The uncertain future of the hen harrier and Cumbria’s remaining pair of golden eagles will come under the spotlight as delegates swoop in for a major conference tomorrow.

Wildlife experts are heading for the North of England Raptor Conference, at Penrith, to discuss the changing fortunes of the county’s healthy population of birds of prey.

Boasting buzzards, merlins, kestrels, peregrines, and ospreys, the county has ten of a total UK species of 15 - making it one of the nation’s key habitats.

But the 150-plus delegates gathering at Newton Rigg College are expected to be told that the outlook is bleak for the hen harrier and golden eagles.

Peter Ullrich, chairman of the Cumbria Bird Club, said: “The return of the osprey to Cumbria has been a tremendous success story and we also have good news to report to the conference about the majority of bird of prey species in Cumbria, which are generally doing well.

“However, with only one pair of ageing golden eagles, this population continues to be low and the outlook is very bleak indeed for hen harriers.” The RSPB reports that, despite the upturns in the fortune of many birds of prey in recent years, the hen harrier remains a seriously threatened species.

Only a handful of pairs now nest on the northern England moors and recovery is restricted by its continued “illegal persecution.” Richard Saunders will be reporting to the conference on the work of English Nature’s hen harrier recovery project, which was set up to monitor the remaining birds in England.

Now in its second year, the scheme aims to establish the reasons for the low population by monitoring the birds and their nests.

Radio tracking is being used to follow birds across the English uplands and latest figures show there were 22 nesting attempts in England this year, involving at least 18 territorial females. From these, there were eight successful nests which resulted in 26 young.

Pete Davies, chairman of the Cumbria Raptor Study Group, said: “The hen harrier situation is still very depressing, but overall we are fortunate in Cumbria to have such important populations of birds of prey. The county is exceptionally rich in terms of the number of different raptor species that occur here.

“Ornithologists in the county have a huge knowledge of these spectacular birds, and local people are at the forefront of studying the ecology of many of these species.

“The Raptor Conference is an important opportunity to share knowledge and increase our understanding of these birds. Our discussions will also help shape future local and national programmes for further research.” The event, sponsored by English Nature and the RSPB, shows the importance of birds of prey to Cumbria.

Delegates at the conference will also be trying to predict which birds will colonise Cumbria in the future with some saying it could see all of the UK’s 15 species of breeding birds of prey.