Illegal bird of prey killing must end, urges RSPB Birdcrime report The Birdcrime report, which reviews the past 15 years, reveals 1,344 birds of prey were illegally killed between 2009-2023, with crimes continuing to emerge. These criminal acts target threatened species including Golden Eagles, Goshawks and Hen Harriers. The majority of incidents are associated with…
Category: REARED GAMEBIRDS
Sunday book review – The Return of the Grey Partridge by Roger Morgan-Grenville and Edward Norfolk
This is the story of the recovery of Grey Partridge on the Duke of Norfolk’s land at Peppering on the South Downs (that’s Arundel Castle on the cover). It is a beautifully written tale (by Roger Morgan-Grenville) of a successful species recovery project based on the landowner’s enthusiasm for having a wild partridge shoot for…
More on the risk assessment on gamebird releases
The risk assessment published yesterday by Defra, but presumably done by APHA, is vaguely interesting but not spectacularly well-informed. It’s not that well-informed because no-one has invested in studying the process of disease transmission of avian flu to, within, or from wild birds. So there is quite a lot of guesswork dressed up as something…
Les faisans et les squamates – evidence from Belgium that Pheasants reduce reptile numbers.
Pheasants eating reptiles, but not simply eating them, eating them in such large numbers that they disappear from areas of ‘massive’ releases. I’m assuming that the main mechanism is from devouring the snakes and lizards rather than the other possible mechanisms but, to be fair, this study cannot distinguish mechanisms. You could say, that since…
Gamebird releases and bird/poultry flu – an astounding risk to take
Today the RSPB calls for a moratorium on gamebird releases, because of bird/poultry flu, in an article in the Guardian. I’m interested in bird flu and in gamebirds. Thanks to Wild Justice’s activity on gamebird releases I’m quoted at the very end of the article. The quote I gave the Guardian was slightly longer than…
Sunday book review – The Secret Life of the Adder by Nicholas Milton
This is a very attractive and interesting book about a species which, these days, I hardly ever see. When did you last see an Adder? I haven’t seen one for years and yet in my youth they were noticeably commoner. As were signs saying ‘Danger Adders’ which I always thought were put in places (eg…
Normally…
This is one of those familiar x-rays of a shot raptor – see the pellets? I’m not at my best when identifying dead birds from x-rays but this is apparently a Red Kite. And Gloucestershire police would like anyone with information to step forward… I noticed that someone commented on this subject that they wouldn’t…
Pheasant predation on Swallowtail pupa filmed
The British subspecies of the Swallowtail is pretty much restricted to the Norfolk Broads and is a species whose numbers have increased in recent years although its distribution may have contracted. It’s a species of conservation concern and is the subject of conservation measures and studies. Kevin Radley and Hannah Breach are carrying out an…
I responded to the DEFRA gamebird consultation
DEFRA’s consultation on their proposed gamebird regulation is a shocking example of pretending to do something worthwhile whilst failing to do anything much at all. This is the worst consultation from government I have ever seen – it is so unshamefacedly biased. If we hadn’t all got used to it by now it would be…
Wild Justice advice on responding to DEFRA gamebird consultation
DEFRA is consulting on the measures it will introduce to protect sites of nature conservation value from impacts of vast releases of non-native gamebirds. Wild Justice doesn’t think much of the consultation and is suggesting how the public could respond – click here. The consultation closes on Monday so a wet weekend might provide an…