Print of painting of male hen harrier by the wildlife artist Donald Watson. Although protected by law since 1981, this beautiful bird is still being killed illegally

Stewartry Birdwatchers will hear from Gavin Ross from the National Wildlife Crime Unit at their next meeting

by · Daily Record

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The speaker at the next meeting of Stewartry Birdwatchers will be Gavin Ross from the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Gavin’s talk at Balmaclellan Village Hall on Thursday, November 14 at 2.30pm, will tell members of the work involved in tracking down and prosecuting criminals involved in the persecution of birds of prey.

Sadly and worryingly an RSPB report published in this newspaper recently confirmed that Dumfries and Galloway is one of the worst areas in the UK for this crime.

The report stated that there had been 1,529 confirmed incidents of wildlife crime with at least 1,344 of these involving birds of prey being illegally killed across the UK in the past 15 years, and of those 400 cases were in Scotland. Birds being killed included golden eagles, goshawks and hen harriers. Suspected persecution of the hen harrier hit a record high in 2023 with 34 disappearing suspiciously. All this illegal killing continues in spite of the fact that all birds of prey have been protected by law for the past 43 years under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.

Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting and as usual there will be a break halfway through for refreshments and a chance to mix and chat to the speaker.

The October talk by Larry Griffin was part of the annual Dumfries and Galloway Wildgoose Festival. At the start Larry gave a summary of the numbers of the various species of geese which winter in Britain and then spoke about the “lesser-loved and under appreciated” greylag goose of which there are some 80,000 to 100,000 in the UK, with probably 1,000 of these in Dumfries and Galloway. Regarded as an agricultural pest, its numbers can be controlled at any time of the year.Unusually for a goose it sometimes nests in trees and is believed to have once used an old Osprey eyrie.

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