World Birding TV launches

A new international internet birding magazine, World Birding TV, has just launched. Guess what? Episode 1 includes coverage of our campaign to ban driven grouse shooting and we get the chance to see and hear Amanda Anderson looking unconvinced and sounding unconvincing. Henry is filmed at the Bird Fair and a gamekeeper finds evidence of…

Spectator blurred vision (2)

The not-so-talented Viscount Ridley, writing in the Spectator, reproduced the tall tale of breeding wader numbers that was also used by Ian Botham in his stumbling discussion with Chris Packham on the Today programme. We also know that the BTO quickly distanced itself from any approval of these quite fantastic claimed numbers of breeding waders….

Spectator has blurred vision (1)

  You may remember (or you may not, which is why I am reminding you) that I contrasted the view of Hen Harrier biology of Charles Moore, Spectator columnist and grouse shooter, with that of published science by the RSPB (Compare and contrast, 23 August)(see the data above and Mr Moore’s comment at foot of…

Maybe they will turn up to this one?

Conference: raptors, uplands and peatlands. Sheffield 9 and 10 September After the failure of the so-called leaders of the shooting community to argue their case and their cause at the Bird Fair they are sending out their seconds to this conference in Sheffield in a couple of weeks time. See, hear and question Tim Baynes…

The BBC and driven grouse shooting

The week before last there was copious coverage of driven grouse shooting before, on and after the inglorious 12th in the media – quite a lot of that was on BBC channels. This post is about how the BBC handled it and whether or not they were fair.  I’d give the BBC only 5 out…