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The ORKNEY HEN HARRIER SCHEME
From April 2003 some fields in the West Mainland will be growing grass as usual, but this grass will not be eaten by sheep or cattle. Instead, as the grass grows matures and withers, voles will be moving in to make their intricate tunnels and birds will find cover for their nests. Some of these voles and small birds will fall prey to hunting Hen Harriers and other raptors. This is all part of the Orkney Hen Harrier Scheme - SNH's new initiative to restore the fortunes of the local Hen Harrier population.
Hen Harriers flying over hills and farmland are a treasured - and familiar - site in Orkney, especially if you live in the West Mainland, where Harriers breed. Not so many years ago, Orkney was the main place to see these birds in Britain, with very few to be found elsewhere, but there has been a steep decline in successful breeding by birds in the area, so much so that it has been predicted that they could become extinct from Orkney in twenty years! While the loss of such a bird from what was once one of its main breeding areas in Britain would be dismaying in itself, there is alarm too about the underlying reasons for the decline.

The Hen Harrier is a top predator, needing plenty of small mammals and birds to feed on, especially in spring. Poor breeding performance suggests a weakness in the food chain.

Hen Harriers nest in tall vegetation, exclusively in hills and often in heather, but they find much of their food on farmland nearby. It is a pleasure to watch a Harrier patiently scouring rough ground in search of prey, gently flapping, gliding and turning, almost as though it was looking for somehting it had lost.

It is a surprise to learn what a wide range of prey it can catch from rabbits to small birds, and, depending on where they live and what is on the typical local menu, Harrier's diet can vary a lot!

Research has shown that voles are a key item of prey in the Orkney Mainland, sustaining the birds through a period in spring when the females are laying and incubating eggs. Orkney voles themselves are a unique species, found nowhere else but in Orkney, with their nearest relatives found in the Channel Islands and continental Europe.

The rough grass and other vegetation that voles like to live inis not as abundant as it used to be with the developments that have taken place in farming. It seems that a reduction in in suitable hunting areas is behind the Hen Harriers' decline. Creation of new areas will be a crucial part of the scheme. SNH are to provide incentives for landowners to stop or reduce grazing in certain fields. Some of the rough grass to be created could be stips or 'corridors' along ditches, burns, field boundaries and farm tracks. Another measure will provide small fields of mixed grain and seeds to be left unharvested over winter for small birds like Reed Bunting and Twite to feed on.

The Hen Harrier Scheme marks the beginning of a new approach by SNH to the management of special sites in Orkney, both nationally designated Sites of Scientific Interest and European designated SPAs.

For further information on the Orkney Hen Harrier Scheme please contact Gail Churchill at the SNH Offices in Kirkwall on (01856) 875302.

John Crossley

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