County among bird attack worst
Shropshire was today named one of the worst blackspots in the UK for attacks on birds of prey. The south of the county, in particular, is a haven for peregrine falcons, which favour cliff faces such as disused quarries for their nest sites.
They are the world's fastest animals, reaching speeds of 124mph when they plunge from the sky after prey, almost exclusively smaller birds.
Buzzards are now a common sight in Shropshire while red kites, which are thriving again in Mid Wales, are now occasionally spotted in the skies around Bishop's Castle and Snailbeach.
But despite tough laws, raptors still face persecution all over the UK, falling victim to poison laid down by farmers and gamekeepers or having their nests robbed by thieves hoping to sell chicks and eggs on the falconry black market.
Shropshire has recorded 16 crimes on birds of prey in the past decade, making it the ninth worst county in England.
Today's bird crime "league of shame" was issued by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to coincide with the launch of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, based in Edinburgh.
Information extracted from the RSPB's crime database has revealed that between 1995 and 2006 there were 1,113 confirmed incidents of birds of prey being poisoned, shot at or having their nests destroyed.
Scotland had the highest total of recorded incidents with 494, while England suffered 454 incidents. Wales and Northern Ireland recorded 142 and 23 incidents respectively.
The RSPB director of conservation Mark Avery said: "Persecution of birds of prey is holding back the recovery of special species."
The 10 worst counties in England with confirmed crimes against birds of prey between 1995 and 2006 are: Northumberland (41); Devon (34); Norfolk (30); North Yorkshire (29); Cumbria (29); Derbyshire (24); Lancashire (20); Nottinghamshire (17); Shropshire (16); and Merseyside (15). The number of recorded incidents per county is recorded in brackets.
Poisoning one of the crimes
Bird of prey crimes in Shropshire include:
A female peregrine falcon went missing, possibly poisoned, shortly before she was due to lay eggs in her nest at Clee Hill's Hanson quarry in May 2005. The site had a history of human interference and a male peregrine falcon was found poisoned at the top of the cliff at the same time the previous year.
A young peregrine falcon, which had fledged from a tree nest on the Shropshire/Welsh border - the first of its type in England - was nursed back to health in 2003 and released into the wild after being found shot.
A female peregrine falcon was found injured but alive in a field at Alberbury, near Shrewsbury, in 2002, its body riddled with shotgun pellets. The RPSCA was treating the bird.
Two ravens were found poisoned on the Stiperstones in 2001. English Nature said rat poison had been deliberately laid down and warned that buzzards and red kites were at risk.
Sixteen rare peregrine falcon chicks were fledged at Shropshire nest sites in 2000 - despite robbers and other human disturbance, according to Shropshire Peregrine Group. Out of 12 Shropshire nest sites guarded by volunteers, two were robbed and three nests were deserted due to human disturbance.
By Peter Johnson
