This weekend it’s the Scottish Birdfair and it looks like a good programme of talks and events (although the weather might not be so good on Saturday).
Some have criticised the choice of venue for the event because of links between Hopetoun House and the Leadhills Estate where various dark deeds happened and others were alleged to have happened. As I understand it, Hopetoun House is managed by a private charitable trust and the management of the Leadhills Estate is on a long sporting lease, so the links are not quite as clear and obvious as might at first seem. The world is a complicated place.
Stuart Housden’s blog puts the RSPB case.
But this small controversy reminded me of the attack on the RSPB a little while ago by the Countryside Alliance when an RSPB staff member spoke at a League Against Cruel Sports meeting. Gosh the CA were up in arms over the RSPB talking with extremists. I wrote at the time that when I worked for the RSPB I talked to many people of conflicting views and clearly upland land owners fall into that category.
But back to the Scottish Birdfair. If I were there over the weekend I’d want to see Tristan Reid’s right arm and hear his talk, but I suspect I’d spend quite a lot of time standing around talking to people whom I hadn’t seen for ages – and that would be just fine.
The food and drink on offer looks quite good too – I’d be interested in any reports from attendees on this aspect. I find the beer at the Rutland Birdfair to be very enjoyable, but one can’t fully appreciate the range on offer with a drive home at the end of the day, but the food is a little disappointing.
This is my last weekend in the UK for a while and so I’ll probably be having a last look at some of my local sites. I have done the first visits for my two BBS squares. Both had ‘record’ numbers of whitethroats which didn’t come as a surprise as whitethroats seem to be everywhere this year. But I haven’t seen or heard a garden warbler at all yet.
If you are heading to the Scottish Birdfair this weekend then do enjoy it – and if not – good birding and wildlife watching!
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Think you are being a bit “new labour” about the Hopetoun/Leadhills controversy IMHO.
Please read the links in here:
http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/scottish-birdfair-critic-misguided-says-rspb/
Hi Mark,
I feel it is very biased of you to link to Stuart Housden’s RSPB point of view but not to acknowledge the other side of this debate.
Herald article here.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/choice-of-birdfair-venue-ruffles-feathers.20723752
The RSPB have recently issued a statement to Birdfair stallholders that “the Hopetoun House site is owned by an independent charity-and has been for many years” but they have neglected to inform them that Andrew Hopetoun is Deputy Chairman of that charity, the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust. He is also chairman of Hopetoun Estates which manages Leadhills Estates (Leadhills Grousemoor)
(http://www.scottishlandandestates.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=98)
The connection just gets closer!
It seems to be the RSPB point of view that Andrew Hopetoun has a small, passive interest in driven grouse shooting. Perhaps they would like to read this letter published in The Scotsman last year and consider is this the view of a man with no bias or vested interest in driven grouse shooting?
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/andrew-hopetoun-shooting-for-the-top-prize-of-being-the-best-1-2015606
The RSPB statement is quite divisive in its intent and obviously designed as a crude attempt to drive a wedge between myself and the intended Birdfair attendees.
I doubt anyone will be greatly impressed by this especially as the author, James Reynolds (RSPB head of media and communications) did not actually know what county Leadhills grousemoor is in, describing it as in Dumfries, which as most people know is a town not a county when it is actually in South Lanarkshire!
After speaking on this subject with countless people in the birding world, including many RSPB employees I have yet to hear anyone (with no vested interest) support the use of the venue.
Here’s a short list of raptor persecution incidents 2003 – 2011 relating to Leadhills. Believe it or not these 41 incidents are from the RSPB’s own annual persecution report!
2003 April: hen harrier shot
2003 April: hen harrier eggs destroyed
2004 May: buzzard shot
2004 May: short-eared owl shot
2004 June: buzzard poisoned (Carbofuran)
2004 June: 4 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran)
2004 June: crow poisoned (Carbofuran)
2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2005 February: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2005 April: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2006 February: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2006 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2006 March: poisoned pigeon bait (Carbofuran)
2006 April: dead buzzard (persecution method unknown)
2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2006 May: poisoned egg baits (Carbofuran)
2006 June: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2006 June: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)
2006 June: 6 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran)
2006 June: poisoned egg bait (Carbofuran)
2006 September: 5 x poisoned buzzards (Carbofuran)
2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2007 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2007 April: poisoned red kite (Carbofuran)
2007 May: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran)
2008 October: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]
2008 October: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]
2008 November: 3 x poisoned ravens (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’]
2009 March: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2009 March: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)
2009 April: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran)
2009 April: poisoned magpie (Carbofuran)
2009 April: poisoned raven (Carbofuran)
2010 October: short-eared owl shot
2011 March: illegally-set clam trap
2011 December: buzzard shot
I rest my case!
Ronnie Graham
Ronnie – welcome and thanks for your comment. It would indeed have been biased if I hadn’t acknowledged the other side of the debate but I did. It’s the second link in the blog. And the second paragraph of the blog refers to the ‘debate’. Your views are very welcome here (as are those of others) so don’t get shirty with me please!
Mark on a more jovial note I’ll swap your two patches for mine, plenty of Garden Warblers yet oddly no Common Whitethroats which is a reverse from last year when common and lesser (two) whitethroats dominated the patch, Sadly it looks like the swifts have failed to return too which will be the first year of no swifts screaming over the houses on our estate, anyone got any ideas of a “rough” date when you can conclusively say no swifts this year?
What I’ve not seen from the RSPB (I received no response to be letter asking) is why there aren’t other, perhaps better and less contentious venues in Scotland that could host the Scottish Birdfair? What makes this chosen location so much better than anywhere else?
Wow a very interesting article and I’m sure the RSPB will be looking at the politics of it very closely. I don’t know enough to comment properly.
However on the topic of food and drink, it was great last year, however the lines were LONG, I missed a talk due to being in line for half an hour and I wasn’t going to give up my spot, took another half hour to get served. Was dissapointed with that, there were a few nice beers on offer, but I can’t remember which ones… I do remember there were no lines for the Black grouse whisky tasters, which I may have had a few extra than I should have. There were also some nice Islay Whisky tasters too, worth going for the free Whisky!
next year I hope to get to both days as I’m missing Saturday which means I don’t get to Tristan Reid, which is a shame!
Thanks for the article.
Regards
KiwiGav.
Thanks to Raptor Persecution Scotland here’s some more information about that “independent” charity The Hopetoun House Preservation Trust.
http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/scottish-birdfair-more-revealing-details-emerge/
Extract, “The Trust [HHPT] is controlled by a Board of Trustees which meets twice a year. The Executive Committee, which meets regularly, is responsible for the day to day running of the trust“.
Andrew Hopetoun and his father are two of the four members of the Executive Committee.
That’s not really my understanding of the word “independent”
The saga of the RSPB Scottish Birdfair continues.
As the protests flooded in to the RSPB regarding their choice of venue they were in possession of the information that a huge stash of poison baits had been uncovered at Leadhills Grouse Moor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-22846749