In a recent Wildlife Trusts blog, Stephen Trotter (the Wildlife Trusts’ Director, England) looks at some of the problems facing birds of prey and habitats in the uplands of England. His post begins:
“I’ve read with sadness and exasperation the reports of disappearing male hen harriers this spring and summer. Four male harriers have been reported ‘missing’ in the Trough of Bowland and Cumbria so far in 2015. I’m left wondering how many nests remain in England?
It’s not just hen harriers that are struggling in the hills. A worrying survey report by the British Trust for Ornithology on peregrine falcons, concludes that the species is doing well in lowland urban areas (see the peregrine webcams in city centres like Nottingham, Norwich, Aylesbury, Derby and Sheffield) but struggling in the uplands – amongst the hills, cliffs and crags that are their natural home – apparently for no obvious natural reasons. …”