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Forest of Bowland, including West Lancashire
The 2010 season has been one of the most unusual, not least because Natural England found itself in the invidious position of having to respond to complaints made to its licensing office about the activities of the Lancashire Police Wildlife Crime Officer (WLCO) Pc Duncan Thomas, on whom they are reliant for assistance in the delivery of enforcement in respect of the criminal breaches of wildlife legislation in Lancashire.
The inappropriate behaviour complained of by the local raptor group was non-compliance by the WLCO in relation to his disturbance licence conditions, which is a breach of the wildlife legislation that he is expected to enforce, hence the difficulty.
Natural England responded to the complaint by writing to the officer concerned reminding him of the necessity to adhere to the conditions of his police disturbance licence. It is believed that this is the first time that Natural England has had to issue such a reminder to a serving WLCO and hopefully it will be the last.
The disturbance licence issued to all Wildlife Crime Officers can only be used for the purpose of visiting Schedule 1 nests to prevent and detect criminal offences only. Without explanation this officer had initiated visits to nest sites for what could only be described as monitoring purposes, which is operating outside the licence conditions.
As part of the process of trying to resolve concerns raised by the complainant, methodology changes were put in place by NE as a possible way forward in resolving these issues. NE decided to place 4 peregrine nests under the supervision of Lancashire’s WLCO for the duration of the breeding season. This was undertaken in the form of a field protocol.
Nineteen white-tailed sea eagles, gifted to Scotland as part of a reintroduction programme, have been released into the wild from a secret location in Fife. The birds arrived from Norway in June for the fourth year of the East Scotland Sea Eagle reintroduction project, a partnership scheme between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland. Since their arrival, the birds have been reared in specially built aviaries until they were old enough to fledge. They will now join Scotland’s growing white-tailed eagle population and help restore this species to parts of their former range in the east of Scotland.
Continue reading Nineteen new Sea-Eagles from Norway released into Fife
Judge Christopher Hodson today at Warwick Crown Court sentenced Mr. Jeffrey Lendrum to 30 months in prison. Lendrum, 48, from York Close, Towcester, Northamptonshire, was found in possession of 14 peregrine falcon eggs wrapped in socks and strapped to his body when he was detained on 3 May at Birmingham International Airport . The 14 eggs had been stolen by Lendrum from four separate peregrine nests in South Wales. Investigators believe they were stolen to order for an Arab falconer in Dubai and were valued at £70,000 on the black market.
Continue reading Smuggler jailed for £70k peregrine falcon egg theft
Everyone should take the time to read what, according to the Guardian Friday 13th, the Conservative/Liberal partnership have in store for our environment and Wildlife Heritage. The sell-off plan highlight the extreme lengths being considered to meet the government’s demands to slash environmental spending. According to John Vidal, Severin Carroll and Juliette Jowit the authors of the article ” it is perhaps the most dramatic plan being suggested, but by no means the only one which has created deep concern about the future of the nation’s countryside and natural world”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/13/crown-jewels-britains-landscape-sold
Continue reading ‘Crown jewels’ of Britain’s landscape could be sold off
The government-funded organisation Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) has just published its latest report on the illegal poisoning of wildlife, including raptors, in Scotland during 2009.
Continue reading The Poisoning of Raptors in Scotland continues
Before reading this article Raptor Politics consider it appropriate to issue the following important statement: The inappropriate use of rodenticides (containing anticoagulants) are the greatest potential threat to raptor species in the UK at the present time. A Species at particular risk, as highlighted below by recent events in Scotland, is the Red Kite because of the kite’s dependency to feed on carrion. Other raptors at risk are Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle and of course Hen Harrier. It is more appropriate we feel to make a separate reference to two of Britain’s most important vermin control species, the Barn Owl and Polecat, which would undoubtedly be placed at a higher risk by the indiscriminate and irresponsible use of rodenticides within the farming community.
In the wrong hands these highly toxic and dangerous substances, which can be purchased over the counter and retained in large quantities without a licence by the public, could theoretically be used to wipe out total raptor populations in our country. This year so far 10 Red Kite chicks have been recovered dead from a minimum of 4 nests on Scotland’s Black Isle, all displaying typical symptoms of rodenticides poisoning. These figures are of particular concern to Scottish conservationists like Brian Etheridge as they represent 10% of the 39 successful nests found this year and the 88 young that reached tagging age of 5 weeks on the Black Isle this year. Of course the losses could be higher if any adult kites from the four nests have also been poisoned.
Continue reading Ten Scottish Red kite chicks fall victim to 2nd generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides!
A pair of red kites who became well-known to tourists and animal lovers have been found dead.
Numerous visitors travelled to the kites’ nesting site near Whittonstall, Northumberland, last year, where they were clearly visible at long-range for several months.
Continue reading Red Kites recovered dead in Northumberland
It’s the big attraction for birders, but the eagle Owl could be made officially unwelcome in the UK.
The latest update regarding the possible fate of Eagle Owls resident in the UK has been published in the September edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine. We enclose a summary to allow each of our readers to judge for themselves the consequences of what may or may not happen following the publication of the ongoing Defra review, the results of which are due later this year.
Continue reading Defra – Will a cull of UK Eagle Owls be approved?
This year there were three confirmed breeding attempts made by Eagle Owls in Lancashire’s Forest of Bowland, but only one pair succeeded in raising a complete brood of three owlets. Two new nests were found; one on the 5 April on the Abbeystead Estate, owned by the Duke of Westminster, contained a single abandoned egg and one on the 14 April containing 3 eggs located on moorland owned by United Utilities Plc. For the fifth successive year the resident pair was again located in the Dunsop Valley. It is we feel significant that after the police were instructed to stay away from both pairs of eagle owls this season, each pair at least successfully hatched their 3 eggs.
Continue reading Bowland Eagle Owls – A tragedy which should never have been allowed to happen!
Students of history will be familiar with “The Enlightenment”, a period in the 18th Century when reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority.
Being fogbound for the last three days has caused me to contemplate a few questions relating to our current core values in the UK with respect to its wildlife and whether we’re making progress or even holding the line of good reason. Recent results from the RSPB outlining the number of raptor persecution incidents in 2009, coupled with reportage of increases in 2010, even at this stage of the year, can only generate pessimism. Raptor persecution is one of the most prominent “thorny problems” of the modern age. In tropical areas big cats, rampaging elephants in crops and other species have often been the focus of mans’ retaliatory revenge where personal safety or economic security has been involved. Outside of this the gratuitous killing of wildlife for pleasure has been much reduced nowadays, but persecution based on prejudice, often in pursuance of self interest, still remains. Such is the case in the UK where certain avian raptors are seen to jeopardise the production of game birds, vast numbers of which are simply destined to provide pleasure for a minority of shooting enthusiasts.
Continue reading The New Enlightenment!
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The 2010 season has been one of the most unusual, not least because Natural England found itself in the invidious position of having to respond to complaints made to its licensing office about the activities of the Lancashire Police Wildlife Crime Officer (WLCO) Pc Duncan Thomas, on whom they are reliant for assistance in the delivery of enforcement in respect of the criminal breaches of wildlife legislation in Lancashire.
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