In the previous blog I explained that DEFRA will put Pheasant and Red-legged Partridge on Schedule 9 of the WIldlife and Countryside Act – as non-native problem species. However, they will do other things too. DEFRA intends to limit the operation of the Schedule 9 listing to areas that are important wildlife sites or within…
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Gamebirds victory (12) – Schedule 9, WCA
In order to avoid getting a whipping in court yesterday and today, DEFRA had to concede last week on the necessity to assess the impacts of the release of tens of milllions of non-native gamebirds on protected wildlife sites. That is what Wild Justice asked for and that is what we got. Because DEFRA has…
Gamebirds victory (11) – what happens next?
Today, in a series of blog posts, I will concentrate on what needs to happen next as a result of the Wild Justice legal victory. But, since there is a lot of nonsense being written about the Wild Justice legal victory, here is the sealed court order which ended the case and which is based…
Yesterday on the Nene Washes
Yesterday afternoon I visited the Nene Washes at Eldernell on a very nice afternoon. There were a few other birders there but social distancing was easy and there was some discussion about whether this was the last chance to visit for a month and what counted as local. But I guess that was my pre-lockdown…
Gamebirds victory (10) – DEFRA turned its back on studying these things
As long ago as 2014 I asked DEFRA: ‘What research has been done that addresses the range of ecological costs and benefits of rearing and releasing Pheasants for shooting? Does native wildlife benefit or is it harmed by Pheasant shooting? Does Defra have plans to do any such research?‘ https://markavery.info/2014/03/31/letter-mp-response-defra-2/ and they replied: ‘Defra has…
Gamebirds victory (9) – lead, another ignored factor.
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Lead ammunition was part of the Wild Justice legal challenge to DEFRA but DEFRA (and Natural England) tended to ignore it. I can see why, it’s a very difficult issue for them politically though very clear biologically. Just as readers of this blog think that Waitrose should deal with the issue of lead in the…
Gamebirds victory (8) – an unproven but potentially important impact
Here’s a dead Pheasant. Something will come along and eat it (although since it is surrounded (for a distance of far more than 500m in all directions) by grouse moor the density of scavenging birds and mammals might be quite low. A good bet for the destination of quite a lot of roadkill gamebirds is…
Gamebirds victory (7) – a very big pile of poo
The issue of the droppings of 60 million released gamebirds was not one that was large in my mind when I started thinking about Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges but that is because I am a blinkered ornithologist. What has emerged (see previous blog) is that those droppings are a great threat to many habitats: while…
Gamebirds victory (6) – there is no evidence?
Tim Bonner made an extraordinarily brash claim on Today on Saturday; There is no evidence whatsoever that Pheasant or Red-legged Partridge are doing any significant damage to these special sites. There is simply no evidence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000p0fj It is unlikely that DEFRA would have been forced to bring in regulation of gamebird releases (by Wild Justice’s…
Another bird flu outbreak
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All 13,000 birds kept at this site near Frodsham will be killed. This outbreak is of a different strain of bird (poultry) flu from that also announced yesterday in Kent. The DEFRA announcement has plenty of emphasis on the role of wild birds and see here for more information on a couple of Mute Swans…