The disappearance of a rare bird of prey in County Durham has been described as a “huge blow”.
Durham Constabulary and the RSPB are appealing for information after a protected hen harrier disappeared in the North Pennines in January. Known for their acrobatic “sky dancing” courtship display, hen harriers celebrated a successful year at Geltsdale Reserve on the border of Northumberland and Cumbria in 2024 – though only 25 nests were successful across the whole of England.
The young female hatched on a Scottish nest in 2024 and was named Red by local schoolchildren. She was fitted with a satellite tag in 2024 as part of an RSPB programme to gather more information about this rare and persecuted species.
The tags, fitted when birds are in the nest, are worn like tiny rucksacks and continue to transmit even after a bird dies. After fledging her nest, Red flew into England and spent winter in the North Pennines.
On January 15, her tag showed her to be roosting on a grouse moor near Hamsterley Forest. After this, the daily transmissions unexpectedly ceased.
Durham Constabulary carried out a search of the area but found no sign of the bird or the tag. Another hen harrier, Sia, disappeared in a similarly suspicious circumstances nearby in 2022. Her tag had also been functioning normally until that point.
Howard Jones, RSPB senior investigations officer, said: “The disappearance of Red is a huge blow for a struggling species where every bird counts. Should a tagged bird die, its tag would continue transmitting, allowing us to recover the body.
“This was not the case, which strongly suggests human interference. This latest incident follows a clear pattern of Hen Harriers disappearing on driven grouse moors.
“It’s overwhelmingly clear that action must be taken to protect these birds in these landscapes. Licensing of driven grouse shooting estates must be implemented to ensure all estates are operating within the law, and to protect birds like Hen Harriers from persistent persecution.”
Previously, a scientific study published in the journal Biological Conservation found that survival rates of hen harriers were “unusually low” and illegal killing was identified as a major cause. The RSPB is urging the government to introduce a licensing scheme for grouse and gamebird shooting, as is now law in Scotland, where if criminal activity – such as raptor persecution – is detected on an estate, then the licence can be removed.
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community for all the latest news County Durham news sent direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/hen-harrier-disappears-police-appeal-31043499
