The April edition of Wild Travel (with a cute tree frog on the cover) will soon be replaced by the May one (with the rhinos (one of which is quite cute) on the cover). I really enjoy writing for Wild Travel as I get to write about biology without any politics in it, and, I…
Tag: grouse shooting
Round up – but not Monsanto’s
Big beach clean up – the Marine Conservation Society are having a Big Beach Clean Up next week. I’ll be fighting litter on the beaches of Northants, don’t you worry! Pond conservation – I’ve heard lots of people saying that the cold weather has affected the laying of frogs and toads in their ponds. I…
Well done Hawk and Owl Trust!
The Hawk and Owl Trust are throwing their support behind the e-petition on the licensing of grouse moors and gamekeepers. Well done! Let’s see what other bird conservation organisations do… But you can sign up here – it’s going well, so far.
Fat balls, horses, 5th place, lucidity, bat faeces, neonics and cockroaches.
it seemed like spring for a few days last week and two sand martins were seen on Saturday in the Nene Valley, but on Sunday morning I awoke to find a layer of snow on my car. this is an interesting study which tells you that what you are doing with your fat balls may…
E-petition on licensing grouse moors
After two weeks this epetition has reached 2600 signatures. Have you signed yet? Have you asked your friends to sign? Think about it, please.
Raptors
1. The Bowland Betty story from the BBC – well worth a look. Nice to see Tim Melling, Jude Lane, Stephen Murphy, Paul Irving, Des Thompson and others being so sensible. Martin Gillibrand, on the other hand, speaking for the Moorland Association, just looks foolish – have a look. It is difficult to see why…
Why raptor persecution is different
There has been a little burst of correspondence in The Independent over gamekeepers (and raptor persecution)(here, here, here). I note that one of the correspondents, Reece Fowler, crops up in quite a lot of places (including this blog) saying how nice gamekeepers are and how misunderstood (see here, here, here). I thought that Mr Fowler’s…
Lancashire’s ‘Bowland Betty’ bites the Yorkshire dust
A female hen harrier raised in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, last year, and fitted with a satellite tag, was found dead on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales in June this year. I hadn’t realised the trans-Pennine rivalry was so strong that the War of the Roses included shooting each other’s hen harriers….
A burning question for the National Trust
This blog has been a bit critical of the National Trust in the past, suggesting that it isn’t taking its nature conservation work sufficiently seriously, and so it gives me great pleasure to highlight an excellent piece of work, nearing fruition, by NT. It’s such good news it is worth being the second blog of…
Wuthering Moors – 29 The bigger picture
The Walshaw Moor Estate case is important in itself, and we commend again the RSPB for taking a firm stand on it, but it is also indicative of a much wider and deeper Defra malaise. If Defra is not now acting merely as the Rural Jobs and Fieldsports Department then it needs to get its…