The Bowland Eagle Owls – Protection or Manipulated Management?

It is understandable opinions towards the presence of the Eagle Owl at the heart of Lancashire’s Forest of Bowland are likely to be extremely polarized, generating hostile feelings from the shooting fraternity and from some ornithologists who believe the Eagle Owl is an alien and intrusive species to our countryside. One gamekeeper recently remarked  “what shall we do when there are hundreds of the buggers nesting on our grouse moors? ” It is almost certain there are now more nesting pairs of eagle owls in England than there are hen harriers.

The Eagle Owl has been resident in the Forest of Bowland since the late 1990’s. Although no proof exists, it is thought the original birds were escapees, or had been released after their owners had tired of them. There has been a long standing claim that one of the owls from the breeding pair was observed wearing falconer’s jesses attached to one leg – this is simply untrue. The present pair are thought to be second or possibly even third generation decedents from those original birds.

In March 2005 it was rumoured a nest had been found in the Dunsop valley from which a clutch of eggs may have been removed. However, as far as I am aware the first confirmed nest containing eggs was located in March 2006. The nest holding 4 eggs was positioned on a rocky ledge on the side of a narrow stream gully. After contractors installing stock fencing along the top of the breeding gully caused disturbance, the eggs were abandoned. An additional tree site which had certainly been used by nesting Eagle Owls within the last few years was also found abandoned recently in an adjoining valley. The decomposed remains of a dead Eagle Owl were discovered on the ground below the nest.

In 2007 a clutch of 4 eggs was laid at a new site located on the side of a heather covered stream bank below an estate access road used daily by dozens of walkers and farm vehicles without incident. On this occasion because the nest was only discovered after 3 of the 4 eggs had hatched, 3 chicks successfully fledged from the site. At a second nest in the same year a few hundred metres away,  4 additional eggs were found smashed in the nest. There were no obvious signs of the adult owls at this second site which was curious. In 2008 a pair of owls returned to the suspected 2005 nesting location where they laid a clutch of 4 eggs. Disappointingly after the police had entered  the nest to security mark the eggs just 2 eggs hatched resulting in only two chicks being reared that season.

I will now move on to the 2009 breeding season where the saga becomes one of poor judgment, arrogance and irresponsibility on the part of the police and landowner. This year raptor workers were determined to try and prevent any further eggs being marked and therefore approached United Utilities to voice their concerns. The eagle owl is one species which if disturbed at the nest containing eggs or small young has a well known tendency to desert. Best practice stipulates at such a critical period, nest visits should at all costs be avoided. The following e-mail was sent out by United Utilities at the beginning of the 2009 breeding season reminding members of their protocol partnership, which included the police, of the need for caution giving hope common sense may prevail –

“Whilst this is not a schedule 1 species, and nest visits are not restricted as such by law, eagle owls are known to be sensitive to disturbance and unnecessary nest visits should be avoided. Please follow the protocol.”

United Utilities field protocol applies to all partner members, and includes the following clause:-  ”the best interests of the birds must be placed first.”

In an attempt to prevent a repeat of the events of the previous year when half the marked eggs failed to hatch, representations by the BTO eagle owl co-ordinator together with additional raptor experts were made to the United Utility’s acting Catchment Manager asking that this year’s clutch of eggs should under no circumstances be marked. In addition to holding a face to face meeting, the following written advice was also sent to the acting Catchment manger after it appeared the advice given was falling upon deaf ears:

 10^th February 2009

 “I would be failing my conscience if I did not ask you to consider the potential consequences carefully of permitting anyone to enter the Eagle Owl nest area to mark the eggs. I have already advised xxxxx  xxxxx of the known dangers of flushing an incubating Eagle Owl from her eggs at such a critical period. To undertake this extremely risky activity for any reason goes against all accepted expert advice. In addition flushing an Eagle Owl from her eggs goes against all accepted best practice and is a measure not to be taken lightly.”

 “While I accept no firm decision has been taken at this stage, please bear in mind the potential political ramifications if the marking receives the green light from United Utilities and the eggs do not hatch or the nest is then deserted (a very likely outcome). Irrespective of who is to blame, any resulting publicity, which is certain to follow such a predicted possibility would damage the image of United Utilities not that of the police.”

