Hen harriers return to Peak District.

05/11/2006 00:00:00 16 May 2006. A pair of Hen harriers have set up home on National Trust moorlands in the Peak District. Conservation partners, with support from the shooting tenant, have set up a round-the-clock watch over the pair that are nesting in the area.

The harriers have already laid a clutch of eggs and a team has been set up to protect the birds and their nest. If successful, they will be only the second pair of harriers to have raised young in the Peak District in the last 130 years.

The protection scheme has been mounted by the National Trust, English Nature and the RSPB, with additional funding from BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation) and support from the moorland tenant. The project aims to protect the birds from disturbance. In the UK breeding of Hen harriers is almost entirely restricted to heather moorlands, the quality of which has declined due to a combination of factors including over-grazing, atmospheric pollution and inappropriate burning.

In recent years the National Trust has been working with its tenants to restore areas of degraded moor in the Peak District and to create the moorland habitat that birds like Hen harriers require.

Mike Innerdale, the National Trust’s Property Manager for the High Peak said: ‘Hen harriers are occasionally seen in the Peak District, but rarely do they settle down to breed, the last time was in 1997. 'It will be fantastic news if these birds can raise a family and is testimony to the National Trust’s moorland management projects and the innovative work that our shooting tenant, Geoff Eyre, has undertaken.

'Geoff has worked with the Trust on one of the largest heather regeneration projects in the country, to restore the mosaic of moorland habitats needed to sustain a pair of harriers and other declining moorland birds that they feed on.’

Peter Robertson, RSPB Conservation Manager said: ‘Hen harriers are absolutely stunning birds and their sky-dancing courtship display is breath-taking. ‘But, sadly, they are among the UK’s most persecuted birds of prey and our determination to give this pair the best possible chance to rear a family has resulted in this night-and-day watch to ensure the birds are left in peace.’

And Richard Saunders, of English Nature, said: ‘The Hen harrier eats whatever is most readily available, inevitably causing conflict when they nest on grouse moors. Ironically, without grouse shooting, much of the heather moorland these birds prefer would have been lost.

'Conservation organisations must therefore work closely with grouse moor owners and gamekeepers, to conserve the whole range of moorland wildlife. Joint working of this type is a very positive step which in future years will hopefully bring this beautiful bird back to much more of our countryside.’

'The arrival of the Hen harriers adds to an impressively long list of benefits to biodiversity that his award winning heather regeneration work has achieved. There has been a significant increase in the populations of other key species like pipits, skylarks and golden plover.’

Hen harriers are specially protected by law and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, anyone killing, injuring, or intentionally disturbing a hen harrier, its eggs or nest could be fined up to £5,000 and face six months’ imprisonment for each offence.