Missing hen harrier in South West Northumberland

A satellite tag fitted to a female hen harrier has stopped transmitting in South West Northumberland.

On Friday 5 March the RSPB reported that a satellite tag fitted to a female hen harrier, that had been tagged as a chick in Scotland in 2020, had last transmitted on 24 February to the south of Haltwhistle in Northumberland.

Enquiries and a search by the RSPB of the area of the last transmission have failed to trace the bird.

Chris Woodley-Stewart, Director of the North Pennines AONB Partnership, said: “Though we very much hope this bird can be located alive and well, the kind of transmitter fitted to it is reliable and a ‘sudden stop’ like this is unusual. This gives serious cause for concern about the bird’s fate. Tagged harriers disappearing in such circumstances isn’t an isolated occurrence, sadly. The tag on this particular bird last transmitted between the North Pennines AONB and the Northumberland National Park, and it’s spent a lot of time gracing local moors this winter, and using a well-known local roost site. In situations like this it’s always important to try and get as much information as possible, as early as possible, so we’d urge anyone in the area who knows anything about what might have happened to this bird to come forward to the Police now.”

If anyone has any information that may assist in finding this bird or explaining her disappearance they should contact Northumbria Police quoting log 285 050321.