2015 season - Concerns for Annie
A mix of warm sunshine and wintery showers has seen the official start of spring here at Langholm. Migrants like Chiffchaff can be seen and heard alongside our winter visitors - Fieldfare and Redwing. With skydancing harriers seen almost daily and our new hide up and running we have much to celebrate, but sadly we have some bad new too.
We have concerns for one of the Langholm born Harriers - Annie (female Hen Harrier tagged in 2014). The last transmission we received from Annie was on the 19th March. The concern for Annie has been reported to the relevant authorities and a team on the ground is trying to locate her. At this stage I have no further information to share but will do so on this blog if any information arises.
Hattie and Grainne are safe and well on Langholm moor and Hattie as been seen displaying alongside a male harrier.
Fingers crossed for Annie.
ReplyDeleteIt is perhaps time to reconsider showing the location of the birds fledged from Langholm in such great detail. Most readers are fascinated by the exploits of these marvellous birds, but there will be some readers whose thoughts turn to reaching for their face mask balaclavas and shotguns on seeing this detail. Perhaps the locations away from Langholm could have a random 10 to 20 mile misplacement. At least you would be sure that this blog would not have the unintended consequence of assisting those well connected individuals who wish to kill hen harriers, and would have no real effect on the normal readers.
ReplyDeleteDear Alex,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, and your concern about Annie and other harriers. I completely understand why you have pointed out the potential for the information posted on the blog to be used for illegal purposes. As such, this is something that we have given considerable thought to, and have discussed with a variety of experts, including those involved in the investigation of wildlife crime. All have agreed on the coarse resolution we give of the locational fixes, and the timing that we put them out, and that these would make it impossible for someone to locate and cause harm to any of our tagged birds.
I really understand and share your concern, but please be reassured that we have given great consideration to this matter, and are confident in our approach.