A big shout out to Northern Ireland for their first ever Hen Harrier Day rally in Glenarrif Forest Park, Ballymena, Co Antrim at 10:00 today!
Then it’s over to RSPB Loch Leven for the start of a tw0-day event starting at 11:00
On Ilkley Moor, Cow and Calf Rocks, the Ban Bloodsports on Ilkley Moor team are assembling at 11:00
RSPB Rainham Marshes Hen Harrier Day event kicks off at 11:00 too
…and there is a second event in Northern Ireland at Castle Archdale Country Park, Irvinestown, County Fermanagh at 15:00.
And then the baton passes elsewhere for Sunday events:
First off is at Craignure, Isle of Mull at 10:00…
… followed by the North West Raptor Protection Group at the village green, Dunsop Bridge at 10:30…
… and RSPB Saltholme at 10:30 too.
RSPB Loch Leven Day 2 at 11:00.
RSPB Arne in Dorset starts at 11:00 too.
And I’ll be at Edale at 11:00 with Findlay Wilde, Natalie Bennett, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire, Jon Stewart from the National Trust and Tim Birch from Derbyshire WT.
The Scottish Wildlife Trust has a Hen Harrier Day event on Eigg starting at midday.
And then last, highest altitude and furthest north, and certainly not least there is a Hen Harrier Day rally at the Cairngorm Mountain Base Station at 13:00.
[registration_form]
Good luck to everyone attending, and hopefully good weather.
Will be at Edale tomorrow, hoping to catch up with long time friend and fellow Raptor champion John Armitage. See you there John.
Hi Bill and John,sorry to miss you but I will be at Saltholm Paul I.
Slightly off topic but I was wondering – if Chris Packham really believes shot game is toxic – why does he feed it to his dogs and go on about how healthy it is for them?
Perhaps all that lead gives them shiny coats?
Just back from Rainham Marshes in Essex. Great event with good speakers and fine weather. Huge
thanks has to go to BAWC (Birders Against Wildlife Crime) for organising the event and to the many RSPB volunteers who turned out to make the morning a success.
Mark, you must be very proud and pleased at what you’ve achieved in such a short time. Let’s hope the 12 events get lots of much needed publicity.
Now on to the Birdfair.
Fantastic day at Rainham Mark. Excellent contributions by Charlie Moores, Chris Packham, Mike Clarke and yourself. All topped off with sightings of bearded reedlings and water voles
Magic!
Great day at Loch Leven too. Well done everyone involved and good luck for tomorrow, don’t get blown away.
73K just before 9.00pm yesterday and 74K just before 9.00pm this evening! Should get to 75K by this time Sunday.
Which petition is this?
Aw shucks, it looked like we were going to get 1000 signatures in the last 24 hours; a bitter disappointment that it 24 hours and 30 seconds! 74K: I make that 1342 signatures behind the steady pace (548 signatures per day/6 months) total for the end of today.
74,008 at 8.55pm Saturday evening – so will crack 75K tomorrow no problem!
Onwards and upwards!
Petition has now topped 74,000 – we’ve got the wind in our sails & we’re skydancing in our hearts!
So, at midnight the petition total was 74,234. That’s just 1108 of the ‘steady pace’ target.
Jim, if I have it right, we’ll perhaps be somewhat ahead of the pace by midnight tonight. On the Facebook page, about a week ago I changed the numbers on the top post to xx signatures required in yy days. That leads directly to a figure for signatures now required per day but, so far at least, I have not put that on the page. Happily, it’s been falling steadily, and it would be great if in the next few days we could get it below 500.
We went ‘ahead of pace’ sometime before 6PM today I think, Alan!
PS. Probably a good idea for me to start engaging with Facebook, Alan, the same strand of thought running in parallel lines!
All ideas for content welcome. I try to keep it visual, but graphics on the petition could work well.
Sorry I could not join you – at work as I often am at weekends at present.
Hoping for a massive petition total by birdfair – I’ll catch up with Mark et al then.
Hope it all went well. My favourite hen harrier of the year was a male hassling a Golden eagle on Islay this summer – A far safer place for them, but I did admire with a heavy heart for their English harrier cousins.
Louise