Decoy used for harrier persecution?
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An armed man has been photographed and filmed using a fake Hen Harrier on a driven grouse moor in the Peak District.
In an astonishing revelation on the Raptor Persecution website, film and images show a man with a rifle or shotgun hiding in the heather, apparently attempting to use a fake male Hen Harrier to lure in others to within range on a driven grouse moor in Derbyshire’s Peak District National Park.
On Wednesday 24 February, two birders out on the moors looking for a reported ring-tailed Hen Harrier spotted what they thought was a perched male of the species about half a mile away. While observing the ‘bird’, one of the birders noted that: “An armed man dressed in camouflage has just jumped up in the heather no more than 10-20 m from the bird.”
Further scanning revealed the man crouching down again and also a green Land Rover parked about 500 m away. The man was filmed using one of the birders’ digiscoping equipment, but then appeared to notice that he was being watched. He quickly packed away the fake harrier and walked in the opposite direction to the observers.
It is not known what the man was actually doing with the decoy, but the gun in his possession would suggest that his intentions were not altruistic. The names of the observers and the estate itself must remain anonymous, but it can be revealed that Derbyshire police have investigated the incident and are taking no further action. The estate is a National Trust property in the Peak District NP and the NT has stated that it will now conduct its own investigation, though the charity has come under criticism before for its apparent inability to control illegal raptor persecution on its land. Ironically, the estate is also apparently part of the Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative, set up to help boost bird of prey numbers, though with disappointing results so far.
Five male Hen Harriers disappeared last year, causing their nests to fail, and perversely this has been used as evidence against conservationists by some sources in the shooting industry, despite the likelihood of the disappearances being due to persecution. Shootings and poisonings are the main causes of the deaths of otherwise healthy raptors in the English and Scottish uplands, and while there is no concrete evidence that the man filmed was in the process of committing a crime, we may also have just gained an insight into the methods sometimes used to get close enough to the birds to kill them.
For more, read the Raptor Persecution website.
Birdwatch columnist Mark Avery has collated comments on this alarming occurrence on his blog.
In an astonishing revelation on the Raptor Persecution website, film and images show a man with a rifle or shotgun hiding in the heather, apparently attempting to use a fake male Hen Harrier to lure in others to within range on a driven grouse moor in Derbyshire’s Peak District National Park.
On Wednesday 24 February, two birders out on the moors looking for a reported ring-tailed Hen Harrier spotted what they thought was a perched male of the species about half a mile away. While observing the ‘bird’, one of the birders noted that: “An armed man dressed in camouflage has just jumped up in the heather no more than 10-20 m from the bird.”
Further scanning revealed the man crouching down again and also a green Land Rover parked about 500 m away. The man was filmed using one of the birders’ digiscoping equipment, but then appeared to notice that he was being watched. He quickly packed away the fake harrier and walked in the opposite direction to the observers.
It is not known what the man was actually doing with the decoy, but the gun in his possession would suggest that his intentions were not altruistic. The names of the observers and the estate itself must remain anonymous, but it can be revealed that Derbyshire police have investigated the incident and are taking no further action. The estate is a National Trust property in the Peak District NP and the NT has stated that it will now conduct its own investigation, though the charity has come under criticism before for its apparent inability to control illegal raptor persecution on its land. Ironically, the estate is also apparently part of the Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative, set up to help boost bird of prey numbers, though with disappointing results so far.
Five male Hen Harriers disappeared last year, causing their nests to fail, and perversely this has been used as evidence against conservationists by some sources in the shooting industry, despite the likelihood of the disappearances being due to persecution. Shootings and poisonings are the main causes of the deaths of otherwise healthy raptors in the English and Scottish uplands, and while there is no concrete evidence that the man filmed was in the process of committing a crime, we may also have just gained an insight into the methods sometimes used to get close enough to the birds to kill them.
For more, read the Raptor Persecution website.
Birdwatch columnist Mark Avery has collated comments on this alarming occurrence on his blog.