Back in December, Hen Harrier Action launched a crowdfunded Christmas Appeal to fund satellite tags for young Hen Harriers fledging during the 2024 breeding season.
The appeal, set up by Hen Harrier Action trustee Jonathan Wilson, aimed to raise enough money to fund four tags, and the donations poured in.
In just 10 days, the Christmas Appeal reached, and then exceeded, its ambitious target, thanks to the remarkable generosity of our supporters.
We’re delighted to confirm that the four tags funded by your donations have now been fitted to four young Hen Harriers, two that fledged in England, one in Wales and one in Scotland.
The tags, fitted by experts from the RSPB and Northern England Raptor Forum, will allow dedicated staff at the RSPB to monitor the birds’ movements throughout their lifespan.
Meet Our Hen Harriers
Our two English Hen Harriers, Sita and Binbeal, fledged in the Forest of Bowland. Sita, a female, is named for the Hindu Goddess of self-sacrifice and dedication – a fitting name for a female Hen Harrier who will hopefully go on to breed and fiercely defend her chicks.
And Binbeal, a male, is named for the Australian Aboriginal spirit of rainbows. In the mythology, he is the son of Bunjil, the creator deity often depicted as a Wedge-tailed Eagle.
Our Scottish Hen Harrier, a female, named Gilda by the Scottish Raptor Study Group, fledged at the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, the ambitious community-led rewilding project. One of four chicks, Gilda has two sisters and a brother. In Old English, the name means golden.
And our Welsh bird, a male called Adar, fledged in North Wales, named after the medieval Welsh word for birds.
Battling the British Weather
After the unusually wet and dreary Spring and early Summer, it was challenging for the teams out in the field fitting satellite tags to the young Hen Harriers in the nest.
We asked Steve Downing, Chair of the Northern England Raptor Forum and a veteran of satellite tagging projects, how he had coped with the challenges:
“People often say to me ‘It must be fabulous to be part of the RSPB team in charge of satellite tagging Hen Harriers’. Well it is very rewarding to be part of the team; but when it comes to being in charge we are lucky if we come 4th in line after the birds, the abundance of prey and the weather.
It is always challenging and this year was no different with the occasional hot day; but predominantly the weather was dominated by cold, persistently wet days throughout the breeding season. There were days when the team arrived on site and we waited for the temperature to drop, on others we would have to wait until the drizzle stopped.”
“On one day we travelled for several hours then waited for 3 hours for a storm to pass. When it became obvious that the storm was not going to abate we turned around and drove home again. Nature beat us that day; but the chicks had been ringed on a previous visit and they went on to fledge successfully.
Thanks to the kind support from Hen Harrier Action, we fitted two tags to birds in England; a female named Sita and a male named Binbeal. In Wales we fitted a third tag to another female named Adar. Now we wish them and the other members of the 2024 cohort fair weather and a following wind to take them away from the threat of persecution and on to a long and successful life.”
It is thanks to the commitment, persistence, and dedication of people like Steve and his fieldworker colleagues that we are able to gain a unique insight into the perilous lives of these young Hen Harriers as they set out on their own journeys.
We’ll bring you regular news of their movements in the email newsletter. In the meantime we’re pleased to report that Macha, the only surviving Hen Harrier of our 2022 satellite tagged cohort, is still alive and well.
The latest transmissions show that she is exploring the area on the northern edge of the Lammermuir Hills in southern Scotland.
