If I can…

I get quite a lot of people who want stuff from me – they don’t all get it. Some of them are students and some of them seem, almost, to want me to write their essays or projects for them!  But on the whole, I try to be helpful, particularly if they approach me in…

Westminster Hall debate on lead ammunition

There will be a Westminster Hall debate on lead ammunition next Tuesday on 8 December from 1630-1730. Members of the public are welcome to attend. It might be a good idea to contact your MP ahead of this debate and tell her or him what you think about the issue. These debates are fairly low-key…

Two days last week

I drove to Rainham Marshes to meet a friend for lunch and birding – both were good. We saw a very attractive Marsh Harrier with a cream crown and there were Blackwits and Golden Plover, and Pintail and Shovelerand Cetti’s Warbler and Stonechat too. And we moaned about the government, and a little about the…

Let them eat Lead!

In a typical act of generosity, grouse moors are donating excess carcasses of lead-shot Red Grouse to the poor and elderly. The science shows that the average lead-shot Red Grouse has lead levels that are higher than would be legal in other meats. Lead is a poison for which there is no harmless level for…

Single Pheasant costs United Utilities £25m

Correction: Hi Mark. Andy Carter here from the United Utilities press office. Did you see that the Times had apologised for getting this wrong (Mark – no I didn’t)? A dead pheasant in a pipe was one of the various rumours circulating during the time we had customers on a boil water notice in Lancashire….

Thank you for the tweetstorm and thunderclap

Yesterday evening #justiceforannie and #bandrivengrouseshooting were trending on Twitter – that was fun! Those tweets will be read by people over the next few days and will certainly take our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting past 25,000 signatures some time soon. It looks like 25,000 signatures will be an early Christmas present. Thank you…

In two hours’ time…

At 8pm the following message will go out to over 6.1 million social media accounts: “Please SIGN/SHARE this petition to #BanDrivenGrouseShooting. The illegal shooting of “Annie” warrants a debate! http://thndr.it/1La6m8y” Will we see a massive, a moderate, or a miniscule rise in the number of signatures on the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting? I…

Wildlife Trusts in a muddle – in their own words

I was very disappointed to read this from the respected CEO of my local wildlife trust.  It’s quite likely that the very few words at his disposal made the views of the Beds, Cambs and Northants WT sound sillier than they actually are – but they are his and their chosen words! The Wildlife Trusts…