Press release – Argaty Red Kites/Beaver Trust

Argaty Red Kites granted beaver translocation licence In a significant policy step, Argaty Red Kites in Perthshire has been granted Scotland’s first edge-of-range beaver translocation licence. Argaty, a working farm which is home to the award-winning red kite project, has been awarded a licence by the Scottish Government’s nature agency NatureScot for the release of…

Brood meddling challenge – some more

Following on from this morning’s blog, here is the court order. I may get it framed and put it in the loo. You’ll see from this that the RSPB did not, in the end, apply for permission to appeal whereas I did and was turned down – this is entirely normal as one is asking…

DIM Wallace, 1933-2021

Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace, (dim wallace as his artist’s signature was), known most usually as Ian Wallace, passed away in his sleep last Thursday night at the age of 88, not far short of his 89th birthday on 14 December. He was a writer, very definitely an artist, and a leading ornithological figure for a…

I have a cold and a cough

They are just a cold and a cough because I’ve been sticking things up my nose and trying to find my tonsils to do lateral flow tests, all of which have been negative. I don’t think I’ve ever had hypochondiacal tendencies, I’m more likely to think and say ‘I expect it’s nothing’ but in these…

Latest Wild Justice legal challenge and crowdfunder

The Northern Ireland authorities license the unrestricted killing of Wood Pigeons and Rooks for conservtion purposes, unlike authorities elsewhere in the UK. They don’t explain why they do this or what the conservation benefits might be. In well ovr 30 years working in nature conservation I’ve never come across an instance where conservation has been…