Red kite killed by illegal pesticides in Nidderdale

A red kite found dead in North Yorkshire had been poisoned by several pesticides, including two illegal ones.

A post-mortem examination showed the legal pesticide bendiocarb, along with the banned substances isofenphos and carbofuran, led to the bird's death.

X-rays of the animal, which was found in Nidderdale in October, also showed it had been shot at least twice.

North Yorkshire Police appealed for anyone with information about the poisoning to get in touch.

A spokesperson said: "The test results suggest that someone not only has access to two illegal poisons but it also placing them, along with a legal pesticide, into the environment so that a wild bird has been able to consume them."

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Campaign to create turtle dove habitats in North Yorkshire

6 May 2019

Farmers in North Yorkshire are being encouraged to create habitats in a bid to save the turtle dove.

Population of the small bird has declined in the UK by 95% since the 1970s, according to the RSPB.

The North York Moors National Park Authority, which is running the project, said there were fewer than 100 nesting birds in Yorkshire.

Project Officer Richard Baines said: "We've now got to a point where we're rescuing the species."

The North Yorkshire Turtle Dove Project, which involves several organisations including the RSPB, Forestry Commission and Scarborough Borough Council, is training land owners and encouraging them to plant specific seeds to increase areas of habitat for the birds.

Turtle doves feed on seeds including those of fumitory, knotgrass, chickweed, oilseed rape and cereal grains.

"We want farmers to sow a special seed mix by broadcasting it on a special plot they've created, which will grow specific flowers that will come up the following year and provide fantastic food for turtle doves," said Mr Baines.

The RSPB said a lack of seed food on farmland in the summer and habitat loss had resulted in a reduction of nesting attempts during the birds' breeding season.

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RSPB launches North Yorkshire bird hotline to protect threatened hen harrier from persecution

Published: 12:57Monday 01 April 2019

A telephone hotline has been set up to report sightings in North Yorkshire of a bird that is threatened with extinction.

The RSPB hopes that by doing so, they will be able to act on information from people who spend time on remote hills and moorlands and protect the breeding sites of hen harriers.

Conservationists believe there is enough suitable habitat in England for around 300 pairs of breeding hen harriers, but only nine successful nests were recorded nationally last year - none of which were in North Yorkshire.

The RSPB claims that hen harriers are teetering on the verge of extinction in England because they are being illegally killed for predating on red grouse, populations of which are needed for driven grouse shooting.

Amanda Miller, the charity’s conservation manager for northern England, said: “We are asking farmers, wildlife watchers, walkers, fell runners, mountain bikers and anyone else who spends a lot of time in the hills of North Yorkshire to keep an eye out for hen harriers and let us know if they see one.

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Bird of prey disappears in suspicious circumstances

Published by Minster FM News at 1:31pm 21st January 2019.

The police and the RSPB are investigating the sudden disappearance of yet another satellite tagged hen harrier in North Yorkshire, the county with the worst reputation for bird of prey persecution.

The bird, named River, was one of several hen harrier chicks in England fitted with a satellite tag as part of the RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE project last summer.

These lightweight tags allow the RSPB to monitor the birds after they fledge.

Her tag’s last known transmission came from a driven grouse moor between Colsterdale and Nidderdale – an area with a history of bird of prey persecution – on 14 November.

She was known to have been hunting and roosting in the area for several weeks. RSPB Investigations staff and North Yorkshire Police searched the area, but there was no sign of the bird or the tag. She has not been heard from since.

All birds of prey are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail. North Yorkshire Police investigated the disappearance, but no information has been forthcoming.

Hen harriers are rare birds which nest in moorland, especially in the uplands of Northern England and Scotland. However just nine nests were recorded in England last year, despite enough prey and habitat to support over 300 pairs. They have not successfully bred in North Yorkshire since 2007.

Over 30 hen harriers were tagged last summer in the UK. Between August and November 2018, nine of these, including a 10th bird tagged in 2017, disappeared at different locations in the UK.

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Bird of prey 'killed by poisoned bait'

2nd May

Simon Walton

A RED kite found in the North Yorkshire countryside was killed by poison bait, it has been confirmed.

The bird of prey was found just outside Ferrensby between Knaresborough and Boroughbridge in December. Tests have now confirmed high levels of chloralose, a pesticide, in its kidney - meaning it is likely the bird ate bait laced with the poison.

Sergeant Kevin Kelly, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, said: "North Yorkshire’s wonderful countryside is host to many specially-protected birds of prey, including red kites. It is completely unacceptable that people think they can ignore the law and subject these birds to poisonings and other forms of persecution without consequence."

