Conservation efforts create thriving birds of prey sanctuary in the Cairngorms

SINCE 2019, a conservation restoration project has been underway in the Cairngorms to support the thriving populations of birds of prey.

WildLand Cairngorms, which owns an 80,000-hectare estate in the heart of the Highlands, is committed to preserving this land for raptor conservation. Over the past five years, the estate has seen a significant increase in the number of native raptors coming to nest and breed.

The programme has achieved remarkable successes, including the resurgence of hen harriers, golden eagles, and goshawks, with one species even reaching a 100% survival rate.

Since 2019, Ronan Dugan from the WildLand Estate, along with teams and volunteers including the Raptor Monitoring group, has been tagging and tracking the movements of hen harriers, goshawks, and golden eagles.

Ronan Dugan holding a tag used to follow raptors (Image: Wildland Cairngorms) By tagging the birds, WildLand Cairngorms was able to track their movements, providing crucial insights into their needs, habits, behaviours, and the threats they face.

“We did quite a lot of tagging for three years of golden eagles, hen harriers and goshawks,” said Dugan interested in understanding the insights of where the young birds disperse.

“Some of the Young Eagles established territories in other parts of the country. That's been nice to engage with other landowners and partners in different areas.”

Golden eagles travel throughout Scotland (Image: Wildland Cairngorms)

Better land management techniques

Dugan explained that the estate transitioned from intensive traditional management and land used for grouse shooting to more sustainable practices, avoiding heather burning and predator control. As a result, each bird of prey now thrives alongside other species, such as foxes.

“We have a whole suite of different habitats, we have a lot of space for these birds,” said Dugan.

“We're just focusing our efforts on the habitat allowing it to recover with deer control, deer management to let the trees or the peatlands recover.

“And then we have been planting some trees in some areas, but then just the natural regeneration to create a mosaic of habitats," he added.

Three species of raptors

Since conservation efforts began in Scotland, there has been a notable resurgence of birds of prey across the Highlands and Islands.

“The numbers are increasing, and of course, there's still a lot of space,” said Dugan.

As a result of their efforts, Wildland Cairngorms reached a record 100% survival rate in Hen Harriers between 2022 and 2023.

To measure this number, WildLand Cairngorms looked at the nests and the fledging success of the pairs on the estate.

Golden eagle, goshawk and hen harrier (Image: Wildland Cairngorms) Dugan mentioned that 2023 was a fantastic year for birds, particularly for the hen harrier, with each nest producing four to five chicks, thanks to the safe haven provided by the estate.

Golden eagle numbers have also increased, with breeding pairs rising from four in 2021 to seven in 2023, a species once widespread across southern Scotland but is now limited to only a few pairs.

“One pair of golden eagles within WildLand Cairngorms has been very productive in recent years, they have hatched twins for four consecutive years,” said Dugan.

“We've seen eagles, or young pairs of eagles, moving into some of the lower areas, but not too far from the villages and the forests.

“Historically, that's the kind of place where eagles weren't thought to be, but now that they've been given a chance to increase and become more widespread, young pairs of eagles are finding this site and establishing in these traditional areas that come with the species resurgence and change in land use, and potentially the change in pre availability due to the change in land use."

Golden eagles are not the only birds who have seen an increase in numbers as two pairs of Goshawks, a species once driven to extinction in the UK due to persecution, successfully bred on the estate in 2021.

Hen Harrier breeding success at WildLand Cairngorms since 2018 (Image: Wildland Cairngorms) Dugan explained that the expansion of the work on the native woodland in the Cairngorms has been “extremely important for the return of the Goshawk and the prey they depend on” as this species is “an elusive predator of the forest and open spaces".

“We're providing a safe refuge for them to come and breed them. I'm sure maybe this spring will find another period of breeding,” said Dugan.

This team effort to help endangered species thrive again in Scotland was made possible by volunteers, the WildLand Cairngorms and the Raptor Monitoring group.