Monitor nests with cameras

Sir, - The annual attempt to lay part of the blame on the RSPB for the slaughter of our birds of prey on or near to driven grouse moors continues courtesy of David Johnstone, Scottish Land and Estates (September 5).

David chastises the RSPB for failing to notify estates in Deeside close to where a satellitetagged hen harrier, Calluna, went missing.

He urges them to do so in the future in similar circumstances as estates are always willing to help.

Let us look at the facts. In 1998 the RSPB, in conjunction with estates in the Ladder Hills, which are situated north east of where Calluna went missing, conducted a hen harrier survey.

RSPB workers were told to notify estates when they were present and, on occasion, were accompanied to nests by gamekeepers. It seems that many of the nests they were monitoring “mysteriously” failed and the following year saw the number of occupied nesting sites drop significantly.

David cites the failure of satellite tags as being a possible reason for Calluna’s disappearance, though according to two studies, the failure rate is an extremely small 4% to 6% per cent.

On the other hand, of those convicted of crimes linked to raptor persecution between 1994 and 2014, 86% of

them were gamekeepers.

If Scottish Land and Estates wish to help then they can publicly join the campaign for the siting of cameras to monitor every nest the RSPB sees as vulnerable.