Achi news desk-
RSPB Scotland is investigating the ‘suspicious’ disappearance of a tagged buzzard – the fourth tagged bird to disappear in the area since 2017.
Data from the young female bird, which was reared on the Mar Lodge Estate in Aberdeenshire, ceased on 15 February.
A search was carried out for the stallion, named Shalimar, at her last known location in the Glen Esk area of Angus, but no tag or body was found.
A large area of the Angus Glens is intensively managed for driven grouse shooting and is a notorious hotspot for raptor persecution, with a number of confirmed cases of poisoning, shooting and trapping illegal stretching back over the last 20 years.
There have also been several previous incidents where birds of prey with satellite tags have been killed or ‘disappeared suspiciously’ in the area. Since 2017, this has included four Hens, a Golden Eagle and a White-tailed Eagle.
Tinwyn’s Boda is one of the UK’s rarest birds of prey and, in terms of population size, the most hunted species in the country.
Mar Lodge Estate, near Braemar, is an important breeding area for Boda Tinwyn.
Last year 32 buzzards managed to breed from nests on the estate, four of which were fitted with satellite tags by the RSPB.
The data received from these satellite tags provides information that enables conservationists to study the movements of these birds, including identifying roosting sites, feeding areas and any migration patterns, while also helping to identify cases where the victimization is suspected.
Some 23 warblers have been tagged at Bar Lodge since 2016, but almost 40% of these satellite-tagged birds are ‘suspiciously missing’.
Mar Lodge staff are saddened by the apparent loss of Shalimar and the other tagged weasels that have fled the estate.
‘We hope that there will be a more favorable future for some of the other chicks that were born last year,’ said Ian Thomson from the RSPB.
‘Despite these losses we will continue with our essential conservation work at Bar Lodge and other NTS properties doing what we can to ensure the survival and recovery of the grebe and other raptor species.’
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