The Authors’ Forum is a relatively new idea at the Bird Fair but it has certainly caught on. It allows authors to talk about their latest books and the audience to question them – or just have a look at the face, listen to the voice and explore the thoughts of the person whose name…
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Government promoting William Powell Sporting Agency
The government website is promoting William Powell Sporting Agency through a link on their website to Snilesworth Moor. If you click on Snilesworth Moor in the above link you are taken to the William Powell website… Days of up to 250 brace can be shot here which, at £150/brace comes to a cool £37,500 for…
Please sign this petition at the Bird Fair
At the Bird Fair this weekend there will be a petition, on bits of paper for a change, asking the Icelandic Prime Minister, very politely, to do her best to end commercial whaling by her country. This is the wording of the petition: Dear Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland Each year the British Birdwatching…
Great timing!
Gove meets the Dukes (and see here) and NE meet the ‘keepers. You couldn’t get a cosier relationship between the regulator and the regulated (ha! ha!) than that between Defra/NE and the industry responsible for large chunks of wildlife crime and unsustainable moorland management. For an alternative view turn to yesterday’s statement from Sue…
Just a small plea (and a big table)
Comments Off on Just a small plea (and a big table)
This table was produced by Raptor Persecution UK and it is a valuable resource because it’s quite difficult to find these figures all in one place anywhere else. I assume it is correct – RPUK usually are – and it looks right to me, but I haven’t checked it (because it is a surprising amount…
Mountain Hares close to extinction on NE Scotland grouse moors
That paper on Mountain Hares summed up by its title, abstract and in two graphs: Title: ‘Seven decades of mountain hare counts show severe declines where high-yield recreational game bird hunting is practised‘ by Adam Watson and Jeremy Wilson, published in Journal of Applied Ecology. Abstract Recreational hunting is widespread and can benefit nature conservation…
Mountain hares (not) on Scottish grouse moors
Do you remember this video (above) about the killing of Mountain Hares on grouse moors? And this photo of a Mountain Hare leveret caught in a trap … …and this one of a truck load of dead Mountain Hares on a Scottish grouse moor… Today the RSPB released the following press release of…
Labour: It’s time to end grouse moor practices that harm the environment
Sue Hayman, the Shadow Environment Secretary has called for an end to rotational heather burning and an independent review into the economic, environmental and wildlife impacts of driven grouse shooting. ‘Driven grouse shooting uses intensive land and wildlife management to create a false environment in which grouse flourish. Natural habitats and ecosystems are managed in…
The thunderous Findlay Wilde is a friend of mine
The thunderous Findlay Wilde is a friend of mine – but so are his parents, Nigel and Heather, and his brother Harley. I stayed with them on Saturday night after travelling up from Rainham and before going with them to Parkgate. I see on my phone that I have some very sweet-looking photos of 12-year-old…
Hen Harrier Days 2018 – a brief summary
A short summary of events over the weekend (and last weekend) ahead of the opening of the grouse shooting season (usually on the Inglorious 12th but this year) on the Inglorious 13th. [Obviously I wasn’t present at them all – any updates or corrections will be welcome]. Sheffield – 4 August About 180 attendees….