• Hen Harrier “Lad” found dead on Speyside

    Bea Ayling

    By Ian Thomson, Head of Investigations, Scotland

    Lad was a male hen harrier who was fitted with a LIFE+ Project satellite tag by licensed RSPB staff on 16th July 2015, a few days before he fledged from a nest on an estate owned by Wildland Ltd in the Cairngorms National Park, in southern Inverness-shire.

    After fledging in late July, Lad stayed close to the nest area until the last week of August, when he then moved…

  • Nile the hen harrier helps the conservation of his species

    Bea Ayling

    Last summer, we fitted a satellite tag to a male hen harrier chick at a nest in Northumberland. He was named Nile by our Investigations team. We were able to track his movements south to Salisbury Plain over the autumn, and along with records from the Wiltshire Ornithological Society, his tag revealed new winter roosting and foraging areas for hen harriers in the area.

    Nile with his satellite tag fitted (photo credit…

  • National Hen Harrier Survey 2016

    Bea Ayling

    Guest blog by Simon Wotton, RSPB Conservation Science

    There will be a full survey of breeding hen harriers in the UK and Isle of Man in 2016.  The last national survey of this UK red-listed species of conservation concern was in 2010, when the population was estimated at 662 territorial pairs (95% confidence interval, 576–770), an 18% decline in the population between 2004 and 2010. The population decreased in parts of…

  • Hen Harriers - Heaven Scent

    Bea Ayling

    Guest blog by Paul Morton – Lush Campaigns, to celebrate raising £100,000 for satellite tagging of hen harriers over the coming years.

    It’s always good to start off a story with a bit of nostalgia, especially when one of your favourite birds is involved. Baz Luhrmann (remember him? No? Sunscreen? oh never mind) famously philosophised that nostalgia is a form of advice that you drag up from the past and distribute…

  • Countryfile Conservation Success of the Year: the hen harrier

    Bea Ayling

    As some of you may be aware, the hen harrier was awarded Countryfile’s Conservation Success of the Year last month: http://www.countryfile.com/explore-countryside/places/wildlife-success-story-year-201516

    Birders Against Wildlife Crime (BAWC) received the award on behalf of the species for their hard work raising awareness of the birds’ plight at their conference in Bristol last weekend.

    Here is a photo…