According to Scotland on Sunday, Police forces in Scotland have been accused of failing to tackle wildlife crime after it was revealed that just 24 cases of illegal killing of birds of prey have been taken to court in five years. Out of 157 cases involving killing the birds – including golden eagles, red kites and hen harriers – just 15 per cent have resulted in court action. And the average penalty for a crime linked to persecution of birds of prey was just £240, despite the maximum penalty being raised to £10,000 or a year in jail. The figures have been compiled by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species at RSPB Scotland, described the level of penalties as "shocking" and called for prison sentences to be handed out to act as a deterrent. He accused police forces of failing to implement recommendations made by the Scottish Government two years ago in a review of wildlife crime, including that each force should have a full-time wildlife crime officer. RSPB figures of every crime against birds of prey from 2003 to 2008 show more than 264 were killed illegally. Out of these, 183 were poisoned and another 81 were killed by other illegal means, such as by nest destruction, shooting or traps. But just 24 cases ended up in court. Of those which did result in legal action, nine out of ten culminated in a guilty verdict. But, the RSPB points out, penalties have usually been less than £500. The most serious cases could be punished by jail terms, yet, according to the RSPB, the culprits have regularly been let off with community service orders. The highest penalty was a £2,500 fine, for a case involving the poisoning of more than 20 birds. Orr-Ewing said: "We are not suggesting everybody should be sent to jail but we do believe this would send out a serious signal if somebody was jailed for one of the more serious cases." He added that the implementation by police forces of the Scottish Government recommendations had been "painfully slow." "Police forces see other crimes as more important," he said. "We are not denying that some of the human crimes are very important but a message has been sent out by government and the public that wildlife crime should be treated as any other crime and we would expect the same standards to apply." He says it is "embarrassing" that Scotland does not take the issue more seriously. "It does affect our reputation. I was at a recent conference in France when red kites were discussed. They are doing poorly across most of Europe. "We have to explain that in Scotland there are still people illegally killing them and using banned poisons. People find that very hard to grasp." Despite the Scottish Government's recommendations in its review, just two police forces – Fife and Grampian – have a full-time wildlife crime officer. For the full story see http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/System-39failing39-on-wildlife-crime.6130378.jp

A healthy young Irish Golden Eagle has been found poisoned on the Sligo/Leitrim border at Truskmore Mountain. The 10 month old eagle chick was born and reared in a Donegal eyrie in 2009. The bird had spent the last four months wandering the beautiful mountains above Glencar Waterfall, Lough Gill and Gleniff. The bird was tracked and found using a Global Positioning System satellite transmitter fitted on its back. The corpse, recovered on the 18th February 2010, was just inside the County Leitrim border. A post mortem carried out by the Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Rathcormack, Sligo revealed that the young male was in excellent condition prior to its death. Toxicology analysis, carried out at the Ashtown Food Research Centre, Dublin 15 prove that the eagle was poisoned by Nitroxynil poured over the fleece of a dead newborn or aborted lamb. Nitroxynil is found in Throdax, which is a veterinary medicine used to treat liver fluke in livestock. New born lambs are not treated for liver fluke. Initial surveillance suggests that no local farmer has any new born lambs outdoors at present. Gardaí in Sligo Town have begun their investigation. This male eagle was named Conall after "Tír Conall" - the Irish name for Donegal. Local people and children in Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim had been watching and following its regular movements on the project website (www.goldeneagle.ie). Prior to the 2009 lambing season another satellite tagged Golden Eagle was found poisoned with Paraquat on the 19th February 2009 in West Donegal. The loss of up to 10% of Irish Golden Eagle population within a year suggests that the Golden Eagle Project could fail, unless the unlawful use of toxins by a small percentage of farmers ceases. In total, nine White tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles and Kites have been confirmed poisoned in Ireland over the last two and a half years. The Golden Eagle Trust believes that over 95% of landowners across Ireland do not use poison. It is also clear, from the 11,000 comments, on the Golden Eagle Trusts anti-poisoning petition (see www.goldeneagle.ie), that the illegal use of poisons is condemned across both rural and urban Ireland. For more on this story see http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=5&z=132&news_id=11&article=262 and http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=1977

