The grouse shooting industry’s practice of quoting unpublished and unavailable, ie secret, reports in the media in ways that suit them but cannot be scrutinised by others, let alone evaluated, and certainly not criticised, is becoming a regular feature of the Inglorious 12th. The most recent example has been, and still is, some research by…
Tag: grouse shooting
Cairngorms NP doesn’t know what to say…? UPDATED
Peter Argyle, Convenor of the Cairngorms National Park must have been keeping his fingers crossed that this wouldn’t happen. He attends a packed hall on Hen Harrier Day, says some of the right things about illegal persecution, and then another Hen Harrier disappears mysteriously in his National Park. And, of course, it was last recorded…
A large landowner speaks…
Given that the Convenor of the Cairngorms National Park, Peter Argyle, attended the Boat of Garten Hen Harrier Day event, and spoke at it, and would have heard the strength of feeling in that room about continued raptor persecution within the Cairngorms NP, it will be interesting to see what the National Park has to…
Calluna lost in the heather
RSPB press release: Satellite-tagged hen harrier disappears on Scottish grouse moor Rare bird of prey vanishes on 12th August The RSPB has issued an appeal for information after a young hen harrier, fitted with a satellite tag as part of the charity’s EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project, disappeared on an Aberdeenshire grouse moor. “Calluna”, a…
A research opportunity
You have just over a week to apply for this interesting PhD opportunity at Northampton University ‘‘Taking Aim’ at the Social Impact of Driven Game Shooting in England‘. I notice that the GWCT and BASC are in some way involved, as are 40 estate and shoot owners. Looks like an interesting study encompassing health impacts…
Trusted Trustees (2) – Richard Benyon MP
Richard Benyon MP is the second in this series of blogs introducing you to the trustees, chairs and patrons of wildlife and environmental charities etc. The idea is to let you know who is running or has a senior, perhaps albeit largely honorary, position in your favourite, or least favourite, charity. The trustees in this…
Walk with knowledge in the Highlands
The Walk Highlands website has this excellent article by David Lintern, The numbers game – a grouse moor primer for hillwalkers.
Reflections on the 2017 Bird Fair (1)
What a great Bird Fair that was! I have a feeling that it was the biggest ever – because I don’t recall a year when it wasn’t (!) but I am sure that it was one of the very best. I spent a lot less time rushing from place to place and a lot more…
Tales from the Bird Fair (1)
Several people have sent me this menu from the Barnsdale Lodge Hotel from the Bird Fair weekend. It’s up to every hotel to decide whether it wants to support the industry that attacks the RSPB, attacks Chris Packham and attacks our wildlife as well as increasing flood risk, water treatment costs and greenhouse gas emissions….
Ah! I see…
I have spent quite a lot of time, some of it in pubs, talking about what would be the legal repercussions of walking through a grouse shoot which is in process. It seems that there aren’t any – at least that’s what I understand from this response from Natural England’s Open Access Contact Centre; …