Monday November 24th 2025
Female Hen Harrier named Circe, satellite tagged in June 2025 on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Thanks to donations from supporters in 2025, Hen Harrier Action funded the purchase of four satellite tags to monitor the movements of Hen Harriers in the UK.
One of the tags was fitted by RSPB staff to a juvenile female Hen Harrier named Circe before she fledged from her nest on Tarras Valley Nature Reserve – a community-led rewilding project in Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway.
In the days leading up to her disappearance Circe ranged across the Moorfoot Hills, south of Edinburgh. Her tag data shows that the tag was regularly transmitting but then sudden stopped with no sign of tag malfunction.
The disappearance was reported to the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the area was searched but no body or tag has been found. Sudden stops without the tag being found are a huge concern, often indicating that the bird has been illegally killed.
Circe’s last transmission was on Tuesday 14th October at 2.07pm, not far from the well-known standing stones at Greenfieldknowe and the hiking trails around Whiteside Edge and Loncote Hill. She was less than four months old.
Though a legally protected species, Hen Harriers are one of the UK’s scarcest and most persecuted birds of prey in the UK. Dozens are satellite tagged each year to monitor their movements and wellbeing with the support of charities like the RSPB and local raptor groups. But despite being heavily protected in law for decades, many go missing each year due to suspected and confirmed illegal killing. In an effort to locate the body of Circe the charity has issued an appeal for information.
Hen Harrier Action trustee Adrian Rowe said:
“We are devastated by the loss. Circe was a healthy, thriving Hen Harrier and we had high hopes that she would go on to find a mate and raise a family. We know that the area is a popular walking route, and we are appealing for anyone who might have seen anything suspicious that Tuesday afternoon, or come across a dead bird of prey in the area, to get in touch.”
If you have information that could help, call the RSPB’s Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101, or the Wildlife Crime team at Police Scotland on 101.
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