If you missed the Country File programme of two nights ago dealing with the illegal persection of Goshawks in Devon, you can catch up by viewing the item on the BBC iplayer by clicking the link below. The item begins towards the end of the programme, just slide the bar at the bottom of the screen until you reach 51.14 seconds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01hz3s8/Countryfile_13_05_2012/ .
There has been ONE case of a falconry related taking of Peregrines in the last ten years, maybe longer,and that was by a non UK national so comments about falconers being a threat to Peregrines is incorrect and highly unjust.
Pity the the police officer didn’t mention that the only reason Goshawks are breeding again in the UK is because of falconers.
I have offered to breed Peregrines for release and the same could be done with Goshawks but have been turned down by both JNCC and SNH, in my opinion they dont want large populations of raptors in the British countryside otherwise they would be taking the present persecution more seriously.
Editor’s Comment. Your comments have merit and we are fully aware that the dedicated falconer is now no longer a threat to UK raptor populations. In other European countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, falconers wourk along side raptor conservation organisations, pity that is not allowed to happen here in the UK.
To the editor, neither falconers, nor falconry have EVER been a threat to ANY species of eagle, hawk or falcon. Throughout history, up until 1954, falconers took the birds they needed from nests that they had known and guarded for decades. Merlins and sparrow hawks were often released back to the wild after a seasons hawking. Goshawks would often be lost and revert back to their wild state, swelling the population. Pesticides and the shooting fraternity were always the enemies of raptors, with falconers shouting the loudest in favour of these birds.
However, falconers then went a giant step further by showing that all kinds of eagles, hawks, buzzards, falcons and owls could be bred in captivity, and the offspring used to restock suitable habitats. This is REAL conservation, as opposed to whining and droning on about how bad things were, but doing little to improve things in any practical way.
Editor’s Comment.Doug we could not agree more with all you have stated.
As I write this post, there are camera’s monitoring the nests of goshawks and sea eagles, both as a direct result of falconry and falconers. Goshawks were officially extinct in the UK until falconers re-introduced them, whilst the re-introduction of sea eagles was only successful when falconers methods of “hacking back” were used. This strategy was NOT used with the first batch of young eagles and the attempt failed miserably resulting in the deaths of the birds within weeks.
Most falconers are more than happy to work with raptor biologists and with advances in captive breeding pioneered by falconers there is no reason any raptor species should become extinct as long as habitat exists for it.
If any raptor species is threatened in this country it’s because government scientific advisors dont have the knowledge falconers have and I believe feel threatened by the fact that falconers can address the collapse of a certain raptor population through nest management or captive breeding. If English Nature (Natural England) were serious about saving the Harriers they wouldn’t even leave eggs out on hillsides to be destroyed by people who dont want them there, they would hatch them in captivity, rear them and hack them back into safe areas until the population numbers were up.
The only conservation I see is civil servants conserving their salaries.
Falcoscot, very interesting point! Can you confirm that fertile HH eggs could be “harvested” from Wild clutches in high population areas, blind reared, then released onto Moors on low pop areas? Would they “heft” to that Moor and return to breed, because this is the key issue? Surely this system would be considerably cheaper than the enormous amounts of money thrown at the issue so far?
I have a friend/associate that is a falconer and an avian vet, he did a lot of training in America and I must say that from the discussions we have had on the subject it sounds as though falconry and raptor conservation work together much better in the US.
At the end of the day I think most falconers have a healthy interest in wild raptors, certainly the few I have met have been fantastic in their support for monitoring of raptors and their interest in the well being of the birds is second to none. Conservation I am sure has benefited greatly from the skills and knowledge of falconers and falconery over the years, and could and should continue to do so, to my mind there is no reason why these two things shouldn’t work together if it improves the chances for raptors in the UK where they are being systematically wiped out.
Editor’s Comment. When the North West Raptor Group first introduced 24 hour peregrine nests watches in 1967,the only people to provide assistance were several concerned falconers. Interesting situation in the late 1980′s when the RSPB withdrew support for these initiatives after concluding peregrines were now so common such assistance was no longer required. It seems odd therefore that Bowland RSPB should support Natural England’s removal of peregrine licenses for use withing Bowland where they are needed more than ever, but then issue the group licenses for use in Cumbrian where this year peregrines are doing very well.
I know the fantastic work captive breeding has done for raptor conservation but surely in the case of Hen Harriers it would be a waste of time and money if we released captive bred birds into a currently unstable environment. I’m sure the grouse shooting fraternity would go up in arms! Its a delicate situation and I believe the answer at the moment is tougher sentences and better working relationships, releasing Harriers would only sour said relationships.
Dunsop, birds of prey have incredible instinct, I believe that if HH were hacked using falconry hacking methods and hence supported through the first few weeks of the life in the air that instinct would teach them to hunt and fend for themselves after a period of time and then go onto breed in a totally natural way. We should be considering egg manipulation of Scottish nests in order to provide a surplus to restock Englands population.
Jim, I feel that if the enemies of raptors saw that they could not wipe them out because we could repopulate areas where they were being persecuted they would have to review their own management of their shooting estates. Grouse can be bred and released, they dont want to do it because it means the keepers are tied to a rearing field all summer. I dont think even many estate owners know that grouse can be reared like pheasants because they are kept in the dark.
I’m not even sure that our scientific bodies want large populations of raptors because there are some very powerful, wealthy people close to government who dont want large populations of wild raptors but the fact is we can have as many raptors in our skies as we wish, they just need to be MANAGED correctly, and that means “hands on” management, certainly when a species like the HH is in the situation it is now, protection is not enough to pull these birds back from the brink !
I’ve been talking to SNH about manageing Peregrine nests that have a history of low productivity or nest sites that are prone to persecutions, I want to hack back half of what I save and use the other half to create a captive bred population controlled by a stud book so falconers have access to native Peregrines and we have a documented British captive population that can be used for re-introduction should the need arise. SNH are not interested, even though the Birds Directive and the CMS directs them to support this, they have even said Peregrines dont require conservation measures although they are on Schedule I and are still suffering terrible persecution in some areas.
All I see and hear is more of the same old thing from the “scientists”, believe me, if raptor groups could work side by side with falconers then our raptors populations would benefit ten fold but I’m sure there are people or groups out there that wouldn’t want that, AND from this side of the fence.
Editor’s comment, Falcoscot, thanks for these enlighteneing comments…….It seems conservation in the UK is also in the dark ages just like raptor persecution. Manipulation of peregrine eggs was suggested nealy forty years ago here in the NW of England, they would not hear of it then so why would we expect them to accept it now.
Conservation IS in the dark ages and not just in this country, Cites prevents conservation efforts by private individuals and it is quite often they who have the experience and knowledge to do something positive. Take the USFWS project to save the Californian Condor, the birds they produced for their re-introduction cost one MILLION dollars each, that’s what happens when government run these type of projects and the same is happening here.
70 to 80% of all raptors perish in their first winter,many even dont make it out of the nest, if we cant make use of this surplus to counteract the persecution then there is something seriously wrong and government should set up a public enquirey or a working group to find the answer to why our raptor populatiion is still suffering.