The science suggests that there should be a lot more Hen Harriers in the UK uplands than there are at the moment. Let’s just take Scotland for the moment. The science says there should be c1650 pairs (I have taken the central point of an estimate and then rounded it) in Scotland on the basis…
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Ten reasons why you should sign an e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England
Ten reasons why you should sign my e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting. You are a vegetarian or vegan (see here for one point of view) You are against wild birds being used as ‘living targets’ for ‘sport’ You are against the artificially very high densities of Red Grouse that are produced for grouse-shooting…
The Hen Harrier – some biology
There is a lot of nonsense talked about the Hen Harrier -and about everything else in the world I guess. Let’s hope I am not going to add to it. Here’s my take on the biology of the bird. What they eat: Hen Harriers eat lots of things. The Langholm study showed that the density…
An open letter to the RSPB Chairman Professor Steve Ormerod
Dear Steve Hi! Happy 60th anniversary of the Protection of Birds Act! It must be around now that you are heading off to Conservation Committee to discuss the RSPB’s conservation work. And then, in July, there will be a Council meeting, I guess, unless things have changed a lot in the last three years (which…
Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the Protection of Birds Act
The 4th June marks the 60th anniversary of a landmark piece of environmental protection – The Protection of Birds Act 1954. It gave full legal protection to almost all British birds, their nests and eggs. It was a progressive piece of environmental legislation. Back in 1954, Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the UK, Chiang…
Wrong!
Heaven only knows where grouse shooting gets its public relations advice but I hope it isn’t paying much for it because it certainly isn’t working with the outside world. Grouse shooting is bound to be an emotive issue. Grouse shooting is about killing wild animals for fun, and it is a ‘sport’ that is mostly…
Hen Harrier Day – sign up to join me in the Peak District on 10 August
Hen Harriers are killed illegally by game shooting interests to protect Red Grouse until the grouse can be shot for ‘sport’. There should be over 300 pairs of Hen Harriers in the English uplands but last year there were just two pairs. The Peak District should have several pairs of this beautiful bird but most…
An e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting.
If you aren’t interested in Hen Harriers then you’d be best to skip this blog for a few days and come back on Saturday – I wonder whether Ralph could do a Hen Harrier cartoon? We’ll see. Last week I launched an e-petition calling on Defra to ban driven grouse shooting in England. It wasn’t…
Oscar Dewhurst – Foxes
Oscar writes: One evening as I was walking out to go home I spotted these two foxes together. I walked to about 40m from them and then lay down, crawling towards them until I was near enough for some photos. Nikon D300s, Nikon 200-400mm f4 VR Mark writes: Awww! Don’t you just want to…
Sunday Book review – Birds of a Feather by Colin Rees and Derek Thomas
This is a lovely book – written by two ornithologists about the changing seasons on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a simple idea but it works very well. I don’t know Colin Rees at all, and I really only know Derek a little – he posed me an identification challenge in Ohio once….