Surprises about hen harriers
Of all discoveries made by British hen harrier enthusiasts in recent times, that made by Don Scott in Northern Ireland was the most surprising. To an unsuspecting world he quietly revealed the presence of tree nesting harriers in County Antrim. I remember phoning him at the time and seeking an explanation for such strange behaviour by the birds, which normallly nest on the ground. So strange was it that up to the present minute the behaviour has not been recorded anywhere else in the world. Hen harrier is known to have used the nests of other birds and other harrier species build nests in trees but not hen harrier.
For a while Don was quite a celebrity in the world of raptor workers. Since then he has added further ‘firsts’ to his list but over the years has primarily been known for a long term study of a unique population of hen harriers on the Antrim Plateau. He has since revealed that although his discovery was exciting the reasons behind it were not. The Plateau’s moorland habitats are badly degraded, leaving birds with a paucity of cover and making ground nesting a hazardous business. Wide open to predation, Don’s Antrim harriers literally took to the trees.
Via the raptor grape vine I heard stories of further significant local discoveries, including short-eared owl, goshawk, marsh harrier and great spotted woodpecker but despite all good intentions I lost contact with Don until Christmas 2010. There was no personal reunion but when a beautifully wrapped Christmas present morphed into a book entitled The Hen Harrier – in the Shadow of Slemish, by Don Scott, I was delighted. There and then I wanted to settle down with a nip of ‘Arran Gold’ and catch up with Don’s exploits. I didn’t – and I am glad, because it would have ruined my Christmas!
There is great deal of joy and excitement in Don’s book but the further I got into it the more his experiences became depressingly familiar. Slowly phrases with which I am well versed began to appear in the text. “In all the years that Philip and I have been studying the species we have seen virtually no worthwhile conservation measures coming from RSPB Northern Ireland.” he complained. “My nineteenth year studying hen harriers in the Antrim Plateau coincided with the RSPB’s second Northern Ireland Breeding Hen Harrier Survey, in which neither Philip nor I chose to participate.” Sadly, it all began to ring one large bell and in many ways became almost a re-run of some of the sentiments expressed in David Walker’s book on Lakeland eagles. The knock out blow was delivered by “Once again people are playing at conservation to the detriment of a species.” Sadly, it has become a depressingly familiar accusation.
When will communities be delivered from such crass arrogance? Governmental organisations are unavoidable but organisations like RSPB are often only tolerated. The titles with which they adorn their employees are invented in distant city offices. They are often irrelevant in places that lack an RSPB reserve. Communities with reserves get hands-on naturalists, those without get mini-politicians and wheeler-dealers. They contribute little to Arran conservation and are often far more familiar with ferry timetables than local fauna. They plead poverty when seeking volunteers to do real conservation work (such as farmland surveys) but can always find funds for posts designed to blow their own trumpet, rattle cans or gather membership. They are masters at the payment-in-kind game. Time given by their employees has value; not so any one else’s. They and their employees are also remarkably adept at the art of giving the impression that their contribution to local conservation is significant.
Fortunately there are lots of people in Arran who really have made unbelievable contributions to island conservation. The Arran Black Grouse Group boasts several such individuals. In particular, a lady who for years has religiously collected wild food for the birds and a local man who for a relative pittance daily sees to the bird’s welfare. The people involved in COAST who, in terms of payments in kind, must have invested hundreds if not thousands of their own money. Locals who go out on a limb to ensure that the island’s rarest tree species receive the protection they deserve. People who attend meeting after boring meeting to ensure that some distant boffin doesn’t undo all their good work. Unseen individuals, who with buzzing chainsaws, remove acres of ‘rhodies’ from island hill-sides. Mostly, they are unpaid and unsung.
In the final chapter of his book Don states that “Over the years I have been asked again and again how I managed it; finding all those hen harrier tree nests …. and discovering other breeding raptors.” He says the answer is simple, “You have to be out in the field on a regular basis.” I wholly endorse his comments. Conservation bodies come to people like Don to make even the most prestigious nature designation become a reality. They have limited information of their own and out of necessity, rely on enthusiasts. Alas, so immersed are they in their own importance they conveniently overlook this inescapable fact.
On a final positive note, I urge anyone interested in hen harriers to read Don’s book. The Antrim coast is visible from Arran but the tree nesting harrier population of that area exists in a totally different world to ours, with a degraded habitat, foxes, no voles and sadly prevalent human persecution. To a great extent Arran suffers from none of those ills; it is a very special place and long may it remain so.
