Henry visits the CLA

Belgrave Square has rarely, if ever, seen a six-foot Hen Harrier before, but last week we visited the London HQ of the Country Land and Business Association. Henry said that it all looked very posh – much posher than the Scottish Land and Estates little office block. Henry gave his plumage a special preen to…

Henry just had to stop

Henry and I were passing through the Oxfordshire countryside, somewhere between Banbury and Chipping Norton, at least I think it was Oxfordshire, maybe it was Northants. As I say, we were just passing through, when Henry said that he needed to consult Inglorious about a few things. So he did. For everyone else,  Inglorious –…

Henry visits the Countryside Alliance

The Countryside Alliance is full of real country people – like Sir Barnie White-Spunner (who ran for cover from the Lead Ammunition Group). They didn’t seem to be in when we visited last week with the red London buses , black taxi cabs, and commuters in a traffic jam on the Kennington Road.  Maybe they’d…

Henry goes to London – Defra

Henry has been keen to go to London for a long time – but we only flew down there a week ago. What a great day it was – so many photo opportunities – only some of which we can share with you this week.  And so many friendly conversations with taxi drivers, tourists and…

In your August copy of …(3)

You should buy The Field this month – you really should (and you should buy Birdwatch every month, of course). I found ‘Bransdale’s resurgence‘ an interesting read, partly because Henry and I had visited some of the places mentioned in this article on our travels. Bransdale is a moor in the North York Moors –…

It’s not published yet but…

I’ve been getting ‘phone calls and emails from friends, and from people I don’t know well, telling me that they have enjoyed reading Inglorious – conflict in the uplands, even though it isn’t officially published until Thursday – that’s 30 July. The earliest copy that I know to have been bought from a bookshop was…

In your August copy of…(2)

Whereas Birdwatch magazine has a ringtail Hen Harrier on its cover this month, The Field has a marvellous image of a Red Grouse on its cover. Don’t you just want to…errr…shoot it? As a graphic example of the crisis of confidence in the British grouse shooting industry, Max Hastings calls on readers of The Field…

In your August copy of… (1)

Birdwatch magazine excels itself by putting the Hen Harrier on its front cover for its August issue (as it did last year) and featuring the plight of the Hen Harrier and Hen Harrier Day events on six pages inside the magazine including my ‘Political birder’ column, a page of information about Hen Harrier Day events…

E-petition to ban driven grouse shooting

Do you ever get a feeling of deja vu? Do you ever get a feeling of deja vu? Yesterday the Westminster parliament website started allowing e-petitions again. The website is a bit jazzier and it’s in a nice Westminster green colour. E-petitions still need to get 10,000 signatures to receive a government response (none of…