As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 4 April 2018

Hunt widens for rare Hen Harrier after she vanishes from Ruabon moor in 'suspicious circumstances'



Police and RSPB investigators are hunting for signs of Aalin, a rare Hen Harrier whose satellite tag stopped transmitting last month

Andrew Forgrave Rural Affairs Editor
14:31, 21 MAR 2018
UPDATED14:46, 21 MAR 2018

Bird investigators have been joined by police officers in the search for a rare hen harrier that has gone missing near Wrexham .

No tag or body was found after the bird’s satellite tag “unexpectedly” stopped transmitting at 10.34am on February 9.

RSPB Cymru staff have since swept the area of moorland around Ruabon Mountain, from where the last signal was sent.

The harrier, named Aalin, was tagged as part of the RSPB’s EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE+ project.

The bird charity had high hopes she would rear chicks this summer and so boost the tiny population of hen harriers in North Wales.

Project manager Dr Cathleen Thomas said Aalin’s disappearance was “suspicious”.

 “It’s incredibly disappointing to lose yet another hen harrier in these circumstances, especially as this bird is so scarce in the UK,” she said.

“It’s also the first suspicious loss of a bird in Wales for our project, after the elation of tagging our first chicks there in 2017.

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