The
Peak's missing birds of prey | | Peregrine
Falcon - king of the skies |
Falcons are the toughest, meanest,
hardest birds anywhere on the planet. These are THE birds of prey - a sort
of Vinny Jones of the skies.
And the biggest ones will snack on virtually
anything. Amongst the many marvellous looking birds of prey in Derbyshire
is the Goshawk, weighing in at a two and with a wingspan of a metre and a half.
The
forest is its manor and the birds live off the fat of the land.
So you'd
reckon these birds would have absolutely nothing to fear. Not only do they
rule the roost, they're protected by the law. But the RSPB say in certain
areas these birds are taking a hiding - from humans. Killing protected
birds In a new report the RSPB says that birds of prey are being killed
for sport. The RSPB says that frequently in similar breeding grounds to
Peregrine Falcons, there are locations in the Peak where no young have been raised
since 2000. The RSPB claims that in other sections of the Peak District,
the number of chicks raised is half that of other areas in Britain
Mark
Thomas, a bird specialist, has been investigating. We join him on the hunt
for an elusive pair of Goshawks in the Peak District.
"A lot of people
call them 'the phantom of the forest' because it's this incredibly powerful muscular
bird that can fly at incredible speeds and dash through the canopies they can
eat virtually anything."
But according to the RSPB, in certain parts
of the Peak District, these birds of prey have become the prey themselves. Mark
Avery says that since about 1999 numbers of Goshawks in particular, have plummeted. "They
were doing fine here - in fact the Peak District was a great place to see them,"
he says. "There are still some here but their numbers
have declined in some parts of the Peak District and they've just almost disappeared
from some of those places. "And that's not something we've ever seen
before in any part of the country - there's something very odd going on here."
Game
shooting?
What the RSPB are alleging is quite simple - that people
are deliberately killing birds of prey.
A RSPB says, "Most of the
people who've been prosecuted successfully, most of them have been closely associated
with game shooting. "And I'm not saying they're all at it, but that's
where I'd look first."
The RSPB reckon its another bird that can explain
this trend - the Red Grouse. People pay thousands of pounds for the privilege
of shooting them.
Birds of prey eat grouse so fewer grouse means a worse
day for the shooter.
We spoke to a gamekeeper, who isn't based in the
Peak District, but he confirmed that keepers were being pushed to 'deal' with
birds of prey. He didn't want to be identified and we've recreated his
comments: "I got to the stage where I was basically told that if I'd
done it, I might be able to keep my job. "But I've never done it -
I just refused to do it and after that, well, things started to get nasty, you
know.
"One day we were out and a Golden Eagle was flying about, and
he went beserk at me. "He said how embarrassing it was to have all
his friends up from London shooting grouse and there was this Golden Eagle flying
about. "He was suggesting keepers weren't doing their job - it was
just vermin as far as he was concerned. "I was told Otters, Badgers,
Deer - just get rid of them and don't worry about the legal issues because they
could afford the best legal help money can buy." Bird paradise?
Back
in the forest with Mark Thomas, there's still no sign of the Goshawks, but there's
evidence of something more sinister.
After a 500 feet climb up from
the nearest footpath, we find a bird of prey site which looks like it's been tampered
with. It's difficult to see how anybody could've stumbled across these birds
in an isolated location by accident.
A Goshawk was nesting in the tree,
but we saw a deep gouge - evidence that someone had climbed up and disturbed the
nest.
A mark in the tree trunk bore a close resemblance to climbing spikes
belonging to a local keeper, Reg Cripps.
There was enough other evidence
for a successful prosecution.
No evidence?
So how many people
involved in country sports are really willing to break the law and are turn both
barrels on protected birds? We were keen to speak to someone who regularly
deals with shooters, keepers and landowners. Tim Baines from the Countryside
Alliance responds to the allegation that Goshawks are reducing in certain parts
of the Peak District and that people involved in country sports are to blame: "Well
I don't know where these figures are coming from. "I've certainly seen
nothing to suggest it, and the last survey suggested that all raptors were doing
better than ever in the Peak District. "And this sort of constant insinuation
that people in country sports are involved... there's really very little evidence
for it."
So what could be the explanation for the
fact that there aren't so many Goshawks around? Could it be the result of
disease, for example? Mark Thomas has his own views: "Where populations
of birds are disappearing or they're vanishing, where neighbouring populations
are fine - those are the mysteries - and that indicates really quite strongly
persecution."
Persecution will lead to prosecution say the RSPB -
expect a hefty fine and even time in jail if you're caught killing a bird of prey. Links
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Inside
Out - Yorkshire & Lincolnshire: Monday March 6, 2006
