Bowland hen harrier chicks give 'hope for future'

12 June 2019

The hatching of hen harrier chicks at nests on a private estate for the second year running "gives hope for the future", the RSPB has said.

The charity said it found the hatchlings in four nests on the Bowland Estate in Lancashire's Ribble Valley.

Project officer James Bray said as hen harriers were in severe decline, the birds had been "closely" monitored.

The total number of chicks was unknown, but it was hoped there would be more than the 13 born in 2018, he added.

The beauty spot used to be known as England's last remaining stronghold for breeding hen harriers but 2018 was the first time they had nested since 2015.

The RSPB said the bird of prey was "on the edge of extinction in England", adding that there were only 617 reported breeding pairs across the UK.

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Hen Harriers breed in Bowland

07/06/2018

Hen Harrier has bred in Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, for the first time since 2015.

RSPB wardens discovered two Hen Harrier nests on the United Utilities Bowland Estate in early spring and have been monitoring them closely ever since. The nests were visited recently by the wardens under licence, who were delighted to find four healthy chicks in each of them. A single male harrier has fathered young at both nests and is now regularly taking food to each.

The good news makes a welcome change to the procession of reports of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers either killed or disappearing in unexplained circumstances.

Hen Harrier remains on the verge of extinction as a breeding bird in England owing to the continuous illegal persecution of the species associated with driven grouse shooting. Although experts estimate there is sufficient habitat for at least 300 pairs across northern England, last year there were only three successful nests in the whole country. Bowland used to be known as England's last remaining stronghold for breeding Hen Harriers, but both 2016 and 2017 proved blank years after just a single chick fledged in 2015.

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