Henry paid a visit to Moy Estate in the Monadliaths.
Regular blog readers will probably remember what was found on Moy Estate in 2010:
- A dead red kite in the back of a gamekeeper’s vehicle. It had two broken legs and had died as a result of a blow to the head.
- The remains of a further two dead red kites.
- A red kite’s severed leg, along with wing tags that had been fitted to a sateliite-tracked red kite, hidden in holes covered with moss.
- Six illegal baited spring traps set in the open.
- A trapped hen harrier (still alive) caught in an illegally set spring trap.
- A poisoned bait.
- Four leg rings previously fitted to golden eagle chicks found in the possession of a gamekeeper.
A 20-year-old gamekeeper (James Rolfe – straight out of game-keeping college) was charged with possession of the dead red kite and was fined £1,500. No charges were ever brought against anyone for any of the other offences.
Previous blogs on Moy: see here, here, here and here. It’s particularly worth having a look at this, especially in light of recent hen harrier ‘disappearances’ in England. They weren’t necessarily shot (as the grouse-shooting industry keeps telling us) – they could just as easily have been trapped like this (as the grouse-shooting industry keeps forgetting to mention).
The gamekeeper on Moy was convicted four years ago in 2011. Since then, several more satellite-tracked red kites have ‘disappeared’ since their last signals emitted from Moy, and several buzzard and goshawk nests seem to fail each year. It’s quite windy at Moy. It was probably the wind that blew off those rings from the young golden eagles’ legs and blew them straight in to a jar inside the gamekeeper’s house. It was probably the wind that severed the leg of the red kite and then blew it in to a hole on the moor and then blew moss over the hole to cover it. It was probably the wind that blew away the more recent ‘missing’ red kites. It was probably the same wind that blew holes in those buzzard and goshawk nests, too. Still no breeding hen harriers on this estate – yep, must have been blown away.
Word has it that the game management on Moy Estate is being taken over by a sporting agent with whom we’re very familiar. Cue hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of night vision equipment to carry out his particular style of grouse moor management.
Henry left the estate before darkness fell. He lives another day, although he’s still single.
Raptor Persecution UK 
At which college was the young compassionate trained?
One of the worst estates he could visit. I’m surprised he got out of Yorkshire alive, I’ll be just as surprised if he escapes this area south of Inverness!!
I personally blame this estate for the fact that Red Kites aren’t seen in the Aviemore area.
Worth remembering though that this isn’t an estate standing in isolation – there are quite a few other interesting ones around there where it also seems to be a bit windy!
Re wind as an explanation think I may have found another one – a certain person formerly involved in the SGA in quite a high position made a post on his fb page about ‘bird botherers’ you know those well meaning, townie types who are really the ones responsible for bird of prey losses. Those pesky satellite tags that stop working over grouse moors, all that weighing of chicks and monitoring of nests which is really what drives the parents away and those rings that result in birds chipping their eggs when they are brooding – well I never! The young keeper involved must be some sort of ‘eagle whisperer’ who magically summoned the birds to him, took of those egg destroying rings, and with a great big hug and a tear in his eye let them go. What other explanation is possible since gamekeepers have such a better understanding of the ways of the wild and just by being gamekeepers are brilliant conservationists who put the rest of us to shame as they keep telling us with great modesty?
Will Henry be safe here, I hope he keeps a good watch out for “foul” deeds !!!
Henry is doing well to still be in one piece having visited so many hotbeds of wildlife crime!!