Who was instrumental in determining the wording of the press release which described Rowan, the Hen Harrier, as ‘likely to have been shot’ when, it appears, that all involved knew that it had been shot? For new readers see Raptor Persecution UK blogs here and here, and my blogs here and here. Was it: someone…
Category: BAN DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING
Who are the Likely Lads?
Raptor Persecution UK lift the lid on a can of worms in two blogs today (here and here). It’s all about the puzzling tale of Rowan who was ‘likely to have been shot’ (see RPUK blog of 7 November, and my own of 11 November) – and now we know, as if we didn’t before…
Wildlife barbecue
Here’s an example of wildlife benefitting from moorland burning (which is done to produce unnaturally high densities of Red Grouse for shooting for fun). Can anyone identify this scorched caterpillar please? The best guesses so far are Northern Eggar (but perhaps Fox Moth). Help me out please if you are an expert on barbecued…
Burning issues 2
George Eustice was right to suggest that we (for it is our money) should withdraw subsidies from grouse moors. Take a look at this fine crop of burned ground and realise that you are probably paying £56/ha to its owner every year. That £56/yr certainly pays for the matches needed to set this land alight….
Burning issues
From the heather and grass burning code: Areas within 5 metres of watercourses. There can be an increased risk of soil erosion close to watercourses (e.g. once vegetation has been removed by burning, soil could be washed into a watercourse by rainwater, or the watercourse might flow with sufficient force that its banks could…
Hen Harrier InAction Plan
Sometimes something is so awful that you just hope it will go away – and that’s how I feel about the Defra Hen Harrier InAction Plan which fails to address the real problem for the Hen Harrier – that it is illegally killed by grouse shooting interests because it eats Red Grouse that they would…
Watching birds
As always, there is some good stuff in this month’s Birdwatch. As well as the good news of the guano award for YFTB and the ‘Campaign of the Year’ award for the Ban Driven Grouse Shooting e-petition, there is plenty of other good reading material. I enjoyed reading about the first Irish Harlequin Duck…
You are all winners – 123,077 of us
The campaign to ban driven grouse shooting was voted Birdwatch readers’ Campaign of the Year. Yes, I’ve noticed that driven grouse shooting is not yet banned, but 2016 saw a very big step in that direction because the public understanding of the issue grew enormously. Many people who knew little, and cared little, about what…
Delighted!
I’m delighted that You Forgot the Birds won the Birdwatch readers’ guano award for 2016. I expect the Badger cull was a close second but I don’t know for sure. Although the Badger cull has a much bigger and more harmful impact on wildlife the YFTB crew seem to me to encompass an awful lot…
Ho! ho! ho! HOT wishes you a meddling merry Christmas!
It’s so lovely that the Hawk and Owl Trust trustees have sent us all a Christmas message. And I see that the HOT have gained one Henry Robinson as a trustee. Could this be (I think it could) the past president of the Country Landowners Association? It’s a small world isn’t it? Remember the last…