This year’s Hen Harrier Day Online, on Sunday 1 August, hosted by Urban Birder David Lindo and animator Lauren Cook, was a tremendous success. Once again our eclectic mix of great video, competitions, information, art, science and expertise reached an audience of thousands. We hope it also helped raise the profile and urgency of some of the issues affecting the uplands as well as showing some of the nature that could flourish more fully there if allowed. You can see the full live stream here. We will be updating this website shortly with a brief introduction and link to each item. For now, here is a list of the day’s highlights:
- Our hen harrier nest camera – a first – the highs and lows and where next.
- Results of the Young Wild Writer Competition, with the winning entry read by Children’s Laureate, Cressida Cowell.
- ‘Ghosts of the Landscape’, a film about the wildlife that is missing from our uplands, and an introduction to our joint autumn programme with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
- News from the Langholm Moor community buyout, with plans for the new Tarras Valley Nature Reserve.
- Cruelty on the moors – renowned young activist Holly Gillibrand discovers the circle of destruction surrounding grouse moors.
- Policing raptor persecution – Inspector Matt Hagen talks to Jenny Shelton.
- Working with raptors – Logan Steele talks to Andrea Hudspeth about the largely unsung work of raptor monitors.
- Results of the Young Filmmaker Challenge, viewings of the two best and an interview with the winner, Esther Rumsey.
- Skydancing, a new composition by Chris Dowding, who wrote the intro music for Skydancer Day.
- Kabir Kaul, young urban naturalist, in conversation with David Lindo.
- Rewilding: What, Where and Why? Peter Cairns of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture offers a vision of what our uplands could look like if nature could more easily flourish.
- The Hen Harrier Observed – we end with a great celebration of this wonderful bird, first shown to acclaim during Skydancer Day.
