The Story of 'Frank' the most productive breeding male hen harrier in recent English history

As was reported by the Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group, this is male hen harrier 'Frank' — arguably the most celebrated and productive breeding male hen harrier in recent English history. Ringed and fitted with a GPS tracker as a nestling in August 2018 in Cumbria, Frank went on to breed polygamously across managed grouse moors in the Yorkshire Dales from 2019 to 2025, fathering chicks well into double figures with multiple females. He was a conservation triumph by any measure. And every single one of his nests were on keepered grouse moors in the Dales.

That fact alone should give organisations like the RSPB serious pause for thought. For years, the prevailing narrative from mainstream conservation bodies has been that driven grouse moors and the people who manage them are the principal threat to hen harrier recovery. Frank's extraordinary life tells a very different story — one the RSPB appears reluctant to acknowledge.

Sadly, Frank is now deceased. His carcass was discovered recently on farmland in Holderness, some twelve miles east of Hull. He was found entirely by chance by a field sports enthusiast — a shooter, falconer, wildfowler, and deer stalker — who immediately reported the discovery to both Natural England and the British Trust for Ornithology. It was an act of sincere goodwill that stands in sharp contrast to the suspicion routinely directed at the fieldsports community by the RSPB and its allies.

Examination of the carcass revealed that the transmitter's aerial had broken away, almost certainly from years of repetitive preening and flexing — unsurprising for a device over seven years old. The transmitter showed clear signs of abrasion and wear.

Following Natural England's instruction, the carcass was sent to the Zoological Society of London for post-mortem examination. Routine swabbing confirmed the cause: Frank had succumbed to avian influenza. He died of natural causes. Not persecution. Not poisoning. Not a trap. Bird flu.

What the RSPB Won't Tell You

Frank lived a long and productive life — exceeding the average lifespan of a hen harrier by a full year — and he spent virtually all of it on driven grouse moors. Far from being persecuted, he was actively supported. Two gamekeepers provided licensed supplementary feeding, sometimes three times a day, to Frank and his female partners throughout the breeding season for years on end. This dedicated, hands-on management by keepers undoubtedly contributed to Frank's remarkable breeding success and his longevity.

This is the reality of moorland management that the RSPB consistently ignores or downplays. Gamekeepers don't just tolerate hen harriers — in many cases, they actively nurture them. The keepered landscape provides the mosaic of heather habitats, predator control, and prey availability that species like the hen harrier depend upon. Frank is living — or rather, now posthumous — proof that well-managed grouse moors and thriving raptor populations are not mutually exclusive. They are complementary.

A Culture of Suspicion

When Frank's transmitter ceased emitting a signal in spring 2025, the response from raptor monitors and Natural England field staff was depressingly predictable. Rather than considering the possibility of equipment failure on a seven-year-old device, suspicion immediately fell on local gamekeepers. Insinuations of persecution began circulating. Internal NE communications categorised the bird as "missing/suspicious on a grouse moor."

This rush to judgement reveals a deeply embedded institutional bias. The assumption, it seems, is always guilt — a presumption that gamekeepers are persecutors until proven otherwise. It is a mindset the RSPB has done much to cultivate through years of relentless campaigning against grouse moor management, and it poisons relationships between conservationists and the rural community whose cooperation is essential to genuine species recovery.

A subsequent site visit by a Natural England field worker to a known nest — a nest, it should be noted, already being monitored by the estate gamekeepers — proved Frank was very much alive and well. He was photographed visiting one of two broods he had fathered that season. The "missing" bird was nesting successfully on a keepered moor. His transmitter had simply failed. An embarrassment that should have prompted reflection, but almost certainly didn't.

After the 2025 breeding season, Frank evidently travelled east, presumably following prey. It is likely he ingested avian influenza from a contaminated prey item, ending his life swiftly and naturally.

Frank's story exposes uncomfortable truths for the RSPB and the wider conservation establishment. First, the narrative that grouse moor management is incompatible with hen harrier recovery is demonstrably false. Frank thrived for years under the care of gamekeepers on keepered moors. His breeding success — unmatched by almost any harrier nesting on RSPB reserves — is a testament to what proactive moorland management can achieve.

Second, the reflexive assumption of persecution every time a tagged bird goes silent is not just unfair — it is scientifically irresponsible. How many other birds have met fates identical to Frank's — succumbing to disease, predation, or equipment failure far from any grouse moor — but are never found and remain forever logged as "missing/suspicious"? The RSPB has built much of its anti-grouse moor campaigning on the back of these unresolved disappearances. Frank's case demonstrates how misleading that data can be.

Third, it was a shooting man who found Frank and reported him. Not an RSPB volunteer. Not a raptor worker. A member of the very community that is routinely demonised by conservation campaigners. His immediate and transparent report to the authorities is typical of the responsible, conservation-minded approach that characterises the overwhelming majority of the fieldsports community.

The RSPB would do well to spend less time vilifying gamekeepers and more time learning from them. The evidence from Frank's life is unambiguous: well-managed grouse moors, with dedicated keepers who take pride in the wildlife on their beats, are among the best habitats in England for breeding hen harriers. Until mainstream conservation bodies are willing to accept that, they will remain part of the problem, not the solution.