Raptors

North East Scotland Raptor Watch began in 2006. It is a partnership project that aims to address the problem of declining populations of rare or endangered species of birds of prey that breed in the uplands of North East Scotland.

Monitoring of the three key species of raptor (Hen Harrier, Golden Eagle and Peregrine Falcon) was most recently carried out by members of the study group and project officer on all of the 22 estates during 2009 to establish breeding numbers and nest success. Gamekeepers and estate rangers also provided breeding information. 

'Raptor Track' which will see the tagging and tracking of a number of key species birds, allowing us all to track their progress in the same way as the handful of Ospreys and Golden Eagles that have already given us a unique glimpse into their lives.

The Park provides good quality habitat for a number of raptor species, however little is known about their movements here. The raptor species that have been tagged are golden eagles, peregrine falcons, hen harriers,  merlin, and hobby. This is of vital importance in providing more information about each species to ensure better conservation methods can be applied. The project aims to increase awareness of these species within the Cairngorms National Park and to provide education programmes about these birds to school groups. It also aims to highlight the persecution of these birds by  the small minority of working estates that has a huge impact on the population levels.

 
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