A few things

A few updates and things that caught my eye or my ear:

• That excellent blog, Raptor Persecution UK, is 7 today – Happy Birthday!
• the dawn chorus is getting going – Song Thrushes dominate the sound when I pick up the milk bottles from my doorstep in the morning
• new US Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, stands up for Americans’ right to poison food and pollute the environment by rescinding Obama’s ‘political’ lead ammunition ban on federal lands – for two rather different takes see Fox News and Huffington Post.
• with nearly three weeks remaining, Chris Packham’s petition calling for a moratorium on hunting declining waders stands on 25,442 signatures.
• long-standing stag, Stuart Housden, known affectionately as ‘the Monarch of the Glen’ in RSPB circles, is to step down later this spring and will be replaced by a hind, long-serving current South and West Scotland Regional Director Anne McCall. However, at this time of potential Scottish independence, the Director Scotland post in RSPB will no longer be a Management Board role, but will report to the Operations Director along with the Wales, Northern Ireland and new post of England Director.
• interesting to note that BASC Chair, Peter Glenser, was involved, perhaps not with great distinction, in the trial of  marine Alexander Blackman.
• I’m frankly surprised that Mary Colwell’s petition in favour of a GCSE in Natural History has not got beyond 5,860 signatures yet – but it does have a further four months to run. It just shows how difficult it is to get signatures.
• lots of Snowdrops in the countryside, lots of crocuses in the towns. Must be spring? Coming soon? Maybe?
• Another departure from the RSPB, of another keen birder, will be the International Director Dr Tim Stowe who has had one of the longest, and one of the most varied, RSPB careers, having worked in the Conservation Directorate, Finance Directorate (in IT), Scotland Directorate, the everywhere apart from Scotland Directorate (as Director of Wales) and latterly as International Director. The International Directorate is being merged with Martin Harper’s Conservation Directorate.
• yesterday the Radio 4 Today programme had a bit of a brainstorm and carried two wildlife stories on the same day.  The first was a slightly odd interview by John Humphrys with Nicola Crockford about curlews and godwits being good bets for extinction where the best bit was Nicola correcting Humphrys when he said there wasn’t anything to be done about it! the interview was based on this work.
• Do you remember #burningbloggate? (burningbloggate1, burningbloggate2, Murky,  Much less murky and burningbloggate3)? The paper which was leaked is still getting a kicking from academics – see here.
• the Simon King/Wildlife Trusts petition on badger culling (closed on 108,318 signatures – just shows how difficult it is to get signatures) will be debated in Westminster Hall on 27 March.
• the second piece on yesterday’s Today was about the non-appearance of Defra’s much-promised 25-year plan for nature (and its separate plan for farming). Reports that the non-appearance of the nature plan is because Defra just doesn’t have a clue are not thought to be too wide of the mark – I’ll come back to this next week.
• as I understand it, BAWC are soon going to start spending money on field equipment such as transmitters and so any top-ups to their crowdfunder now will allow them to order with more confidence – please donate here.

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