Hare Management

Mountain hare leveret - note the tick on the right eyelid.

A controversial article recently appeared in the Sunday Herald which looked at mountain hares and their association with moorland management (entitled "Grouse moor owners driving mountain hares to the brink"). Aside from the provocative and misleading headline, the article touched on some useful issues which are well worth considering in a more balanced forum.

There is no question that we have a duty to protect our mountain hares, not only morally but under the terms of EU and International agreements. In the UK mountain hare densities are regularly ten times higher than in continental Europe and there has been no perceptible trend in numbers of hares in the UK bag since the 1950s when keepering re-started after the war.

Along with SNH and the James Hutton Institute, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has drawn attention to the difficulties involved in counting and surveying hare populations. They are highly mobile, secretive and well camouflaged. Anecdotally, the very fact that we still commonly see tens of hares highly visible even in areas where the cull rates are high provides an indication of strong abundance.

Hare numbers fluctuate naturally for lots of reasons, including parasites, weather, predation and habitat quality. Fewer hares in an area can be natural; the perception that it's the impact of a malign hand of man may be understandable but incorrect. There is no doubt that management is why we see hares so much more frequently in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe. Indeed, it's likely that the more intensive the production of cover, young heather and predators reduction, the higher the hare density. 

Managing louping-ill disease risk is critical for moors. Without a strategy the investment that drives the management that produces Scotland's higher than average hare densities would decline. However, according to GWCT, the management catechism should be: 'deer before hares, hand-in-hand with dipped sheep'. Once that's in place, the critical management issue is that when hares are naturally declining moors should be careful to balance their disease risk management of hare populations. Certainly they should be consulting neighbours to make sure shooting and natural declines are not coupled across large, landscape areas. 

A really critical conservation issue is why hare numbers (derived from bag indices) appear to have declined so much in the south and west. Discouragement or abandonment of small ground game management in the last forty years seems the common factor, and at a fundamental level, the absence of hares is inextricably linked to an absence of key predators such as golden eagles in these areas. 

When conservation bodies are concerned about mountain hares in Scotland, the real issue is why we have lost such huge areas of mountain hare range during the Twentieth Century, particularly on the West Coast and throughout the Southern Uplands - an issue unquestionably linked to a range of factors from overgrazing to afforestation. Pointing a finger of blame at grouse moors is an oversimplification of an extremely complex conservation issue. 

Management and control programs in areas of high hare density may well attract popular disapproval, but the real drivers behind mountain hare decline in a national context are not straightforward.

The Heather Trust in Wales

"Radiator" cuts at Gors Maen Llwyd (Denbighshire) to increase "edge" habitat for grouse.

As part of our ongoing review into heather cutting as a form of moorland management, project assistant Patrick Laurie traveled south last week to see cutting work conducted on two moors in North Wales.

There has been little Heather Trust presence in Wales over the past two or three years, so it was great to have an excuse to head back down and renew old acquaintances.

The site at Moel Famau is well known to hillwalkers and outdoor enthusiasts from across North Wales and North West England, and the distinctive top represents the highest peak of the Clwydian Mountains, which run in a straight line from North to South almost on the border with England. The heather has been cut on Moel Famau for several years, and the mosaic pattern generated by the work is very impressive to see. The steep sides of the mountain preclude management, but most of the summit is easily accessible for a dual wheeled tractor and chain flail.

An important population of black grouse remains in the Clwydian Range, and much of this management is targeted at nurturing and conserving these last few birds. Features such as ponds and wet flushes have been artificially built-in to the site at Moel Famau, and these provide focal points for brood rearing habitats made up of cut heather at varying heights and ages, with access to mature blaeberry (V. myrtilis) to provide invertebrate forage for young birds.

The small lek site is carefully managed by cutting to ensure adjacent cover for prospecting greyhens, and the hill is managed with the needs of black grouse to the fore.

Further west on the Mynydd Hiraethog near Ruthin, more cutting management has made extensive changes to the structure of the vegetation. At Gors Maen Llwyd, the moor has been broken up with large cuts into heather that appears to grow extremely quickly, so that while it appears unmanageably tall, it actually responds very well to the chain flail. Gors Maen Llwyd is altogether wetter than Moel Famau, and some of the grassy flushes provide great habitat for black grouse. As if to prove this point, four birds rose up out of the heather in the sunshine.

