The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Inquiry launched into disappearance of another rare hen harrier as signal lost
Police and RSPB Scotland are investigating the disappearance of a rare hen harrier whose satellite tracking signal was last recorded in Angus three months ago.
The young bird, named Saorsa, is one of two hen harriers which have gone missing in recent months, leading to RSPB calls for tighter legislation to protect the raptors.
They were fitted with satellite tags as part of the RSPB’s EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project, with Saorsa tagged on a nest in Ross-shire in June 2017.
Her tag was transmitting regularly with no signs of any technical problems, showing her journey across Scotland after fledging, until it suddenly ceased transmissions in the Angus Glens on February 16 this year.
Data from her tag indicated she had been in the area since November 2017, but the bird has not been seen or heard from since.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has called for an independent probe into the situation, highlighting work going on in Angus to alter historic reputations relating to persecution and growing numbers of raptors on moors in the area as an illustration of positive progress.
The other harrier, Finn, was tagged on a nest in Northumberland in July 2016, one of only three successful nests in the whole of England for that year.
Her tag showed movements into southern Scotland until March 25, when transmissions ceased near Moffat.
Hen harriers are one of the UK’s rarest birds of prey and one of the most threatened.
Most of the population is found in Scotland and conservation bodies have said measures to protect them in this country are vital.
Duncan Orr-Ewing, RSPB Scotland’s head of species and land management said: “Satellite tags are more than 90% reliable and we would expect, if the birds had died from natural causes, to be able to recover both the tag and the body. But this has not been the case.