Peregrine falcons are successfully breeding in North Staffordshire.
A new report has revealed the encouraging signs with several bird of prey species in the Peak District. It's thanks to a collaboration between landowners, gamekeepers and raptor workers during Covid-19.
The Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative's final report brings together data on key birds of prey nesting within the Dark Peak and South-West Peak – the Staffordshire Moorlands region of the Peak District National Park.
In 2020, peregrine falcons had their best year in a decade, with all six known nesting attempts being successful, resulting in a record 14 fledged young.
This was the first year, since the initiative was launched in 2011, when all known nesting attempts have successfully fledged young, and is double the previous maximum of three successful nests.
Goshawks, which breed in woodlands on the moorland edge, also had a successful season, with seven of the nine known nests successfully fledging a total of 16 to 17 young, surpassing the previous year’s 12 young from eight nests.
The last two years have seen a welcome increase in the number of goshawks successfully breeding in the Dark Peak.
Numbers of both species peaked in the area in the 1990s, and the initiative has set a goal of restoring populations to those former levels.
However, other species continue to give cause for concern.
Merlin, a small falcon which is near the southern edge of its range on the Peak District moors, declined from a peak of 37 pairs in the 1990s to a stable population of 18 to 24 pairs throughout the last decade.
During 2019, there was a further drop to a low of 14 pairs, so a slight recovery to 16 pairs in 2020 was welcome.
Those Merlin that do breed are remarkably successful, with more than 50 young fledged in 2020, suggesting that, for unknown reasons, young birds are failing to return to their Peak District breeding grounds.
Short-eared owls remain difficult to monitor due to a combination of their tendency to be active at dawn and dusk, populations which naturally fluctuate widely from year to year with local vole populations, and the fact they may turn up at different locations from year-to-year.
Nevertheless, populations appear to have been consistently lower throughout the 10 years of the initiative compared to the 1990s.
The year 2020 appears to have been poor for voles, with no confirmed breeding records of short-eared owls.
After breeding for two consecutive years, there were high hopes that hen harriers would return to breed in the Peak District. Unfortunately, despite several early sightings, there were no confirmed breeding attempts.
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The police confirmed six illegal incidents involving birds of prey in the study area during 2020.
These involved four shooting incidents (three buzzards and a short-eared owl), and two poisoning incidents (one involving a peregrine, and a further incident involving both a peregrine and a buzzard at the same location).
In addition, an egg collector was arrested and convicted, following an alert to the police by local gamekeepers in the northern Peak District.
The Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative (BoPI) is a collaboration between the Moorland Association, Peak District National Park Authority, Natural England, National Trust, National Gamekeepers’ Organisation and local police forces. It is supported by local raptor groups and land managers.
It was formed to provide collective action to tackle illegal persecution of birds of prey and restore populations to sustainable levels.
Sarah Fowler, chief executive of the Peak District National Park, said: “Despite the clear challenges the pandemic presented in 2020, we have seen encouraging breeding success this year for iconic upland species such as peregrine and goshawk.
“This has only been possible thanks to close collaboration between moorland managers, gamekeepers and local raptor groups along with the police, among many others.
“We have also seen the benefits of this partnership in the successful conviction of an illegal egg collector.
“The increase in and range of bird of prey persecution incidents recorded by police in 2020 is an unwelcome trend, and any act of wildlife crime within the national park remains one too many.
“The levels of occupied bird of prey territories continue to present an ongoing challenge, but the progress of peregrine and goshawk this year shows us what can be achieved.”