Missing hen harrier in the North Pennines AONB

27 November 2019

It has been announced that yet another satellite-tagged hen harrier has gone ‘missing’ in the North Pennines, the second this year, after a bird that had been part of the ‘brood management’ trial disappeared in County Durham in September. The tracker of this latest missing bird last gave a signal on moors east of Allendale in Northumberland, on 10 October.

As we’ve said before, juvenile mortality in raptors is common, but the trackers used on these birds are sophisticated and, though not infallible, are generally reliable. On birds that have been killed by predators or died from other natural causes/accidents, the trackers usually continue to give out a signal, facilitating their recovery; in this case the tracker and the bird have not been recovered.

Though rushing to judgement isn’t wise, and we still hope it turns up safe and well (as a missing harrier in north Northumberland did recently), there is also the possibility that a crime has been committed in relation to this bird. Northumbria Police and the RSPB have issued a call for information and we want to amplify that. If you have evidence of any illegal activity relating to this matter, we urge you to contact Northumbria Police on 101 quoting incident number 499 13/10.

In September we hosted a full day raptor crime training session with four police forces, aided by the RSPB, the North East Raptor Forum (NERF) and the Raby Estate. Police are better informed than ever about raptor crime, understand its importance and are eager to stamp it out.

Should this bird be re-found alive, it would be great news. If it has died a natural or accidental death, this is sad but not uncommon. If a crime is ultimately found to have been committed then there can be no excuse for this and every effort must be made to bring a prosecution.

We always urge people to keep a keen eye out for hen harrier in the North Pennines and report any sightings to NERF and the RSPB. The RSPB’s hen harrier hotline can be contacted on 0845 4600121.