Raptor Politics

Today we have received a copy of the 2008 report on the illegal killing of birds of prey in Scotland during 2008. You can download the report in PDF format from the link at the bottom of this article.
We are obliged to the RSPB in Scotland for this report, and for permission to publish it [...]

I’ve just seen a copy of a letter from Natural England to the North West Raptor Group – and it beggars belief!
There are some things you need to know about me first. I set this site up initially for the benefit of the North West Raptor Group, for reporting on raptor persecution in the Bowland [...]

by John S.Armitage – out of retirement
Part 1
At the risk of the following article seeming more than a little self orientated I thought that I’d better try and explain why I’ve submitted it. The facts presented speak for themselves, the sentiment behind it is a different matter. An evaluation of the efforts, from a [...]

I remember some years ago an incident in which somebody I knew made allegations of improper behaviour against a police officer. Athough this person was a ‘thoroughly bad lot’, the police dealt with the complaint promptly and in a professionally manner. The officer was cleared of all allegations - and rightly so – but procedures were [...]

Strathclyde Police probe launched over poisoned Golden Eagle.
We have just received information from Scotland that once again a Golden Eagle has been found poisoned, this time in Argyll.
The dead Eagle was found by hill walkers on the slopes of Beinn Udlaidh in the Glen Orchy area on 7 June. The walkers alerted the RSPB who [...]

Thursday 18 June – today field workers visited one of the last peregrine territories in the Forest of Bowland  still containing un-fledged young. The site established on a steep sandstone cliff is located in one of Bowland’s more remote moorland locations and is owned by United Utilities. The site when first examined in the spring contained [...]

Once again, we learn that the police in the Bowland area are using a law designed to deter off-road cars and bikes from causing a nuisance in the countryside for a purpose it was never intended for. Please read this item from the Lancaster and District Birdwatching Society web site relaying information from the Police [...]

Let me tell you a tale. ‘When I were a lad’, I had respect for the law – mainly in the shape of the village bobby. The one in my village only had one eye, so if you were up to no good, it was best to keep on the right side of him – [...]

Two more pigeons have been found staked out at the same location as detailed in our article of May 13th 09. The first pigeon was found by a passer-by and released. Then two days later, another pigeon was found, again at the same location, staked out. Now it’s got full police attention, and this time [...]

Raptor persecution is not only confined to the Forest of Bowland, it has been happening in Cumbria for the whole of the 20th century, but more particularly in the northern Pennines which is the main area for game (grouse) shooting activities. Peregrine falcons that try to establish a breeding territory in the area get very [...]