It was interesting to see the "radiator" cuts which are designed for brood rearing in order to maximise the "edge" habitat between tall heather and short heather - this habitat dynamic is very important for game, and increasing the amount of "edge" available is useful for both red and black grouse.

There is a great deal of new and interesting work being done with heather cutting in Wales, and this feeds neatly into the current Heather Trust research project.

The Wildlife Trust for Wales' reserve at Gors Maen Llwyd

Heather Trust AGM

The Heather Trust AGM listening to George Winn-Darley at Goathland Moor, North York Moors

The Heather Trust AGM took place in Pickering at the start of the month. With a theme of "Cutting Management", the delegates listened to four presentations at the event held at the White Swan Inn. With topics ranging from the science and practicalities of cutting heather to an overview of Natural England's Upland Evidence Review, the meeting allowed for a lively discussion on a number of issues relating to heather management.

Following lunch at the White Swan, the meeting decamped to nearby Goathland Moor, a few miles away in the North York Moors. Ably hosted by George Winn-Darley, the group was shown a number of interesting features, including the severely frosted heather on the high, exposed tops.

The North York Moors are almost unique in their dryness, and there is an average annual rainfall of less than forty inches. To counter the various issues relating to a lack of water, Sleights and Goathland Moor have recently experimented with a number of small ponds across the high ground. Not only do these ponds serve as oases of biodiversity, but they also provide birds with access to drinking water throughout the year. An additional bonus is their value as water reserves during wildfires.

Every area of moorland is different, and after discussions ranging from grouse butts to worm burdens, the meeting moved back down to the White Swan for a final exchange of views and ideas. The Heather Trust would like to thank everyone who attended the AGM meeting and look forward to meeting members, friends and guests again next year - venue as yet undecided!

Presentation slides and Photographs from the day are now available on the Reading Room page of the Heather Trust website.

Autumn Beetles

October is a key time for the emergence and dispersal of adult heather beetles. This year, we have heard a wide range of different emergence dates for heather beetles across Britain, with some beetles being seen at the end of August. Near the Heather Trust's headquarters at Dumfries, the beetles emerged at the very end of September or the beginning of October.

For a few days, the damaged heather was smothered with beetles feeding on the plants and scrambling through the moss, but following a cold snap of weather, all beetle activity came to an abrupt end. Just three days after seeing hundreds of beetles, it was impossible to find even one on the same few square feet of moorland.

Perhaps their ability to suddenly appear and then vanish again without warning is the root of much confusion and mystery about heather beetles. It is perfectly possible to lose large areas of heather without ever seeing a single larva, let alone a beetle.

Reports continue to reach us of beetle outbreaks during 2013, but so far these are presenting a patchy picture with a trend towards smaller, less concentrated beetle attacks. So far, the largest outbreak has taken place in the Peak District, where a moor of 70Ha has suffered damage to approximately 90% of its heather plants. Other than this devastating outbreak, there has been nothing to parallel the vast enormity of previous attacks in Caithness, Exmoor and Langholm Moor.

Heather Beetle Pupae

Towards the end of August, heather beetle larvae descend into the vegetation beneath heather plants in order to pupate and mature. Leaving red, damaged heather behind them, the larvae develop a thin, crispy black coating which will shield them as they transform into adult beetles over the next few weeks.

 

By the start of September, heather that has been damaged by beetle will be extremely obvious, and the first indications of the attack’s gravity will be revealed by whether or not the heather starts to turn silvery and dead. Huge areas of moorland can be lost in a single season to a large outbreak of heather beetle, and while some plants can withstand light damage, the level of devastation can be staggering.

 

The timing of the larvae’s development roughly coincides with hatches of several important insect species, making chemical control of beetles at this time of the year into a particularly dangerous prospect. The same craneflies and ants which are emerging en masse in late August and early September will go on (directly or indirectly) to provide the food for young birds in May and June the following year, so while it is tempting to intervene with insecticide sprays, it becomes obvious that this really is not an option. Besides, it is quite difficult to spot larvae without the red discoloration of damaged heather to give you a clue, and even if it was possible to spray them off with chemicals, it would probably already be too late to save heather that had already been eaten.

