Having been sunburnt whilst walking in the Mamores over the weekend, I spent yesterday in the sunshine at the Langholm Moor Demonstration project.  Didn't you know - it is always sunny in the hills of Scotland.  

It was a privilege to be able to visit a site that I had heard so much about.

Given the conflict that has existed between driven grouse moors and birds of prey, I wanted to see for myself what Langholm was trying to achieve.

The RSPB is one of the sponsors and I was impressed by the enthusiasm, dedication and collaborative nature of the project.

Its aims are clear and worth repeating here:

- to establish a commercially viable driven grouse moor. Within the timeframe of the project, it is the intention to sell driven grouse days producing an annual income in excess of £100,000.

- to restore an important site for nature conservation to favourable condition

- to seek to demonstrate whether the needs of an economically viable grouse moor can be met alongside the conservation needs of protected raptors, especially the hen harrier.

We are in the fourth year of the project and we are closely monitoring the populations of red grouse and hen harrer.  With population of hen harriers declining (tragically down to 4 pairs in England), we need to find solutions quickly.

Given the nature of my visit, it was a treat to see a pair of hen harriers out and about foraging for food for their chicks. It was unclear whether they were taking food from one of the diversionary feeding stations - a measure that has been shown to work but unfortunately has not yet been taken on elsewhere.

What is clear, though, is that it would be great to see this majestic bird recover throughout its range.