For those who remember Bobbin, I came across an article today which contained a lot of information which I had not seen before about what happened to Bobbin and her family. At the time of the poisonings, the incident was hushed up and remained so for many months. Investigation was hampered not only by this secrecy, but by the fact that investigators were refused any access to the land to collect evidence.
Bobbin was not identified in the article, but as soon as I saw the photos below, I knew it was her.
http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2016/03/16/report-peregrine-persecution-clee-hill-south-shropshire/Bobbin was always one of my very favorite peregrines. I watched her grow up at the St Andrew's Spire nest, and followed her story throughout her life. I still miss Bobbin.
Clee Hill is an area which has a long history of raptor persecution, and nothing has changed. This year, the resident falcon and tiercel were once again the victims of poison, leaving three small chicks in the nest. The chicks were rescued, and fostered into other nests. The little male went to the Salisbury Cathedral nest, and the other two chicks went to a different Midlands nest. All three chicks did well.
