This piece in The National is a hoot. You can always spot dodgy pseudo-science when something is aiming to’prove’ something rather than to investigate it. And in this case gamekeepers are going to collect data on birds of prey on grouse moors.
Quite what all this is about, who knows?
We know birds of prey visit grouse moors – they’d find it difficult to die on them otherwise.
The article does not mention whether the app will have facilities such as ‘is the bird still alive?’ and ‘how was it killed?’ but maybe it should.
The scientific reputation of GWCT bumps along the bottom. Is SNH really involved – one hopes not, one really does.
Here is a recent bird of prey which visited a grouse moor – pass me the app!
And some others…
It is besides being the “silly season” also coming up to harvest time when there are an awful lot of straws to clutch. Sounds to me as though that is exactly what those who like to shoot and kill our wildlife for fun, are doing.
I dislike any bird being killed it is cowardly to shoot a defenslis bird
How desperate must they be to try and disprove what everyone already knows.
It’s bizarre, and telling, that instead of using one of the already existing apps, that are very good indeed, they make up there own.
Talking of making things up, that will probably describe the results perfectly.
Doesn’t sound like science at all but a PR exercise to try and fool the gullible, of course BOPs go on grouse moors but this will not measure their lifespan, successful breeding or all the other things we expect healthy populations to indulge in. Whenever nation al surveys of various raptor species are conducted the results show how these birds are either largely absent from grouse moors as successful breeders ( Peregrine, Hen Harrier) or have much lower than expected population levels with a surfeit of younger birds present (Golden Eagle). This sham will not replace that.
Invermark Estate— haven’t they, how shall we put it, a certain rather poor reputation!
Scum always floats to the top and the grouse cabal is full of it.
So how comes there were more hen harriers hatched on grouse moors than rspb reserves and why didn’t the rspb back the proposal of getting hen harriers back down south ?
And having Pac-Man hold a dead bird of prey after he took a kestrel from a nest illegally ?
And what will hen harriers live on if grouse moors aren’t looked after
HYPOCRITES and Money grabbing
You don’t care about wildlife your concerns are all to do with your bank ballance’s
Martin – I assume that you mean more Hen Harriers hatched on grouse moors in England than on RSPB nature reserves in England. Is that what you mean? And in what period?
Just tell us all (because I know, more or less) what the area of upland RSPB nature reserve is in England and what the area of grouse moor is in England and that will get us a very long way to answering your question (and to you backing down).
Also, just let us know which areas you are counting as grouse moors – does that include the United utilities land in Bowland that is not primarily grouse moor and where diversionary feeding and round-th -clock watches have often been done by RSPB staff and volunteers (because I’m sure you wouldn’t want to compatre apples with pears, would you?).
That’s for a start. If you didn’t mean England then you are quite simply wrong.
I suggested on your Facebook link, Mark, that they could use Birdtrack and get a BTO analysis. There is a reply, which may be from a gamekeeper, saying that the BTO are involved.
There has been no “Bird of Prey on Shooting Estates” survey advertised by the BTO. As BTO surveys are all carried out by volunteers, and they are advertised for people to take part (I am a BTO member and do several of their surveys) it is hard to know what their involvement might be, unless they are going to collate the results. I have certainly seen no advertising for volunteers.
Simon, my correspondent is a gamekeeper and a member of C4PMC. Sorry to waste your time.
I believe that BTO do contract work which may not be in the public realm. I also am a member and occasional surveyor.
We know right from wrong BUT we need to understand that there always has been people who will do ANYTHING for money and alot of these people already have lots but they are also cruel grasping desperate bastards who we dont seem able to stop.
As the results of all the BTO / RSPB studies don’t chime with the crap they keep propagandising, rather than change their lawless ways they have obviously decided to craft their own data set to suit the fairy tales they peddle. I’d be interested to see which Estates in the North Pennines take it up, so that when they report hordes of rare and interesting birds I and doubtless many others can pop along and enjoy seeing them too – things like Goshawks which I have never seen in all my life despite hundreds maybe thousands of hours spent in perfect habitat, and Harriers similarly…although to be fair I’ve seen a whopping four of those in said lifetime. Doubtless we will hear a lot about Merlins as well – headlining as the acceptable-ish face of hooked-beakness.
My awareness of phone apps has increased recently.
Firstly I bought a new smart phone and had to install all the apps again.
And secondly, all the talk around the function of Domic Cummings mates Covid app.
Nearly all of the apps ask for access to the location data.
If the keepers take up this way of recording data….it might mean they record data. Not trustworthy of course but it would be something. It would be harder to fake because the record would be pinned to the GPS coordinates at the time of recording. (Unless your name is Amanda)
But the most useful thing would be that the phone would record where they have been and for how long. At times, this could be very useful for corroberating ….lack of movement.