 

The Heather Trust continues to support a resolution to the problem of heather beetle which rests in restoring damage, rather than the destructive suppression of a natural (albeit dramatic and destructive) event.

 

If you have come across beetle damage, please let us know, either by filling in a form online or by downloading it to complete by hand. For more advice or information, why not call us on 01387 723 201

The Heather Beetle Season

We are now at that stage of the year when heather beetles are at their most destructive, and signs of damage are beginning to emerge.  If anyone sees the familiar signs of heather beetle damage, please could they let us know. There is a survey form on the heather beetle section of the website, but information in any form will be gratefully received.  This information will help us to establish the best possible picture of the range and extent of heather beetle outbreaks, this year.

The life cycle of the heather beetle involves several larval stages which can be extremely damaging to the heather plants, and the end of July and beginning of August is usually the peak of activity for these unassuming little grubs.

Even as they feed on the heather shoots, the plants begin to show signs of stress. Otherwise healthy heather plants look red and dry, and even in mild cases the emerging flowers will die back. The characteristic “burning bush” of September and October coincides with the hatch of adult heather beetles, and the damage is sometimes assumed to take place during early autumn. In reality, while adult heather beetles do feed on heather shoots, the bulk of the damage is caused by larvae at this time of year.

Having discovered a very concentrated outbreak of heather beetle on Patrick Laurie’s farm near Dumfries, we are now taking every opportunity to study this situation at close hand. Already we have been looking at precisely how the larvae use the heather and hope to document the progress of the attack as autumn approaches. 

The outbreak is concentrated on an area of heavily grazed heather which has been free from all livestock since February 2010. Close examination reveals that the majority of the past four years’ regeneration has been impacted by beetle larvae, and it will be very interesting to discover how the plants react to the damage.

The Heather Trust is always looking for information about beetle outbreaks wherever they take place, and we will be trying to gather news over the coming weeks as damage caused by beetle begins to show up across the country.

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Golden Plover Award Winners 2013: Edinglassie, Donside

The presentation: Heather Trust Chairman Malcolm Hay, GWCT Scotland Chairman
Andrew Salvesen, Dunecht Estate owner Charles Pearson, Edinglassie Head Keeper Derek Calder
and Factor Stuart Young.

The first Heather Trust and GWCT Golden Plover Award for Moorland Management was presented

to Edinglassie Estate on Donside last weekend at the Scottish Game Fair. 

Part of Dunecht Estates, the 15,000 acre Edinglassie Estate has been involved in a wide range of

scientific research activities over the past twenty years while simultaneously functioning as an

outstanding and productive grouse moor. Having contributed to the work of the Joint Raptor Study

based at Langholm during the 1990s, Edinglassie also helped to blaze a trail for peatland restoration,

blocking ditches and “re-wetting” moorland long before it was considered to be standard

conservation practice.

In recent years, Edinglassie has helped scientists to understand a great deal about the management

of ticks, and annual “ticks on chicks” counts demonstrate that trial control measures are bearing

fruit. Perhaps the key to the success of these measures has been the estate’s ability and willingness

to work as a single unit, even incorporating neighbouring tenants to manage the threat posed by

ticks.

Over the past few years, Edinglassie’s use of flubendazole grouse grit has reduced worm burdens in

the grouse stock to such an extent that the estate is now trialling a “grit holiday” under close

observation by scientists from a range of organisations and institutes. This “withdrawal” research

assists grouse managers across the country as we consider the future of medicated grit.

Alongside these central research themes, the managers of Edinglassie are currently planning the

overhaul of existing commercial forestry. These woodlands will be allowed to regenerate with native

species to the benefit of a diverse flora and fauna. A strong and healthy population of black grouse

thrives at Edinglassie, along with a range of waders not only associated with heather moorland but

also upland pasture and farmland.

The winners were presented with a framed print of a golden plover by GWCT Scotland Chairman
Andrew Salvesen at a ceremony on Saturday 6th July.

Having made a start to the new Golden Plover Award, it is hoped that Edinglassie will not only 

become an  example for others to follow but that also it will stir a sense of competition when 

applications for next year's award are being taken.