A giant peregrine falcon landed in Holyrood this lunchtime in support of an RSPB Scotland campaign, aimed at stopping the illegal killing of birds of prey. Around 70 supporters came together, among them, SRSGs members, to form the 40ft wide peregrine mosaic, as a petition backed by nearly 22,000 pledges from the Scottish public was handed to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee. Frank McAveety MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee, accepted the document, in the name of the RSPB Scotland Director Stuart Housden. The petition urges Scottish Ministers to increase their efforts to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey such as the peregrine falcon, the iconic golden eagle and the majestic white tailed sea eagle. Stuart Housden said: “We are delighted that the public petitions committee has agreed to consider our petition. This is clearly an issue that thousands of people want to see addressed. I think these magnificent birds, particularly the eagles, hold a special place in the heart of the Scottish public. We now hope that Ministers take necessary action to ensure population numbers return to their former glory.” In the past decade, prior to 2009, around 300 birds of prey including both species of eagle, buzzards and owls were confirmed as illegally poisoned in Scotland, a further 100 were the victims of trapping or shooting. RSPB Scotland is asking the Scottish Government to increase resources for police and Procurator Fiscals allocated to the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime, to increase financial support for raptor monitoring schemes, to recognise the economic benefits birds of prey bring to Scotland, and to offer a clear commitment that the full legal protection afforded to birds of prey will remain. RSPB Scotland has collected 21,962 pledges from people in Scotland.
In the UK as a whole, 210,567 people have pledged their support. In addition, the following 31 organisations also signed up: ScotGov, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, British Trust for Ornithology, Moorland Association, National Gamekeepers Organisation, RSPCA, Natural England, Kennel Club, National Trust, BASC, BTCV, North York Moors National Park, Sustrans, Association of North East Councils, English National Park Authorities Association, Forestry Commission England, Wildlife Trust Northumberland, Countryside Alliance, Hawk and Owl Trust, Government Office for the North East, Gateshead Council, United Utilities, North Pennines AONB, Environment Agency, Defra, Northern England Raptor Forum, WWT, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Welsh Assembly Government and the Ulster Farmers Union. (From a Scottish perspective there are some predictable omissions from this list and from a conservation standpoint, some obvious ones, though SRSGs has supported the campaign from the outset). In the past decade, prior to 2009, nearly 300 protected birds of prey have been confirmed, by government laboratory testing, as being the victims of illegal poison abuse in Scotland. Casualties included 54 red kites, 14 golden eagles and 4 white-tailed eagles.

Our annual members conference was held at Battleby on Saturday 28 February, and despite the adverse weather and blocked roads most of the delegates and guests from throughout the UK managed to make their way to Perth. An established feature of the day is the Derek Ratcliffe Memorial Lecture and this was delivered by Keith Bildstein from the USA on Migrating Raptors in a Changing World – the view from Hawk Mountain. The Donald and Jeff Watson Memorial Award for outstanding services to raptor work in Scotland was made to Gordon Riddle (Mr Kestrel), for nearly 40 years of dedicated research into Kestrels in the south of Scotland. Gordon was a popular choice and he is currently updating his publication ‘Seasons with the Kestrel’. The conference was organised by Lothian and Borders RSG, under the Chairmanship of Alan Heavisides and all are to be congratulated on their efforts in bringing to-gether an extremely diverse programme. Ian Poxton provided an analysis of a 25 year study of Merlins in the Lammermuir Hills and another Lothian and Borders member Mike Thornton spoke on the Eagle Owl in Coto Donana. Jennifer Smart of RSPB gave an analysis of Red Kite breeding performance in Scotland which underscored the major persecution difficulties facing the Black Isle population. John Lusby spoke on the status and ecology of Barn Owls in Ireland and Rob Clements looked at the population and distribution of Hobby in the south of England. Staffan Roos from BTO Scotland provided some results from the Peregrine Conservation Framework project, and Des Thompson gave an update on the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme. This conference is very much about networking and meeting old friends, but an excellent programme stimulated much discussion. There are only 250 raptor workers in Scotland and the fact that over 100 members made it to Battleby in the worst winter weather for decades, is a reflection on their collective will and dedication. Despite living in an enlightened 21st century, some of the problems facing raptors are little different from 100 years ago, and that ‘collective will’ remains critically important. The increasing number of young people attending the conference suggests the future is in good hands.

A new study has revealed that there is little evidence that Ravens are responsible for the dramatic declines in the numbers of wading birds seen in many parts of the UK uplands. The study was conducted by the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) and RSPB, and the research was co-funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Recently, SNH led a review of its guidance on licence procedures to control predators of wild birds and agreed with a range of partners that a robust evidence base should support any applications to manage predators such as ravens. The new study, published in The British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, will help provide this evidence to the licensing authority, SNH, and inform any decisions on applications to legally kill ravens for the conservation benefit of upland birds. In the UK, historic persecution of ravens by farmers and gamekeepers caused a rapid reduction both in their population and range by the 20th century. However, thanks to a decrease in this activity, and changing attitudes of landowners and farmers, ravens have begun to recover to normal population levels in the last quarter century. In the UK the Breeding Bird Survey shows that from 1994 to 2007 the raven population increased by 134%. The research found little evidence to suggest that wader populations were more likely to decline where raven populations had increased. This implied that other factors, including changes to habitat and vegetation cover and a general increase in other predators such as foxes, could be responsible for these large-scale changes. Professor Steve Redpath, director of ACES, said: "We urgently need to understand why upland wader populations are suffering dramatic declines across many parts of the UK. It is often the case that predators are assumed to be responsible, but this is not always the case. This research found no strong evidence to suggest that ravens were responsible for changes in wader numbers, implying that we need to look elsewhere to discover the cause for these large-scale declines". Dr Andrew Douse, ornithologist with Scottish Natural Heritage, said: "This research is a welcome and timely contribution to the understanding of how increasing and expanding raven populations affect other species, many of which are under pressure from other environmental influences. As the relevant licensing authority, SNH needs to base its decisions on good evidence. We will use the findings of this work and related studies to help inform our decisions. We are keen to see these findings made more widely available, not least in order to help inform licence applications." SRSGs also welcome these findings and have concerns regarding the current number of licenses issued to cull Ravens and the systems in place to 'police' it. Raven image from the Gallery by Angus Hogg.