Satellite-tagged birds can’t just disappear

Sir, – I read with interest the on-going debacle between conservationists and the grouse shooting lobby over bird deaths in the Angus Glens (“War of words over bird deaths in Angus Glens”, The Courier, July 26).

Personally I feel the conflict of opinion centres on how driven grouse moors are managed.

The issues surrounding this extreme form of management have been brought into focus by various charities, Courier readers, and has featured on BBC’s Countryfile and even Jim Crumley has often raised concerns about raptor crime, muirburn and medicated grit etc.

I was intrigued by the latest remarks from Angus Glens Moorland Group (AGMG), as quoted in The Courier.

In response to the observation that these glens are a “blackspot” for raptor crime, as stated in a Scottish Government report, the AGMG dismissed it as “speculation”.

And “no confirmed incidents of criminality” does not mean it does not happen, it really means the evidence of criminality is not present.

Evidence such as the Hen Harrier, “Saorsa”, a tagged bird tracked from the Highlands only to “disappear” in the Angus Glens earlier this year, both bird and tag.

It is worth pointing out that when a satellitetagged raptor dies of natural causes, the signal continues and the corpse can be recovered.

When they “disappear” you have to ask yourself what really happened.

Birds and tags do not disappear naturally.

And again this year, in another Angus Glen, a Red Kite was found dead by a member of the public who reported it to AGMG and, guess what, it too has “disappeared”.

The lack of true transparency and the deflective tactics employed by AGMG to point the finger of blame away from grouse shooting estates lacks conviction, and the AGMG’s “moving on” and “progress” seem hollow words when, even now, birds of prey are still “disappearing” mysteriously on these estates.

Let’s hope the AGMG’s wildlife abundance “sea change” does not leave our wildlife short changed. David Mitchell.

6 Henry Street, Kirriemuir.

A correspondent questions grouse moor management tactics in the wake of the disappearance of satellite-tagged young hen harrier Saorsa in the Angus Glens.