bird, they noticed a large hole in the bird’s body.

The RSPB arranged for a post…

The following press release has just been issued by the RSPB.

The man was caught on camera shooting at the hawk from a garden fence

• Yovanis Cruz, who keeps racing pigeons, admitted killing the protected hawk by firing ball bearings at it with a catapult after it attacked one of his birds
• The crime was caught on CCTV by a neighbour’s camera
• Cruz, who ‘acted without mercy’, was fined £801 at Portsmouth Magistrates…

Today the RSPB has released further data revealing more clearly than ever where the raptor persecution blackspots in the UK occur.

Map 2, showing raptor persecution blackspots

Readers of this blog will know that birds of prey (raptors) are sadly routinely being illegally shot, trapped and poisoned, and that often this is associated with driven grouse shooting.

The Raptor Persecution Map Hub, which was launched in 2018…

Do government General Licences which allow lethal control of certain bird species using cage traps afford enough protection to birds of prey? With the General Licences for bird control currently under scrutiny, and the English ones due to expire at the end of February 2020, we believe this is an opportunity to ensure the system keeps protected birds of prey safe.

In February last year the newly formed not for-profit organisation…

The RSPB has just issued the following press release:

• The female bird, named Mary, had been fitted with a satellite tracking device.
• The bird’s body was found dead beside a pigeon and meat baits laced with poison.
• Conservationists unite in condemnation of this appalling crime and call for a thorough and transparent investigation.

A rare, protected bird of prey has been illegally poisoned near Drumconrath in…

Police and the RSPB are appealing for information about three potentially shot kestrels (two confirmed), which have come to light since Christmas.

Photo: Vale Wildlife

The most recent was found in Newent, Gloucestershire. Two members of the public heard a shot and saw the bird fall from the sky at the junction of Strawberry Hill, Tewkesbury Road and Ford House Lane, by the entrance to a caravan/camping site, on 12 January…

We have just issued the following press release:

 

A protected bird of prey has been illegally poisoned in one of the UK’s worst raptor persecution blackspots.

In April 2019 a member of the public found a buzzard freshly dead in woodland near Tintwistle, just north of Valehouse Reservoir, in the Peak District National Park. Close by were the remains of a red-legged partridge.

A post-mortem and toxicology tests under…

We look back over the stand-out moments of 2019, from low points to positive steps. A huge thanks to all who have supported us in our mission to end raptor persecution.

 

A golden eagle was photographed with a trap on its leg in August 

2019 has been a year in which the conversation surrounding grouse moor management has gained more momentum. Voices have grown louder, with illegal raptor persecution and the environmental…

The RSPB is part of a Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), chaired by Chief Superintendent Nick Lyall.

All partners in the group have been encouraged to submit a six-month return, highlighting what they have done to forward the aims of the group in combating raptor persecution in England and Wales. 

Ours follows the police's 'PIE' model, covering off prevention, intelligence and enforcement.

You…

Today we have issued this press release regarding a red kite found poisoned in Nidderdale:

A red kite in flight, c Tim Melling

North Yorkshire Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after a protected red kite was found poisoned in an area of North Yorkshire with the worst record for the illegal killing of birds of prey in England.

A member of the public found the bird dead under a tree in Blazefield, just…

A man who kicked a gull to death was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail last week. But it raises the question: Is the killing of birds of prey such as buzzards, goshawks and owls not a crime worthy of jail, too?

The dead gull, credit RSPCA

The event, which took place in May 2019 in the Welsh town of Tonypandy, was caught on CCTV camera. On 30 October 2019 Andrew Lee Jones admitted to killing the lesser black-backed gull contrary…

The latest technology is being harnessed to help fight raptor crime in Northern Ireland.

The Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Northern Ireland (PAW NI) has launched ‘Hawk-Eyes’: a new project involving the tracking and surveillance of red kites, buzzards and peregrine falcons.

‘Hawk-Eyes’ is about raising awareness about the illegal activity affecting birds of prey in Northern Ireland, including…

It was midnight on Cape Pyla. Under a full moon and starlit sky the insects chirred in the darkness. From the top of the old watchtower, the city lights of Larnaca and Ayia Napa flickered in the distance.

This watchtower lies within Eastern Sovereign Base Area (ESBA), one of two British military bases on the island. During the Second World War it was used by the British to watch for enemy ships and planes. In more recent…

Once persecuted to extinction, white-tailed eagles are making a comeback in Scotland, following several reintroduction projects dating back over 40 years. And recently, some young white-tailed eagles have also been released in the south of England.  

These huge, majestic birds are protected by law. However the threat of illegal killing still looms large.

In July this year (2019) two young white-tailed eagles, fitted, under…

Recent events recorded by RSPB Investigations, BirdLife partners and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) suggest the authorities in the Republic of Cyprus are wilfully turning a blind eye to large scale illegal bird trapping. 

Cyprus may seem like an idyllic holiday destination to some, but for birds like blackcaps, redstarts and garden warblers, it’s far from paradise. Here, a culture of illegal bird trapping…

Over the weekend of 21-22 September, the RSPB joined up with police around the country to promote the initiative ‘Operation Owl’. The weekend was designed to raise raptor persecution awareness, encourage people to report potential raptor crimes, and to speak up if they have information about people in their communities killing birds of prey.

In the UK all wild birds, their nests and their eggs are protected…

In January 2019 RSPB Investigations recorded this footage of a buzzard caught in a crow trap on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire.