Five year old prince taken grouse shooting

The Royal Family do some strange things.  The appearance in the news (see here, here, here, here) that 5-year-old Prince George had been taken to experience his first grouse shoot could not have been an accident. In 2008, it was revealed that Prince George’s great-grandmother donated money to Songbird Survival. Earlier this year the Queen…

Some thoughts on the 2018 Bird Fair – my lists of people

Who did you see at the Bird Fair? Here are five lists of my sightings: People who I saw and spoke to properly (an incomplete list – partly because I can’t remember everyone and partly to preserve others’ career prospects if speaking to me might endanger them): Lord (John) Randall – birder, former MP, former…

Good film

I wrote about this film back in May 2016 when I saw it at The Barbican. Quite a lot of it has stuck in my mind ever since. And now it is going on tour in the UK to: Nottingham tomorrow Sat 28 Oct, Oswestry Tues 31 Oct, Liverpool Sun 26 Nov, Aldeburgh Sun 3 Dec,…

RSPB AGM

If the Conservative Party wants to know how to run an event then they could ask the RSPB.  I’m not sure what would count as the Leader’s speech but none of Miranda Krestovnikoff (President), Steve Ormerod (outgoing Chair) or Mike Clarke (Chief Exec) did any coughing or were handed P45s, and no letters fell out…

Quick thoughts from the Sheffield conference

I spent Thursday evening, Friday  and Saturday morning with a disparate bunch of supporters and opponents to banning driven grouse shooting at the Sheffield conference on raptors, peatlands and the uplands.  It was valuable in all sorts of ways, not least in meeting some blog readers and supporters whom I rarely see (for some of…