A PARTNERSHIP between gameskeepers and conservationists could be the best way to protect Scotland's wild places, a wild bird specialist has said.

Experienced bird ringer Neil Morrison said he formed a working relationship with gameskeepers in Perthshire and that the partnership helped produce valuable data on endangered species such as short-eared owls.

At least 18 pairs of the amber-listed birds of prey have bred in the last two years and Kestrels, declining alarmingly across Britain, are thriving, with eleven breeding pairs recorded since 2014.

Now, on the eve of the 2015 grouse season, the raptor study group member believes warring factions should learn to put differences aside, so birdlife can be the winner.

He said: “All my interest is in birds. I have never got involved in countryside politics but, personally, the benefits I have reaped from working with gamekeepers and landowners has been far greater than I initially thought.

“All professions have good and bad but, from my experience, gamekeepers tend to get tarred with the same brush. For me, I couldn’t have worked on long-term projects without them.

“The owls have an amazing record of success in these three glens and it must be to do with the land management by the gamekeepers because, to get ground-nesters to be as successful as they can be, rats, stoats, weasels and foxes can be a problem."

“The gamekeepers control their numbers and, from over 80 nests I’ve counted over the years, I haven’t lost many to predators at all."

Ha also hailed controversial countryside management techniques such as burning back heather as a key component in the birds survival.

Mr Morrison said: “The patch work quilt of heather, created by muirburn for grouse management, also seems to be working for the short eared owls, to a lesser extent the kestrels, and also for the barn owls, which we suspect are hunting the moorland more than we realise.

“I know that bickering between both sides has gone on for a long time and it doesn’t seem to be changing which probably needs new approaches. There are trust issues on both sides.

“In my view, progress can only come from working together. Ultimately, the birds have to come first.”

Ronnie Kippen of the The Scottish Gamekeepers Association, one of the gamekeepers who has worked with Neil said: “There is a growing appetite amongst gamekeepers to work with bird experts willing to communicate and build trust rather than campaign.

“The best results come when there is good communication between the bird experts and the estates. Our members are keen to work with the BTO to have their wildlife recorded because there are many successes for vulnerable species.”