Latest Satellite Tag update 25.09.2012 

In last week's update, Barry showed a movement south and we all hoped he was moving away from the Durham / Yorkshire hills to safer ground. Barry's foray down to Wales appears to have been  a day trip and he has spent most of the last week back on the moors of North Yorkshire, Lanchashire and Durham.  The red line off to the north west Atlantic appears to be a blip in the data, so ignore this.

As you will have noticed, it has been a week or so since I have posted any data from Blae, the young female from Langholm. Sadly Blae's signal indicated that she had died south of Edinburgh about two weeks ago, her carcass was recovered and is undergoing a postmortem. Unfortunately, at this time I am unable to give any more information. As soon as I have more details I will post them here. 

Latest Satellite Tag updates

The young male Hen Harrier, Barry, has been spending most of his time in County Durham this last week. His most recent fixes show he has moved south towards Blackpool, could this be the beginning of a move further south, perhaps following in McPedro's footsteps to Spain?

 

Small Mammal Trapping with Newcastleton Primary School

Over the last few weeks I've been visiting Newcastleton Primary School to lead some moorland activities linked to a fantastic moorland mural that we created last year with the help of local artist Anne Donald.

 This week we were looking at the food chains of the moorland raptors and their favourite food - small mammals such as voles and mice. The pupils helped check some Longworth mammal traps and investigate how small mammals survive on the moor.

A wood mouse.

It has been a  busy week of rehearsals for the next performance of the moorland musical 'You can't let nature run wild'. We'll be performing at the Watson Bird festival on Saturday 22nd at St John's Town of Dalry www.watsonbirds.org .. check it out.. great event, worth a visit. Our Moorland musical explores the difficult relationship between managed moor;ands and Hen Harriers through music and poetry (and puppets).. that has to be a world first!??? I'd like to thank an amazing group of people

Some photos from rehearsals (with thanks to Chris Jones). Impossible to get the whole group together at once, but here is some of the group braving the cold winds to have some photos taken up at MacDiarmid memorial on Langholm moor.

 Rehearsal at our teeny tiny office.

 Henry doing very well to keep playing despite a camera in his face! a true professional.

 the most important member of the group, Cricket.. casting a discerning eye and ear over the proceedings.

Latest Sat tag news

Barry (the young male harrier) is on the move.. headed south towards County Durham. This is his first major move away form Langholm Moor..

 The female (Blae) has moved north rather than south. The first winter is a difficult time for all birds, and Hen Harriers face more dangers than most,we are really hoping these birds survive their first winter and return to breed next year.

 Friday evening saw Langholm Beavers work towards their environment badge by helping to manage birch saplings encroaching on Langholm moor. The Beavers and their parents were great, everyone worked hard and had fun despite the weather. This was a great opportunity for the youngsters to learn about the different plants that grow on the moor, and how the moor is managed by man to benefit the Red Grouse and other wildlife’.

Langholm Moor Demonstration Project headkeeper, Simon Lester, commented: ‘It’s fantastic to get children and their parents out on the moor, to work on this fascinating habitat. The silver birch is encroaching on to the moor now that the sheep have been removed to help heather regeneration. It just shows how quickly nature moves and highlights the importance of management.’

On Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a great afternoon up on the moor with storyteller Bea Ferguson. Bea used the MacDairmid Memorial to inspire her stories as we relaxed in the (almost) sunshine.