Our Only Remaining Satellite Tagged Hen Harrier from the 2025 Cohort - Clara - Has Died
Sadly, we have been informed by the RSPB Investigations Team that Clara, one of the four fledgling Hen Harriers that were satellite tagged thanks to the generous donations from our supporters, stopped transmitting on the 17th of March this year.
Her last known movements, shown here, were over an area of salt marsh on the Isle of Colonsay, and the RSPB have been unable to locate her remains or satellite tag despite searches in the area.
There is no evidence from her tag that her death was suspicious. She may have been unable to find enough food to sustain her through the winter, or she may have been the victim of predation.
Clara was born and fledged from a nest on Colonsay, a small island in the Inner Hebrides, and she stayed close to her natal patch throughout her short life, venturing only as far as the neighbouring Oronsay, with one short trip north to Mull.
She was tagged on the 16th of June 2025 by the RSPB with help from the Argyll Raptor Study Group, one of two siblings. Sadly she was the last remaining live bird from the four fledgling Hen Harriers tagged last summer with funds donated by Hen Harrier Action supporters. Frigg, an Isle of Man bird, stopped transmitting in Cumbria, with no suspicious circumstances, in October. Henrietta was blown off course while crossing the English Channel and died the same month.
And Circe, born at the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, died in suspicious circumstances in the Moorfoot Hills south of Edinburgh, a known raptor persecution hotspot close to a grouse moor.
Despite this sad news about all four of our 2025 satellite tagged Hen Harriers, we remain determined to continue with the tagging programme each year. As RSPB Head of Investigations Mark Thomas told us recently on the Skydancer Day 2026 live broadcast, “satellite tagging has been a real gamechanger“, and DI Mark Harrison from the National Wildlife Crime Unit described how analysis of ‘sudden stop, no malfunction‘ tag incidents has allowed the Hen Harrier Taskforce to pinpoint wildlife crime hotspots.
The loss of these four young birds so early in their lives, before they had even had the chance to find a mate, is keenly felt by all of us, and we will continue to work tirelessly to improve the prospects for this iconic bird of prey.
If you would like to donate to help satellite tag more Hen Harriers, you can do so below.