Category: BAN DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING
Misguided meddlers
Therese Coffey was handed a hospital pass when Rory Stewart zipped off to another department leaving her holding the Hen Harrier Recovery Farce. A key, and totally ridiculous, element of the plan was to take away young Hen Harriers from grouse moors, raise them expensively in captivity, and then release them again on grouse moors…
Back to the plaque
Do you remember the plaque? The blue plaque? The blue plaque that attached itself to a shooting lodge in Rosedale in the North York Moors National Park and then mysteriously vanished when this blog mentioned it? You do? (for new readers, see Here’s a puzzle for you, 27 September; Did someone nick a plaque? 27…
How did I miss this? Sell out? No, Sells stays in!
I’m not sure how I missed this piece of news except, perhaps, because it was only lauded on the Moorland Association website. Andrew Sells is pictured hiding behind a wall by the Moorland Association whereas Natural England is usually perceived as sitting on a fence whilst preparing to jump off on the wrong side…
What would Mick Carroll have said?
Last week the RSPB announced that a Hen Harrier called Carroll, named after the raptor worker Mick Carroll, had been found dead in late January – the bird died of parasites but the post mortem showed that it had also been shot (two pellets were in its body in healed wounds). That was late January….
Questions 2
As well as Natural England, the Hawk and Owl Trust also has questions to answer over the non-publication of the details of Rowan’s death – Rowan was shot! Why would a wildlife charity, indeed, a raptor charity, which had funded the tagging of a young Hen Harrier, want the details of his death to be…
Questions 1
Friday was quite a busy day, with news about crimes against birds of prey tumbling out early in the day. This was a bit inconvenient for me as I had other things planned. But it means that we’ve all had the weekend to mull over the news. What was the news?: The RSPB published a…
RSPB – go ask for the NE data.
One of the quotes from today’s RSPB Birdcrime report is; ‘Natural England holds a wealth of data from hen harriers tagged since 2007. We have recommended that the Government commissions an independent investigation of these data to help determine where and why tagged hen harriers and other tagged birds of prey are disappearing.’ Well, there…
Very likely!! X-ray of Rowan emerges.
At last the X-ray of Rowan’s injuries has been published. This shows his shattered left leg with fragments of shot by the wound. Looks pretty clear. This X-ray has finally emerged on an RSPB blog – good for them! – but it’s a rather strange route considering this was a bird tagged by the Hawk…
Birdcrime and news of another shot Hen Harrier
The RSPB report on crimes against birds in 2015 has just been published online. 2015 seems like a long time ago but the report is a strong reminder of the scale of wildlife crime against birds that still exists in this country in the twenty-first century. Remember Annie? Stody Estate withdrawal of subsidy? Mutch case?…