The lack of birds of prey, due to high levels of illegal persecution, in many upland so-called protected areas (AONBs and National Parks) is a disgrace that is becoming clearer and clearer to the public at large. And this report on the state of affairs for the Nidderdale AONB is another welcome step forward in…
Tag: grouse shooting
Some more information on brood meddling
You may remember that c10 days ago I published some information received from Natural England about brood meddling (see here). There was some information missing from that response which has now been supplied in the form of this interesting email from Prof Ken Norris to the rest of the scientific steering group; Note that this…
A very interesting paper on Hen Harrier diet
AbstractThe hen harrier is a heavily persecuted bird of prey in Great Britain since its diet includes Red grouse, a game bird shot in driven and walked-up grouse shooting. Unlike walked-up shooting where shooters walk up moors and flush grouse with dogs, in driven grouse shooting the grouse are driven by beaters towards static shooters….
Wilful blindness continues, completely unabated
Here is an annotated (in bold and italics) copy of the government response to the phenomenally popular petition by Chris Packham to ban driven grouse shooting (see here). Basically, Defra maintains its wilful blindness of the issues and their responsibility to solve them. Grouse shooting is a legitimate activity [only in the sense of being…
Tim Melling – Hen Harrier
Tim writes: according to the RSPB, 2019 was a record year for Hen Harriers in England with 33 young fledged from 9 nests. But it is within my memory that 30 pairs nested in Lancashire’s Forest of Bowland alone. Nine nests for the whole of England is perilously low. Quoting from RSPB recently “Hen harriers…
A poem – Inglorious Bastards by Jeremy Sabel
England’s uplands are infested By old money and interests vested Lords, Earls, Viscounts and Dukes Morally bankrupt driven grouse shoots But don’t meddle with The rural way of life Swathed in lies Publicly subsidized Cloak and dagger Soaked in blood This traditional slaughter Fusillade and laughter Wildlife murdered Where are our Hen Harriers? Insurmountable barriers…
Poor old Duke
We are often told that Hen Harriers depend on grouse moors for their survival – this is a big lie rather than a small one. The fact is that Hen Harrier breeding success over a long period of time (in England and Scotland) and survival (as measured by the lack of survival of satellite-tagged birds…
RSPB Bird Crime report for 2018 published
The excellent annual RSPB Bird Crime report is published for 2018. 2018 seems a long time ago now that we hear of raptor persecution incidents in what sometimes approaches real time. Having a review of the problem to hand is very valuable – particularly if it can be used to bring about significant action from…
I wonder who got that changed…?
Earlier this year the North Pennines AONB Partnership published a draft of its new Management Plan 2019-2024. Consultations were held and a report setting out the results of those consultations was promised, but it has not yet appeared as far as I’ve seen – I’ve been looking now and again. The draft remained on the…
A plea from the heart
John Armitage is an old colleague of mine from the RSPB and was formerly what then was a Regional Officer, but would now be a Regional Director, for what would then have been Northwest England but would now be about half of Northern England. He had a long and detailed involvement in the Forest of…