Red-legged Partridges are common birds on much of continental Europe but they are non-natives here in the UK. I’d be less worried about their impacts on native fauna and flora than that of Pheasants whose natural range brings them nowhere near the UK. But the fact that over 10 million RLPs are released for recreational shooting, sometimes at very high densities, is a concern.
The reliance of the shooting industry on captive-bred non-native gamebirds says a lot about the quality of the UK countryside to support sustainable shooting – there aren’t many Grey Partridge shoots these days – and even more about the sustainability of the shooting industry.
Still, our barristers will be making these points in court a week today (and some fiendishly clever legal arguments too).
[registration_form]
A lost shoot Red Leg in the garden today. The local shoot has been shooting Red legs twice a week since the beginning of the season and judging from the number of Pheasants around they will soon be blasting Pheasants as well ( they don’t usually shoot the Ps until November). They are probably responsible for the high density of Foxes locally, two killed on the road last week 100 yards away yet a fox visited our chickens twice in a day over the weekend( chased off). so our normally free range chickens are currently confined to barracks!
Even the chickens are on lockdown.
You and your do goody, lefty lawyers!
Great stuff!
For what it’s worth! Wild grey/ENGLISH partridges have done really well this year. Many coveys up to 10+ seen daily/weekly. Early broods done really well. Most i have seen in many years. Good/correct habitat creation/management, targeted pest control, educating walkers/dog walkers really works! Possibly a change in planting and cropping due to wet weather last Autumn/winter and flea beetle has helped to. Also the rise in rabbit numbers on local farms may of eased the pressure of predation from buzzards and other predators on them an other birds. Be interesting to see going forward if this the case and if/when RHD returns taking down the rabbit population again. And before anyone says it. NO! None of the partridges will be shot. It’s really great to see and hear so many and numbers building. The result of a collective effort and real understanding of many folk locally ( inc the public) who are trying to get numbers up. Wild pheasant broods have done well to. Along with another successful year for turtle doves and more nightingales it really has been and sounded like when i was a kid in the 70’s. . . . I see the RSBP are on another drive to get folk involved/funding to help/study turtle doves. They are happy monitor get free advise/dater on them, other species and habitat off farms/ shoots local to me and i am sure else where and have done so for some time. It’s a shame they and others will/have not acknowledged this and the knowledge and hard work that many farmers, keepers and shoots have and do for conservation and have been doing for many years. Wanting to undermine the work and efforts of generations in some cases by attacking shooting!