 “One other important aspect to consider, although the Eagle Owl is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is a species with low legal status here in the UK. Anyone can legally visit an Eagle Owl nest, irrespective of any protection measures put in place. I would ask you is it worth marking the eggs, when anyone caught stealing the eggs would face only limited retribution from the law? Personally I do not think the risks are worth taking. In the final analysis if the eggs are marked and the nest is successful that is one thing, however if for any reason the eggs did not hatch or the female deserts her nest after the eggs had been marked United Utilities would be seen to be a fault however good any intentions had been.”

Needless to say advice given was totally disregarded by United Utilities following a recommendation by the  Wildlife Liaison Officer who insisted two of his civilian assistants would enter the nest in early March to mark any eggs found. As predicted the pair of eagle owls deserted their nest containing 3 eggs. The police have subsequently denied any responsibility for what happened, at first implying incorrectly raptor workers may have been to the nest. After proof was supplied which disproved such an assumption, the police changed tact insisting the nest had already been entered by a third party before they arrived. What is very curious, is that a request by two eagle owl experts to over-see the police nest visit from a safe distance was refused. In an extraordinary move just three days later the police assistants were instructed to return to the nest and remove the three eggs for scientific examination. In an article written in the Shooting times the Wildlife Liaison Officer stated “over disturbance is also a well-known reason for failure. One eagle owl nest site in Bowland was attracting more than 200 visitors per day. How can this possibly benefit the birds?” 

It is difficult to understand the level of manpower and financial resources being expended upon the eagle owls by the police.  Although the eagle owl is certainly protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act,  it is not regarded as a true British species and therefore is not classified as a schedule 1 bird. As such anyone can visit a nest without fear of  prosecution, on the other hand just visiting for example the nest of a hen harrier or peregrine falcon (both schedule 1 species) can result in a £5000 fine or custodial sentence.  I would ask what are the objectives of the current police involvement, and what advantages have been achieved so far, bearing in mind since the egg marking scheme was introduced, only 3 chicks out of 9 fertile eggs laid managed to hatch! More significantly why are the police showing little or no interest in the illegal persecution of schedule 1 raptors on nearby private shooting estates  identified by this web site and also to the police? If anyone is caught stealing  eagle owl eggs or interfering with their nest, a small fine is the most likely consequence together with possibly community service, hardly justification for all the police man power and resources being lavished in this instance. To place the current situation into context, it’s like choosing to turn a blind eye to bank robbery, instead applying all resources  into investigating shop lifting.

Follow this link to see what the RSPB have to say in their statement on the Eagle Owl in Britain

http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/species/nonnative/eagleowls.asp

Following the abandonment of the first nest this year the pair of owls, unknown to the police, completed their clutch by laying an additional 2 eggs close by at a second nesting site. For very good reasons the  location of this nest was not divulged to the police. After Tony Warburton’s (Director of the World Owl Centre) timely intervention a sensible protocol was agreed whereby two members of the local raptor group were appointed to visit the second nest, which incidentally they had discovered, at such time as it was judged safe to do so.  By the time the nest was examined it contained a well developed 3 week old owlet and therefore sensible disturbance was no longer a threat. Later that same month the chick was rung by a member of the Northern England Raptor Forum and successfully fledged from the nest without any further problems. It is interesting that an offer made by the World Owl Centre to sponsor a 24/7 watch over next years nest made to United Utilities was not taken up by the company.

From the moment the nest was known to have been deserted, United Utilities supported by their partners, decided perhaps in their own interests, to keep quiet and say nothing about what had taken place. Local raptor group members  were completely shut out and given no information or explanation of what had taken place, making a bad situation much worse. Of course the detail of the failed operation began to trickle out in dribs and drabs after a week or so, but the actions of the co-conspirators is most reprehensible, especially as your previous contributor has correctly pointed out, the 3 eggs were removed from the nest illegally by inexperienced civilians working on behalf of the Wildlife Liaison Officer who, for whatever reason,  failed to supervise this delicate and ill-advised operation. In view of the disregard for the expert advice predicting what was likely to happen and the United  Utility’s own field protocol  conditions of  “best practice”,  the interests of the breeding eagle owls appears to have been of little or no consequence!