Talk reveals life of hen harrier
Ayr Rotary Club
Ayr Rotary club heard a talk by Catherine Cumming, a community engagement officer with the RSPB ( Royal Society for protection of Birds).
She delivered a delightfully illustrated talk on the UK hen harrier, a moorland raptor and protected upland species.
Catherine is responsible for running the Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project, an ambitious five- year programme of hen harrier conservation and the first truly cross- border, joint Scottish- English initiative.
She began, with obvious enthusiasm, by describing the flying techniques and mating behaviour of the hen harrier.
It has a unique ritual involving acrobatic, aerial ‘ passes’ of food, known as ‘ sky- dancing’, between male and female as a precursor to mating.
Eighty percent of UK hen harriers survive in Scotland where there are currently around only 450 breeding pairs. However, numbers have steadily declined ( by some 10 per cent since 2010) due to habitat degradation and wildlife crime and there is conflict on the moors with the grouse shooting estates since the harrier’s staple diet is grouse chicks.
RSPB is working to reduce this conflict and to improve the harriers’ survival rates through a variety of means. These include nest protection, providing alternative food sources near nesting sites, winter roost monitoring and satellite tracking. Community engagement ( such as Catherine’s talk to Ayr Rotary) is also important to increase awareness of the plight of the hen harrier and thus to increase focus on conservation.
Ron Ireland thanked Catherine for her interesting talk and urged rotary members to subscribe to RSPB membership as one of the best ways of supporting bird conservation efforts.
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