New app could help landowners monitor bird of prey numbers

Recording bird of prey sightings across Scotland could take a major step forward, thanks to a new app being developed in conjunction with grouse moors and gamekeepers.

The app, which uses the EpiCollect5 platform developed by Imperial College London, is being trialled by gamekeepers and landowners in Tayside.

Use of the new technology follows the successful introduction of the phone app for mountain hare counting, which has enabled data to be reported from estates directly to the lead research organisation for the species, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Keepers and land managers using the app can record species such as eagles, hen harriers and buzzards and log photographs and behaviours of the birds and the time they are spotted.

Scientists from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust are discussing this data and protocols with Scottish Natural Heritage, whose own research has identified the potential value of land managers’ sightings of species and the need to share this information.

Estates have engaged independent researchers who have recorded scores of bird species on their land, but a gap remains for the majority of moors to record raptor sightings in real time.

The announcement comes as moorland groups call for independent tag tracking, after the disappearance of a golden eagle near Loch Tay.

Research has shown that some populations of raptors such as buzzards are at very high levels, and populations of golden eagles in Scotland have reached their highest consistent numbers since the early 20th Century.

Dee Ward, owner of Rottal Estate near Kirriemuir, is trialling the app.

He said: “Those of us who work on moorland managed for grouse see a wide range of birds of prey on a daily basis. The app has the potential to transform the data we can collect on raptors and it has been met with real excitement from across the sector.”