Calluna, a satellite tagged female hen harrier, was lost when transmissions from the tag abruptly ended over a grouse moor RSPB SCOTLAND/PAA hen harrier fitted with a tracker because of the species’ vulnerability to extinction has disappeared in “suspicious circumstances” after flying over a grouse moor on the first day of the shooting season. The female chick, known as Calluna, hatched on a National Trust property in the Cairngorms National Park and was fitted with a satellite tag before she left the nest in June. The RSPB tracked her flying east along the River Dee, past the Queen’s Balmoral estate, but the transmission cut out on August 12. “Calluna’s last recorded position was on a grouse moor a few miles north of Ballater,” the charity said. The missing bird was last tracked flying along the River Dee in the Cairngorms ALAMYAn appeal for information clearly pointed the blame at the bird shooting industry, but gamekeepers questioned why the RSPB waited…

Source: The Times August 31, 2017 23:03 UTC