Hen Harriers fail to nest in the North East

Nov 2 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

THE perilous position of a threatened bird of prey in the North East has worsened, it has been revealed.

There were no successful hen harrier nests in the region this year, according to the RSPB and Natural England’s hen harrier recovery project. One pair of harriers was seen in Northumberland, but the birds did not nest.

In England there were only six successful nests – the worst hen harrier breeding figures since monitoring work began in 2002. This compares to last year when there were 10 nests and 14 in 2007. The status of the hen harrier as an English breeding bird is now on the brink, say the RSPB and Natural England.

While there is no evidence of illegal killing or nest destruction associated with this year’s breeding failures, illegal persecution has led to today’s critically low breeding numbers and patchy distribution.

As a result, hen harriers are even more vulnerable to chance natural events.

In 2007 and 2008, one pair of hen harriers nested successfully in North Tynedale, with shifts of volunteers providing a 24-hour guard.

In 2006 a pair also nested successfully at Geltsdale on the Northumberland-Cumbria border, again with a round-the-clock watch.

Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s director of conservation, said: “We always feared that with hen harrier numbers kept so low, the English population was extremely vulnerable to a bad year like this.