Bowland Betty and other.Crimes against Wildlife.

In 2011 a female Hen Harrier named  BOWLAND BETTY was raised in the Trough of Bowland Lancashire. She was fitted with a satalite  tag and monitored for the next few months as she travelled as far as Caithness in Scotland. In July 2012 her tag showed no signs of movement over Thorny grain moor  Yorkshire. A well kept grouse moor. Her body was recovered on the 5th July 2012 and sent to the Zoological Society London.After examination it was discovered that she had a fractured leg and traces of lead shot were found around the fracture. Betty is one of a few Harriers that have gone missing in this area lately....though i am not sure of the exact number at the moment i think it is 9 in two years but i will heck and double check before posting again. Natural England receive millions of pounds in funding to look after these birds but for some reason stay silent on this subject at the moment !

 

Copy and paste this      http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/tests-reveal-that-rare-bird-of-prey--was-shot-illegally-8397633.html.

 

if you can not make the link type into google...Independent Hen Harrier  Charlie Cooper
 

Today 08/01/2013 I wrote to the Home Secretary Theresa May MP and my local Mp Graham Jones.

I asked them where they stood on the plight of the Hen Harrier in England, the decline in funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit in England and what was being done about the use of Carbofuran and those caught in possession of this substance.

 

Carbofuran was banned in 2001. it is a toxic pesticide that affects the respiratory system. It is used to lace carcasses and kills indiscriminately ...it will, if digested shut down the respiratory system and suffocate the victim.In 2012 several convictions were made against gamekeepers and estate workers caught using this poison. The birds killed through the use of Carbofuran include Golden Eagle, Red Kite , Buzzard, and Raven

 

A dead Golden eagle found on the slopes of Beinn Udlaidh near the Bridge of Orchy, this bird was killed by a poisoned bait containing Carboforan.

 

 

 

Dead Golden eagles found
Police were alerted to the estate in east Sutherland - a popular venue for celebrity weddings and recently seen by viewers of TV series Masterchef - on 5th May 2010, following the discovery of a dead golden eagle by a group of hill-walkers. Unbeknown to the group, less than two miles away, another dead eagle had been found only three days previously which was also reported to the authorities.
A further visit by Police, assisted by RSPB Scotland staff, to the estate resulted in the recovery of a dead red grouse - a suspected poisoned bait - staked to the ground, nearby lay the body of a sparrowhawk and buzzard, while just a few hundreds metres away lay the contorted body of a third golden eagle.

 

 

A Great Start to the New Year .

" Birding Beyond Blighty "                 7th January 2013

Hi, and welcome to my blog. 
This is new ground for me and my very first posting. I am hoping to build this blog into the future and share some things that are close to my heart. I hope that I can post what others find interesting and also useful.

Apart from birding I will be adding posts on photography, links to other blogs, and i hope lots of interesting stuff !

" Anyway enough about me " !  Lets look at some birds !

1st January 2013. Fylde area Lancashire.

The first day of any new year is a busy day for lots of Birdwatchers, its the start of a new year and therefore  new birding lists. Its a mad rush for some to get off to a good start, its a ritual its a bit of fun.
Myself I had been watching the Fylde bird club sightings report and some interesting birds had been seen in the Pilling, Garstang, Fleetwood area.




 

Towards the end of 2012 i had been given some good information by 3 Fylde birders ...Phil West, George and Kevin ( statler and waldorf), about possible Short eared Owls and possible Harriers hunting in a certain area.
This was my choice of location and I arrived early, as i pulled into the lay-by I glanced over to my far left and i could make out in the distance a Short Eared Owl hunting over the rough arable field....I hadn't even switched the engine off. I watched for a minute before loosing sight beyond the far hedgerow. Topping up my travel mug from my flask i scanned the fields around me. Within 10 minutes of being out of the car i glanced over the same field where i had seen the SEO, and for a moment I thought the bird had returned....but as i raised my bins and focused i could see a graceful female Hen Harrier was floating over the rough grass. I raised my camera in the hope of a record shot but shooting a brown distant bird against a brown/grey background was never going to work....never mind.  Two quality raptors in under 20 minutes...we are doing well !
Phil West pulled in at the side and i took great delight in telling him what he had just missed....yes... i am very kind like that !

Click for larger view.

We hung around for a good hour or so and had a small flock of Long tailed tits flit around us and  plenty of Pink footed geese fly high over us.


Phil noticed quite a way off in front of us that a large flock of Lapwings had risen off the ground, he also suspected that maybe we had more bird activity a couple of fields beyond us....but we had to drive about 3 miles to get to this point...we did.

Arriving at the new area i noticed the light was better from here...and we picked up a few Grey Partridge and the odd Greylag goose. We were lucky when we got a fly-by Peregrine Falcon and caught a Song Thrush and 2 Pied Wagtails.
Scanning with the scope i picked up a distant white blob on a fence post..Phil was 70-80 yards to my right...I gestured to him that i had a probable Barn owl...he gestured back at me to stay low and keep low behind the hedgerow that we were both using as cover....i crept over and he had a Barn Owl hunting just in front of him....it came closer ...and then a tad closer...perfect....beautiful.
We rattled off lots of shots and as the Owl drifted away we compared shots...smiling at our good fortune.

click for larger view

We had a few minutes scanning around us picking up Meadow pipits and distant Buzzards. After a short while we both focused on a flock of 20 gulls slowly descending from the north towards us....one bird at the rear of the flock looking very un gull like....as the gulls carried on south the rear bird started to drift over the fields to our right....like a prima ballerina....gliding and floating with the greatest of ease.....a male Hen harrier....Glorious..superb...choose your own superlative...
Not as kind as the Barn owl we managed decent shots....it was now 11am...i had had some of the best raptors in england and some decent photographs as well.....roll on 2013 !

Male Hen harrier.Click for larger view.

One of the most precious birds for most birdwatchers to observe is the Hen Harrier....difficult to track and find and also in terrible decline...sightings are rare ! The female is brown and a beautiful bird but the male is stricking, pale grey with a white ring around the rump....wing tips look like they are dipped in ink....they are probably one of most sought after sightings for any birder.