Northumberland continues to be a great county for nationally rare Hen Harriers and 2022 is the eighth year in a row multiple nests have been successful. This year there were 9 monitored nests with young birds leaving from seven of these.

This year 8 more youngsters have taken to sky than in each of 2020 and 2021. This brings the total of known birds fledged in Northumberland to 106 since 2015.

The ground nesting hen harrier is one of the UK’s most endangered species.

The upturn in its fortunes is down in part to the hard work of the Hen Harrier Protection Partnership.

The Partnership comprises Forestry England, RSPB, Northumberland National Park Authority, Natural England, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation of the Ministry of Defence, Northumbria Police and local raptor experts, who monitor prospective nests and watch pairs when they settle, working with local landowners.

Gill Thompson National Park Ecologist and chair of the Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection Partnership said:
“It’s fantastic that we have again had birds fledging in several locations around Northumberland. Thanks to those raptor workers, land managers and staff from the partner organisations involved this year.”

Tom Dearnley Forestry England Ecologist added:
"Our efforts in enabling nature to recover on Forestry England land couldn’t be better rewarded than this year’s figures. Hen harriers are magnificent, charismatic birds and thanks to the highly skilled team involved in their conservation, we are watching their recovery with excitement and a great deal of pleasure."

This year, 119 hen harrier chicks fledged from 34 successful nests in Northern England (in County Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire). More than a fifth (22%) of those were in Northumberland.

A number of birds were GPS tagged this year and the progress of previously tagged birds is still being monitored.

A male called Colin born 2019 has been seen providing for a nest that successfully fledged 4 young. Sofia a 2018 tagged female unfortunately had her young predated, but lives on to hopefully try again next year.

Another female Dru from 2017 suffered the same fate, but her legacy continues as 4 of her chicks were old enough to fly.