After a long summer, Dr Cathleen Thomas, Senior Project Manager for the Hen Harrier LIFE project is delighted to introduce you to the hen harrier class of 2019!
It's been a busy time for the project team this summer, protecting and monitoring hen harrier nests across England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. We've tentatively watched as our tagged birds have taken flight and once they leave their nesting area, we’ll be adding twelve of them to our website, so you can follow their progress. Keep watching for updates to the map at RSPB Hen Harrier LIFE and see how they’re doing. But for now, here's your first glimpse of this year's hen harriers!
Apollo
Apollo is a male hen harrier, tagged in the Forest of Bowland, one of 22 chicks to fledge from five nests in this area in 2019. Our team worked round the clock to protect the young birds.
Cyan
Cyan is a female bird, tagged in the Forest of Bowland. She and her siblings fledged from the United Utilities estate, who strive to achieve a balance between encouraging public access and protecting water quality, wildlife and habitats. We have been working in successful partnership with UU for years.
Tornado
Tornado is a young male tagged in Northumberland. He fledged from a nest in a national nature reserve, on land owned and managed by Forestry England. We’re very grateful for the support of the Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection Partnership, who helped us to protect and monitor Tornado’s nest, particularly those at Forestry England and Natural England.
Ada
Ada is a young female who fledged from a nest in the Scottish borders along with her two brothers. We look forward to seeing her journey unfold as she leaves the national nature reserve and heads out into the world.
Oscar
Oscar is a male hen harrier who, along with his brother, fledged from a nest that is part of the small hen harrier population remaining in the Scottish borders. We are very grateful to the Lothian & Borders raptor study group who monitored the nest and arranged for us to tag the chicks.
Marko
Marko is a male hen harrier who fledged from a nest on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate. This is the fourth summer that we’ve tagged young birds at Mar Lodge, and we’re incredibly grateful for the team’s support.
Sheba
Sheba is a female hen harrier tagged on a privately owned estate in Argyll. It’s the first time the landowners have seen hen harriers, and they’re just as excited as we are to follow her progress.
Mary
Mary is a female hen harrier who fledged alongside her sister from a nest on the Isle of Man. We’re very grateful to the staff at Manx Birdlife and the Isle of Man government for helping to monitor the nest and allowing us to visit it.
Maye
Maye is a female bird tagged on the Isle of Man. We’re worried because the Manx population of hen harriers is declining and we’re not sure why. We hope that by tagging Maye and other Manx birds we can better understand what’s happening to them and help the government and Manx Birdlife to protect them.
Gryf
Gryf is a male hen harrier who fledged from a nest in North Wales. His name means ‘strong’ in Welsh.
Angharad
Angharad is a female bird who fledged from a Welsh nest. We’re incredibly grateful to our colleagues and volunteers at RSPB Cymru who kept an eye on the nests for us, as well as the landowners who allowed us access. We hope to understand more about the lives of these birds.