‘Bobbie is thrilled that a golden eagle has settled in the forest near her family’s farm. She loves to walk the hills with her granny and watch the bird soar through the sky. But not everyone shares Bobbie’s awe for the spectacular bird. When her granny’s beloved dog is killed by poisoned bait, it soon…
BLOG POSTS
Tim Melling – Iceberg and Sheathbills
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Tim writes: this beautifully sculpted iceberg was floating in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. I thought that the three birds would barely show as it was taken with a wide-angle lens but I now think they add a special something and they give it scale. The birds are Snowy Sheathbills, affectionately known as Shit Chickens because they…
New Natural England chair faces massive criticism on social media
Natural England’s new chair, my mate Tony Juniper, has been roundly criticised on social media for his support of Natural England’s licensing of brood meddling. Here is a selection of the comments to give you a flavour: To grant #broodmeddling licences to vested interests 4 one of England’s rarest breeding raptors on grounds that ‘if…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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Muddle of brood meddling – round 2
Last year, Natural England licensed the daft idea of brood meddling of Hen Harriers. I mounted a legal challenge, and so did RSPB, but we lost in court. The judge decided that because this was a trial it was science and because of that it’s OK (that’s my layman’s take on it). Both the RSPB…
Guest blog – The Ethics of Animal Exploitation part 1 by Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons is a veterinarian, naturalist and photographer. After a period in private practice, he followed a 35-year career as a Government veterinarian, latterly as the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer. Alick’s lifelong passion is wildlife; he volunteers for the RSPB and NE in Somerset, is chair of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare,…
More good news – no M4 ‘relief’ road
The Welsh government will not spend £1.6bn on a ‘relief’ road – that’s a relief because the plans would have wrecked some irreplaceable Welsh landscape and wildlife-rich habitat on the Gwent Levels. The expense of the project must have been a major reason for its abandonment but Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, also said he…
Lead ammunition – what do shooters really think?
This is an interesting paper which looks at the attitudes of a small sample (30) of male shooters to lead ammunition. It’s something called a Q-study – something unfamiliar to me. As I understand it, the study chose the group of respondents not to be representative of the shooting community, but in fact to represent…
Good news – no Fin Whaling in Iceland this summer
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It seems that Fin Whales off the coast of Iceland will have at least a year’s reprieve according to this story in The Reykjavik Grapevine. This is excellent news. I would take with a pinch of salt the explanation given by the sole Iceland commercial whaler about the licence arriving too late, although I have…
A journey back in time
It wasn’t only the wildlife of the forests which impressed in Poland, so did the wildlife of the meadows and farmland. From the balcony of our accommodation … … there were views over the surrounding gardens … … and a few minutes walk away were the meadows around the river. The English countryside would have…