Watch the debate online from 1630 -1900 or so. I’ll be out looking for a Starling murmuration, but I’ll catch up with it in Hansard tomorrow. I wonder what the attendance will be like and what MPs will say. the government response, back in May, wasn’t as awful as many are – click here. Could…
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RSPB review of game shooting policy noticed by pro-shooting organisations – shock!
I’m glad the Telegraph and Mail noticed something was happening but I suspect they only noticed when a press release from the Countryside Alliance arrived in their inboxes. It’s good to see Tim Bonner at his emollient best: Disappointingly this seems to be the final step in the RSPB’s long journey to becoming an anti-shooting…
Seven Worlds, One Planet
Last night’s first episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet was stunningly beautiful. If you missed it, then catch up with it on BBC iPlayer (link above) I recommend. There was noticeably more in this first episode about threats to the wildlife on which our eyes were feasting than is normal – that’s a good thing,…
Vicious flying rats
Worcester City Councillor Alan Amos (Conservative) is quoted in the Daily Telegraph as calling gulls ‘vicious flying rats’. Apparently if people behaved like gulls do, then they would be arrested, but then, let us consider, shooting people for pooing on your car is illegal so shall we agree that gulls aren’t people, councillor? Natural England…
The RSPB and game shooting
Saturday’s welcome announcement from the RSPB that they are reviewing their position over game shooting is just that – welcome. None of us yet knows what that review will look like nor what, if anything, the RSPB has in mind might change; but we can guess. First, you don’t announce a review if your attention…
Tim Melling – Cormorants
Tim writes: there are a lot of fishing ponds near to where I live which makes Cormorants rather wary. So I was really surprised when this Cormorant continued to dry its wings while I took its photograph. And this was on a stocked lake full of anglers. The microscopic structure of Cormorant feathers makes them…
NEWS: RSPB prepares to shift position on gamebird shooting
At yesterday’s RSPB AGM, Kevin Cox, the Chair of Council made the following announcement; There is growing concern about the environmental impact (including for carbon, water and biodiversity) of intensive forms of game bird shooting and associated land management practices. This includes both driven grouse moor management (which involves shooting our native red grouse) and…
Sunday book review – Tracking the Highland Tiger by Marianne Taylor
This is a well-written book and there is much to be enjoyed within its pages. If I am ever on a long coach ride from Victoria coach station (they do crop up in the book) and find myself sitting next to the author I feel we could have a good chat. There is lots of…
Tim Melling – Grey-headed Albatross
Tim writes: this is a Grey-headed Albatross photographed at Shag Rocks, which is 150 miles west of South Georgia, where it breeds. It is a rare albatross whose world population was estimated at 250,000 individuals back in 2004, but the population is on a downward trajectory so it is likely to be much rarer than…
Time jerks
Remember that tonight the clocks go back – actually you’d better check that, as I find it difficult to work out from first principles which way the time-change goes (I know, I’m a bit thick). But it’s definitely different tomorrow. I think that changing the clocks twice a year is one of the clearest examples…