silver pigeon69 Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 RSPB embarrassed after rare bird it suggested had been illegally dispatched is found alive and well http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/04/rspb-embarrassed-rare-bird-suggested-had-illegally-dispatched/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter The death of Highlander, the hen harrier, appears to have been greatly exaggerated. The bird of prey’s disappearance last April triggered an astonishing feud - pitting landowners and grouse shooters, among them Sir Ian Botham, on one side against a myriad of conservationists including the august body of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on the other. When Highlander, fitted with a satellite tracking device, suddenly stopped transmitting in April last year, the RSPB suspected landowners of having the rare hen harrier illegally killed. Other hen harriers, one of Britain’s rarest species, had also gone missing. Sir Ian Botham, the former England cricket captain and keen advocate of grouse shooting, said the sighting of Highlander undermined the credibility of the RSPB’s allegations. Credit: REX Shutterstock/REX Shutterstock Landowners, keen to protect lucrative grouse moors, were, it was suggested, having the rare birds bumped off. As a result, the charity withdrew from the Hen Harrier Action Plan, a Government-approved scheme to protect the bird of prey, because of mistrust of the shooting industry. The RSPB even offered a £10,000 reward for information. Miraculously, ten months after it vanished, Highlander has reappeared. The bird that sparked a squawking match when it went missing in County Durham has been spotted about 30 miles from its original nesting site in the Forest of Boland in Lancashire. It is now thought Highlander’s much vaunted tracking device simply stopped working. Sir Ian Botham, the former England cricket captain and keen advocate of grouse shooting, said the sighting of Highlander undermined the credibility of the RSPB’s allegations. “The reappearance of this supposedly long dead bird is the latest example of the RSPB’s shoot from the hip campaigning on hen harriers which contrasts with the balanced approach of the government and industry,” said Sir Ian. “Campaigners don’t make good conservationists because they focus on rallying activists rather than reaching solutions that actually help nature. “If the RSPB wants to help this species it should stop obstructing the government’s plans for increasing hen harrier numbers and instead address its depressing failure to help them breed successfully on land it controls.” Duncan Thomas, of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: “This development supports fears raised by many in the shooting community about the long-term functionality of tagging systems. “At the time Highlander went missing the shooting community was vilified. The bird’s possible rediscovery is proof of the importance of having sound evidence before hurling accusations.” The admission that Highlander lives came in a report by RSPB project manager Blanaid Denman. “With the dedicated help of local raptor workers, we’ve since confirmed the bird as an adult female, with no colour rings, a single BTO ring on the correct leg, but the real clincher... a tag aerial which bends very slightly to the left – all of which match with this bird being Highlander,” Ms Denman wrote. The RSPB last night said that while it was delighted Highlander had been found, it remained deeply concerned about the plight of hen harriers in the UK. Just over 600 breeding pairs survive in the UK, according to the RSPB, which calls it the “most intensively persecuted” bird of prey. An RSPB study published last week maintained that five male harriers have been killed by illegal poachers. Defending the RSPB’s calls for stricter rules to preserve the hen harrier, Jeff Knott, RSPB’s head of nature policy, said: “It’s great news that Highlander has been found again. It’s not a big embarrassment for us at all. We have been entirely open about the whole thing. There’s no grand conspiracy here. “Of course it’s possible that the tags have failed but I would still say it is very unlikely. Even if one bird was killed, that is too many. We always said it was impossible to say for certain that they had been shot. We walked away from the hen harrier plan for a number of reasons, not just the missing birds.” Sir Ian Botham, the former England cricket captain and keen advocate of grouse shooting, said the sighting of Highlander undermined the credibility of the RSPB’s allegations. Credit: REX Shutterstock/REX Shutterstock Landowners, keen to protect lucrative grouse moors, were, it was suggested, having the rare birds bumped off. As a result, the charity withdrew from the Hen Harrier Action Plan, a Government-approved scheme to protect the bird of prey, because of mistrust of the shooting industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 I refer to them as RSPB: Rose Spectacled Bigot's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Just shows the lies they tell to get money donations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 I'm not surprised by this news! The RSPB are long term exponents of 'false news' they take every opportunity to claim shooting is in some way to blame for any decline in bird populations, they are not a Conservationist organisation, they are an anti shooting protectionist organisation dressed up as 'conservationists' they unashamedly use their charitable status in order to maximising their income (and consequently, influence!) from 'donors' by using deliberate and often misleading emotionally driven propaganda such as the false claims of zealots like Packham and Oddy et al.................and use a large proportion of that donor income, not for real conservation work, but to wage a political war on shooting! In truth, the real conservationists are not the likes of the RSPB........but the scientifically driven GWCT..........and the responsible shooting community! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 The damage has already been done. The dimwits who subscribe to every word the RSPB utters will have it in their minds that someone connected with shooting has shot it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Another SHAMBLES connected to the RSPB! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Am interested in BASC, CA, SACS & NGOs response to this ............. We should be pushing hard to have their Royal Charter revoked but we wont Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyefor Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 We have a pair of Hen Harriers in North Bedfordshire who have successfully raised young each year for about the last 5 or 6 years. Seen by me (and many others - including an RSPB member) but when I contacted RSPB HQ in Sandy they a) refused to believe me and b) declined to send someone out to see them because "there are no nesting Hen Harriers in England" I have seen the female again this year but, so far, not yet the male. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandringstar Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Botham is one of life's winners, not just for himself, look at the walks and the leukaemia survival rates before and after, ive always liked him, a proper role model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-dot Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 (edited) I remember Kwiss Packam ripping Botham to bits on a BBC2 phone in. Charitable he may have been but he is no brainbox unlike Packham. Here>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p044fnlg Edited February 6, 2017 by Red-dot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds chimp Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 i was asked by some of their charity tin collectors if i like watching birds and would I help support them.......i replied yes i love watching birds..which ones?? the ones .down the end of a barrel or on Babestation.......?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Botham is one of life's winners, not just for himself, look at the walks and the leukaemia survival rates before and after, ive always liked him, a proper role model. Likewise until I see he's sold himself out to make adverts for some revitive circulation booster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 My be a bit of light on the horizon Informed of an article in GTN that thy have been tod officially to reign in the private prosecution farce, anyone confirm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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