Monitoring Orkney’s Bird’s of Prey: The Orkney Raptor Study Group

I’m extremely proud to be a member of the Orkney Raptor Study Group. As the name suggests, the group monitors birds of prey that breed on these wonderful islands. I spend many long hours in the field trying to locate nests in wild landscapes, which can sometimes come to nothing. Locating a nest is very tricky, as I need to keep my distance from any potential sites to be sure I’m not causing any disturbance. Once I think I’ve located a nest, I hold a licence that allows me to approach it and record what it contains.

Whilst this is extremely exciting, I have to constantly be aware of my impact on the nest I’m (hopefully) approaching, as well as any other breeding birds I may come across. If successful, I stay briefly. Just long enough to take a GPS reference, a photo of each chick and to record anything that may be out of the ordinary. This means most visits can be less than 60 seconds. The information gained by the group is invaluable in keeping tabs on the breeding success of all our raptor species, but especially the Hen Harrier, which is so synonymous with the Orkney landscape.

Note: The Hen Harrier chick in this post was photographed by myself, who holds a Schedule 1 licence.