Bird/poultry flu update

DEFRA has now brought its reporting of bird/poultry flu cases in wild birds more up to date with cases recorded in the week ending Sunday 6 December. This shows three new counties; Gwent, Carmarthenshire and Yorkshire with bird flu cases in wild birds. Any ornithologist would be fascinated to see Great Egret and Dabchick on…

That’s more like it…

On Tuesday, 8 December Bellway Homes admitted damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place for bats at a construction site in Greenwich. The company was ordered to pay a fine of £600,000 with further costs of over £30,000. Bellway Homes also agreed to make a voluntary donation of £20,000 to the Bat Conservation…

No sign of that new grouse shooting debate

I pointed out over a couple of weeks ago that BASC was claiming that; There is a broader grouse debate in the diary for early December, which follows another anti-shooting petition to ban driven grouse shooting. This will be a more comprehensive debate and will cover a broader spectrum of topics. Our briefs are being…

Back at Wicken Fen

This time yesterday I was back at Wicken Fen with a small group of friends and colleagues – talking legal challenges and looking for Hen Harriers. We saw a couple of distant ringtails and as the light was really failing, an adult male brightened the gloom. It was spotted by a lawyer! It was now…

An interesting paper

This is a conservation success story through a combination of site and species protection where the main small population resides in Morocco… … and reestablishment in the species’s former range.

Press release – Nature friendly moorland management sees Hen Harriers return to Wharfedale by Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire Moors

Wildlife campaigners are celebrating the conservation efforts of a leading landowner which have resulted in rare hen harriers roosting on its moor. Adopting nature-friendly moorland management techniques, NG Bailey’s Denton Park Estate, near Ilkley, has reversed declines in birds of prey associated with wildlife persecution by its former grouse shooting tenant. Hen harriers are one…

Guest blog – My Decathlon petition by Colin MacLennan

Well hello there, I’m Colin, living in Glasgow, passionate all my life about the outdoors and wildlife, and very grateful to Mark for the opportunity to present here on his Guest Blog. For the last few years I’d been preparing and planning for retirement, and they were good plans. Travel, home and abroad, old favourites…

Bird/poultry flu update and musings

A further dozen cases of bird/poultry flu in ‘wild’ birds have been listed by DEFRA for the week which ended on 29 November (which suggests that the wild bird data are getting seriously out of date on the GOV UK website). This map from APHA shows the poultry farms currently under restrictions: two in Norfolk,…

Guest blog – Shooting Wildlife III by Anna Clayton of Ethical Consumer magazine

Anna Clayton is a writer, researcher and worker director at Ethical Consumer Research Association, and has co-written all three Shooting Wildlife Reports. Ethical Consumer is a member-led, independent co-operative that has over 25 years’ experience of ‘making ethics easy’ – specialising in consumer engagement and best practice in ethical markets. Twitter: @EC_magazine Anna Clayton draws…