Only 7 days to go, we need all the
support we can muster next Sunday 7 August on the green at Dunsop Bridge
in the heart of the Forest of Bowland. They have now killed all the
nesting Hen Harriers and Peregrines in the Forest of Bowland, now the
government’s wildlife advisor Natural England are helping to get rid of
Buzzards as well. Make your voice heard or they will win.
This year’s Hen Harrier Day, organised for a third consecutive year by the North West Raptor Group, will begin at 10.30 in the morning on the village green at Dunsop Bridge, near Clitheroe in the Forest of Bowland on SUNDAY 7 August.
Due to popular demand this years event will culminate in the
early afternoon (from 1pm) with a visit to nearby grouse butts where we
will all enjoy a picnic in a wonderful scenic moorland venue. Please
bring along your own packed lunch and something non alcoholic to drink
for yourself or your group. Unfortunately there will be no views of wild Hen Harriers or Peregrines on this occasion, as both species have been persecuted in Bowland this year to extinction. 2016
is the first year since the second world war that both species have
been absent from the Forest of Bowland in the same year.
A British National Scandal which the media should take on board.
This season, an RSPB spokesperson has admitted not one occupied Hen
Harrier territory has been located in the Forest of Bowland so far this
season. In addition for the first time in living memory,
this year has witnessed all peregrines in the Forest of Bowland
disappearing; between 18-20 missing. This is why our
Forest of Bowland protest is so important this year; if we do not take a
stand condemning the illegal persecution of our Hen Harriers, it now
seems inevitable the species will become extinct in England sooner
rather than later. Please come and support us at Dunsop Bridge and help
to send a strong and clear message to all grouse shooting estates that
the public will no longer tolerate the illegal killing of this and other
iconic raptors on moorland in the heart of England where they should be
safe but clearly are not.
The symbol of a hen harrier has
endured a long and tragic association with the the Forest of Bowland. Of
the 7 breeding attempts made last year by hen harriers in Bowland, only
a single pair were productive fledging a single chick.
This season we are inviting people from all over the country to come
and join us at Dunsop Bridge, near Cltheroe, Lancashire, providing
invaluable support to this important annual event. Dunsop Bridge is
regarded as the village located at the heart of Hen Harrier moorland
where much of today’s persecution of this and other protected raptors is
still taking place with impunity. Please be amongst the first people to
register your intention to join members of the North West Raptor Group
this year by emailing your support to the following address: Bowland-HenHarrier-Demo@sky.co
The Forest of Bowland, Lancashire. Classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Just in case there is anyone not aware of
what happened to Hen Harriers in Lancashire’s Forest of Bowland last
season this is a sad reminder of the reality. Of the 7 Hen Harrier
breeding attempts recorded on the United Utilities Plc estate in 2015,
only a single nesting pair were successful rearing one fledgling. 4 male
Hen Harriers mysteriously disappeared after they had left their
territories to forage for food to feed their mates they had left behind
to incubate clutches of eggs contained within each nest left behind. As a
consequence of the loss of the 4 male Harriers, 4 nests were deserted
containing at least twenty eggs which had been allowed to chill. So this
new killing strategy did not just eliminate 4 male Hen Harriers in
Bowland, it resulted in the loss of up to a further potential twenty Hen
Harriers from the eggs that were found abandoned in nests. One
additional Hen Harrier nest established on moorland on the RSPB
Geltsdale Nature Reserve in the northern Pennines was also abandoned
last season after a fifth male Harrier also disappeared after failing to
return with food to feed his mate. The female also disappeared after
leaving her eggs to forage for food to feed herself.
Raptor Politics will be publishing
additional details in a second Hen Harrier notification nearer the time
to this event, please book mark the 7 August in
your diary. Please can everyone retweet and pass on our invitation to
anyone you think may wish to support this important event.
Jessica holding a captive bred
Eagle Owl at last year’s event. Jessica brought the owl to identify with
the ongoing persecution of eagle owls in the Forest of Bowland
