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Hen Harrier: was a golden opportunity lost by not satellite tagging all harriers at Langholm this season?

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Already we have seen a number of this year’s young harriers leaving Langholm for pastures new. Annie one of two tagged harriers is reported to have flown 85 km across the border into Northumberland and is currently residing SW of Wooler. It appears that so far there has been no available data from Sid’s satellite tag, the second tagged harrier. We eagerly await to learn of the whereabouts of Sid in due course. What has been achieved at Langholm this year just goes to show what can happen when persecution is eliminated completely. No one,even members of the shooting industry, should have any lingering doubts about that. We do feel however that by failing to satellite tag all 47 Langholm chicks a golden opportunity has been missed.

 Fitting-Satellite-Tag

Steve Murphy the National Hen Harrier Coordinator fitting a satellite tag to a hen harrier chick

With such a large group of fledged harriers to study this would have enabled scientists to reach a better understanding of the levels of persecution hen harrier were still facing. There is now little chance of establishing this information, because if high numbers of this years un-tagged harriers disappear we are left with assumptions, not knowing if any of these birds are dead or alive. Just think about it for one moment, had all 47 harriers been fitted with satellite tags we would have had an accurate figure of the percentage of harriers which had survived and a percentage of those that disappeared. Without a clear understanding of the threats faced by the 47 Langholm harriers after leaving their natal territories, together with the 10 birds in England, what will be the point of producing more hen harriers in the future if they then all disappear, presumed to have been shot? Addressing this critical issue first must be an over ridding priority, other wise we could could be wasting a lot of effort and money.

It is important we feel to ask the question why were only 2 of the 47 harriers reared at Langholm this summer fitted with satellite tags? It certainly can’t be for the lack of money, as £3.5 million was placed in the kitty to fund the work being undertaken at Langholm. Or is the bulk of this funding been spent on creating a Red Grouse moor and not for Hen Harriers or biodiversity? Remember if Langholm is to become the bench-mark model which all other Red Grouse moors estates adopt and follow, we would not want to see management which then only related to Red Grouse! 

Throughout the last few years we have seen many additional staff being brought in to work in association with the Langolm project. Machinery has been paid for,rent paid for houses on the estate, salaries paid, traps for killing vermin, guns & ammunition, fuel for transport, dead rats and chicks used for diversionary feeding, poisons for killing heather beetle and bracken spray, all add up but was additional funding acquired from land stewardship payments on top of the £3.5 million?

9,5 g satellite

A state of the art satellite tag, could this be the technology which could help the hen harrier? At £3400 each its not a cheap option but it just may help to pay dividends.

We do know the Langholm estate has no intention of loosing out. At the end of this 10 year project, birds of prey undoubtedly will once again be on the menu, removed to to ensure red grouse shooting days will be the priority. The Langholm community has also lost out because of the lack of initiatives to help them gain from the hen harrier project.

The RSPB may be lucky to come out of this with flying colours as harriers will  continue to be killed. Scottish Natural Heritage like their counterpart Natural England continue as puppets under the influence of two governments who have little interest in protecting or enhancing nature on behalf of our two nations.

How many ravens will be legally killed at Langholm next year for no reason?  Will anyone be told of the true outcome of the 47? With so little time left this project is being lost to the masses.


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