An update on England’s hen harriers in 2016

In March, I promised (here) to provide an update on the hen harrier breeding season in England. 

I genuinely hoped that this mid-season update would mark the beginning of a turnaround in the fortunes of England’s hen harriers, driven by the positive partnership approach set out in Defra’s hen harrier action plan. Unfortunately, the news on the ground suggests this is shaping up to be very poor year for England’s hen harriers, with only a tiny handful of nesting attempts to date.

Image courtesy of Dom Greves

This is obviously not what we were hoping to report. There are three principal factors which could, to varying degrees, explain the small number of nests this year.

• Weather – various late cold snaps may have hindered the birds’ nesting attempts and successes. While it was a relatively mild winter, it has been a rather cold, late spring in some places. There’s a slim chance we may get a run of late nesting attempts.
• Food supply – in particular, vole numbers. Voles are an important food source for hen harriers early in the breeding season and their populations fluctuate in cycles, with peaks in some years and troughs in others. Fewer voles means fewer successful nests and perhaps fewer territorial pairs. However, vole populations tend to fluctuate on a very local level, so while it may be a factor in some areas, it’s unlikely to be affecting things across the board.
• Direct human interference – there have been worrying incidents, such as a man with a gun being seen with a plastic hen harrier (link), a man cautioned for the use of three illegal pole traps in North Yorkshire near to where a hen harrier was seen flying and numerous incidents of persecution of other birds of prey (link).  I was pleased that to see that the Moorland Association issued a statement condemning this.  In addition, the sudden and unexplained disappearance of another of our satellite tagged hen harriers, Highlander, is also huge cause for concern. Sister to Sky, who disappeared in 2014, and mate to two of the disappeared males from last year, you can read more about her story on our Skydancer blog (here).

And, of course, we know that persecution is the primary reason hen harriers are on the brink in the first place (link).  This is one of the reasons why we continue to call for licensing of driven grouse shooting.  As our Chairman, Professor Steve Ormerod, wrote recently (here in response to a challenge from my predecessor, Mark Avery) we believe that "a tightening up of regulation, with associated penalties and withdrawal of the opportunity to shoot on all areas if breaches are found, will achieve what we want incrementally". 

Perhaps most worrying of all, is anecdotal feedback highlighting a general lack of hen harriers in England (as well as south and east Scotland). It’s not just that hen harriers aren’t breeding successfully, there seems to be a notable absence of birds in many areas where we would expect to see them. This makes it even more important for people to keep their eyes out for hen harriers. Our hen harrier hotline (link) is there to report any sightings.

First reports are also coming in from other areas of the UK through this year’s national hen harrier survey. It’s too early to draw any meaningful conclusions from this, as we are only half way through the survey period.  Anecdotally, it does appear that the season got underway later than usual in Scotland, although birds are nonetheless present in areas which are free from a history of persecution.

A run of late nests might help to turn the situation around and it will be illuminating to see how the year plays out in northern England and south and west Scotland, compared with areas further north.

However, I must stress that, while this picture remains incomplete, the signs are not encouraging. 

The RSPB (through the dedication of staff and volunteers) will continue to work hard to improve the situation including through the RSPB Hen Harrier Life Project. We also remain committed to Defra’s hen harrier action plan. It would be premature to change tack based on early returns from a late season and it is in everyone’s interest for this plan to succeed. It might yet be that late nests save the day and we’re able to point to positive progress come the end of the season. The suspicious incident with the decoy and the pole trapping case were both disappointing and unhelpful in the extreme.  However, the the action plan must deliver results (link) and that means more hen harriers.  

I’ll report back in September when we have a complete picture of how the year has gone. Here’s hoping I’ll be able to relay some more positive news at that point. We'll continue to follow progress closely but, in the meantime, I’m looking forward to being at our Saltholme reserve on Sunday 7 August for one of several Hen Harrier Day events across the UK (events will also be held at our Rainham and Arne reserves).  

Do check out the Birders Against Wildlife Crime website (link) for your nearest event and please come along to show your support for these magnificent birds. Our hen harriers are missing and we want them back.