“Like other forms of rural crime, raptor persecution is not a problem that the police can tackle alone. If everyone keeps their eyes open for illegal traps and poisoned bait, it will be a massive boost to our surveillance operation."

The bird would have succumbed within a few minutes of eating the poison, but could have carried the bait some distance before eating it so the location it found the carcase is unknown.

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Police crackdown on North Yorkshire bird of prey killings

17 February 2018

Police have joined forces with wildlife experts to combat bird of prey killings in the county with the UK's worst record for attacks.

Operation Owl will see officers in North Yorkshire sent to "persecution hotspots" to try and catch offenders.

As part of the campaign, the RSPB has launched a hotline to allow people to report incidents in confidence.

Its latest figures show 54 attacks were reported in the county between 2012 and 2016 - by far the worst area in the UK.

A report by the RSPB claimed many of the incidents were on "land managed for driven grouse shooting".

It cited an incident in 2016 when a gamekeeper on a grouse shooting estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park received a police caution after admitting setting three pole traps.

The RSPB said that in 2016, confirmed incidents in North Yorkshire included four shot buzzards, four shot red kites, two poisoned red kites, a shot peregrine, a buzzard nest destruction and seven incidents relating to the illegal use of spring traps.

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Anger as county’s bird of prey death toll soars

1 day ago / Janet Gleeson, 

NORTH Yorkshire’s reputation as the worst county in the country for the persecution of birds of prey has been further cemented after it emerged a sparrowhawk has been gunned down. 

Police said the latest casualty was targeted in the High Waistgate area at Feldom, near Richmond, close to the Marske to Newsham road, as The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the killings were becoming an increasing concern. 

The charity has revealed in the last decade more than 100 birds of prey have been deliberately targeted in the county. 

The sparrowhawk was found dead in the last week of April. In the same area last year a buzzard’s nest was found demolished. 

Tests were carried out by a local vet for the police and x-rays of the bird found it had been shot, with gunshot pellets found in the Sparrowhawk’s body and wings 

Wildlife crime officer PC Mark Wood said: “Killing a bird of prey like this is an offence, and I am appealing to anyone who knows anything about this incident to come forward.” 

The death comes just six weeks after a red kite, was found with lead shot in its body in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, near Greenhow, in Nidderdale. It was the ninth killed in the region in the past few months and the sixth in North Yorkshire. 

In February, another red kite was found with its wing shattered by shot near Harrogate. 

Jenny Shelton, investigations liaison officer for the RSPB, said: “This sparrowhawk is yet another victim in a shocking catalogue of incidents of bird of prey persecution in North Yorkshire. In the last ten years there have been 105 confirmed raptor persecution incidents in North Yorkshire, making it consistently the worst county for crimes against birds of prey. Red kites, owls and buzzards are also being targeted. Sparrowhawks are exciting birds to see and bring a touch of drama when they swoop in on a seemingly tranquil garden scene. Unlike most birds of prey, these are raptors you might see from your kitchen window as they ambush a flock of unsuspecting sparrows, their yellow eyes flashing. This latest incident shows how wildlife crime doesn’t just affect rare birds in remote places, but garden favourites like the sparrowhawk. It is a big problem and causing increasing local concern, it simply cannot continue.’ 

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North Yorkshire tops RSPB’s bird crime league table of shame

February 4, 2017 in News

 

North Yorkshire has the worst record for crimes against birds of prey in the country, according to a new report by the RSPB.

Of the 242 incidents reported across England in 2015, 40 were in North Yorkshire – more than any other county, the charity’s Birdcrime 2015 report found.

Birdcrime 2015 reveals that there were six confirmed incidents against raptors in North Yorkshire including a poisoned red kite, a poisoned buzzard, a shot tawny owl, a shot buzzard and a shot kestrel.

The report also highlighted an incident in November last year when news emerged that a satellite tagged hen harrier, named Rowan, was found dead with injuries consistent with being shot in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Only three pairs of hen harriers successfully bred in England in 2016, despite there being enough suitable habitat to support over 300 pairs.

Another incident featured in the report in the Richmondshire area was the discovery of a hidden cache of pesticides in Arkengarthdale which the charity claimed was being used for the poisoning of wildlife.

The cache was hidden underground in a small forestry plantation on Hurst Moor, a driven grouse moor which forms part of the East Arkengarthdale Estate.

A suspect was identified from camera footage obtained by the RSPB and North Yorkshire Police.

A gamekeeper was arrested in connction with the discovery but charges were never brought.

Despite raptor persecution being identified as one of the UK government’s top wildlife crime priorities in 2009, the persecution of birds of prey still remains an issue of serious concern with around 590 birds of prey nationally having been confirmed poisoned, shot, trapped or destroyed in the last six years, the RSPB said.

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