My column in the November Birdwatch magazine is on the subject of hen harriers and their persecution by grouse moor managers.
Rather than tell you what it says I’d like to tell you that Birdwatch is asking your opinion on the subject. Is it time for a change of tack by the wildlife conservation organisations – primarily the RSPB?
What would you do? Give up on harrier persecution as an unwinnable battle? Or maybe raise the stakes? You tell us at Birdwatch and we’ll summarise the views and present them to the RSPB, the Moorland Association and others.
So, rush down to your local WHSmith and buy Birdwatch – not just for my column of course There are cracking articles on Yellowstone which brought back some memories and identification of Caspian gull (which I will find handy at my local gravel pits), or subscribe online, and tell us what you think. Do you remember ever being asked before?
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You can not be the voice unless you know the facts! It is not just about Hen Harrier. All Birds of Prey are removed from a driven Red Grouse moor to protect the drives during shooting time. One Short eared Owl or even a Kestrel can upset the drive so that no Red Grouse fly over the buts. A bad drive results in no ‘tax free cash’ given to the game keepers. The only answer is banning ‘driven’ Red Grouse.
John – I think I know all that thank you. But I hope you will send your views to birdwatch and I would encourage others who share, or don’t shre, your views to do the same.
How I wish someone had even part of a solution.Fact is any law is impossible to enforce whatever anyone says so the only solution is to ban shooting which of course with toffs of either Tory or Labour or indeed any other party in charge will never happen.It is even difficult to get a sentence of anything more than a smacked wrist for people who commit serious wildlife crimes.
There are definitely ways of stopping these crimes,just that the wish to stop the crimes is not there from people who could pass laws that were so drastic that no one would risk killing these birds.
All this present day nonsense about deterrents not working well of course they do if the penalty is so severe that no one will risk it.The world has gone mad when horrific crimes are committed and human rights protect them.All part of the system that lets wildlife criminals get lenient sentences.
All birds of prey are removed from grouse moors? John youre more than welcome to come and have a look around the moor I lease, think you might change your mind!
Ive spent a lot of time on various moors this year and seen good numbers of lots of different bird of prey especially Kestrels.
Do people walk around with their eyes closed?
The facts are plain to see. If you have no grouse moors with shooting then eventually you’ll have no grouse and of course our other native moorland species. Raptors are no choosy over what they leave or take and the Songbird Trust have got it about spot on when they blame raptor species as one of the main culprits in our native song bird decline, along with other ground predators such as the red fox and badgers.
I’d hate to see any species eradicated but a mature balance has to be struck. Presently the income, both direct and indirect, funds a wealth of conservation. If all shooting were to be banned how do you propose making up the shortfall. Is the RSBP in the financial position to buy up the existing UK moorlands to avoid farmers turning the land back into a sheep filled wilderness devoid of anything worthwhile.
Willow – welcome to this blog. But almost everything you say is simply wrong. A lack of driven grouse shooting would not lead to the extinction of red grouse – large areas of western Scotland (for example) do not have driven grouse shooting and they are the areas which have most of our hen harriers and support lots of grouse too. Most driven grouse moors are designated as SPAs under the EU Birds Directive and that would ensure their protection. Ironically one of the reasons they are designated is for the hen ahrriers that they no longer hold so the UK should be taken to court over non-compliance.
Mark, thank you for doing this and you/birdwatch will receive a response shortly hopefully fully supported by NERF. It is quite clear that driven grouse shooting appears to be persecution dependent with the widespread removal and persecution of most if not quite all grouse predators. It is as John says not just harriers the most successfully persecuted but peregrines, short eared owls , goshawks, golden eagles to name but a few. It is time we stopped listening to the over exaggerated claims from the shooters of the conservation value of their management and insisted by whatever means that persecution stop. The long term future for driven shooting without that stop is or should be zero.
Paul v Irving
Paul – many thanks.