The RSPB never miss an opportunity to tell anyone who is listening that hen harriers are in dire straits and, unless the public donate loads more money to the charity, population numbers will get even worse.
That is of course despite hen harriers now being at their highest level for 200 years, and the vast majority of those hen harriers being found on grouse moors.
Despite their efforts to play down the rapid recovery of hen harriers in the country, when evidence emerged that Defra and Natural England were recently putting in place plans for a southern reintroduction of hen harriers, the RSPB actively prevented the project from commencing, according to an investigation from the Countryside Alliance.
This is despite the huge success that similar schemes have had in the past in England, such as the red kite reintroduction, which has seen their population balloon across the Chilterns, and the white tailed eagle reintroductions to the Isle of White.
Why would the charity want to prevent the reintroduction of birds they claim to be concerned about? Well, a quick bit of analysis of recent fundraising campaigns and press attention for the RSPB shows an overwhelming amount dedicated to alleged bird of prey persecution, specifically hen harriers.
The reintroduction scheme was set to work with European conservation groups, who were initially keen to support the project. Natural England had the necessary infrastructure and personnel in place in Wiltshire to receive the first hen harriers from Spain in 2019, and some £300,000 of public money having been allocated to the project.
As a handover note provided by Defra stated at the time: 'Due to contact by RSPB with conservation groups in France and Spain, NE has been unable to source chicks for the re-introduction. Without chicks the re-introduction cannot go ahead and we cannot stop the RSPB'.
The Countryside Alliance investigation also found that although the original plan had been to source chicks from France and Spain, it became apparent in 2018 that doing so from France would not be possible due to opposition from the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux; the French equivalent of the RSPB after the RSPB refused to support it.
In March 2019, a representative from the Junta (regional government) of Castillo y Léon contacted Natural England proposing a meeting in Spain to discuss the southern reintroduction programme. The evening before that meeting, a senior official in the SEO (Spanish Birdlife Partner) informed Natural England's Project Manager that they were not supportive of the project, and those on the ground had been asked not to cooperate.
According to Natural England: "From both communications we know the RSPB orchestrated this late intervention (the SEO simply cites the RSPB position). So the interference continues".
Although the RSPB's official position was that it did not support the project, it had said that it would not take steps to oppose or brief against it. When challenged by Natural England, it replied that: "There may have been some misunderstanding of miscommunication".
At the time, the Countryside Alliance said: "Given that The RSPB undertake bird reintroductions themselves, and are supportive of the current Osprey reintroduction project in Poole Harbour, the proposed white-tailed sea eagle reintroduction to the Isle of Wight, and are directly involved with the golden eagle reinforcement programme in the south of Scotland where ongoing persecution is still problematic, their opposition to the reintroduction of hen harrier into Southern England is quite extraordinary."
Despite the RSPB's initial effort to block the whole project, progress is now underway for a southern introduction program with International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP) now managing a conservation breeding programme.