As I understand it, the non-joint non-plan for ‘managing’ the almost non-existent English breeding Hen Harrier population would have involved fiddling about with one of the nests in Bowland this year (had the landowner requested it). The two nests were ‘too close’ together despite the rather large gap to the next pair of breeding Hen…
Tag: grouse shooting
Defra probably has one more bad decision left in it
Given the dire (egregious, failing, risible, adrift) performance of the Defra Ministers who take our money to make the environment better it is to be hoped that they simply keep their heads down and fade away once the general election campaign starts in earnest. Though I fear that it’s just possible that Defra has one…
RSPB, Countryside Alliance and the Charity Commission
You might have wondered what happened with the complaint about the RSPB from Sir Ian Botham and others to the Charity Commission. Or maybe you thought it was so daft that you weren’t wondering at all. Well, I was wondering why we hadn’t heard anything about it and now I know why. Although Beefy’s complaint…
Guest blog by Hugh Webster: response to Tim Bidie
Mark writes; this was originally posted as a comment on yesterday’s Guest Blog by Tim Bidie but it seemed so good to me (and so long) that it might be better to publish it this way. Hugh Webster is a a biology teacher with a PhD in Behavioural Ecology, earned studying competition between large…
Guest Blog – The Good Intentions Paving Company by Tim Bidie (aka as ‘Monro’)
‘Monro’ posted over 100 comments on this blog between 11 October and 14 December on the subject of Hen Harriers and grouse shooting’. On 14 December, because I was getting a bit fed up with his repetitive comments, I offered him a Guest Blog to get it all off his chest in one go. I…
Hare today and gone tomorrow?
Just when the grouse shooters thought that things might get a bit quieter for them, another e-petition related to grouse shooting emerges that is bound to get a lot of support. This one is directed at the SNH Director of Policy and Advice, Ron Macdonald, and asks SNH to protect Mountain Hares from widespread unregulated…
Your feedback on this blog
Here is a selection (every 10th comment, listed chronologically (earliest at top of list)) of the free-text comments in answer to ‘Your opportunity to give feedback of any kind on my blog or anything else you like’. Excellent, well informed. Always very interesting and refreshing to read what needs to be said unencumbered by…
Langholm II
I’m not the only one who thinks that the GWCT hasn’t had a very good year according to the responses I’ve looked at in the readers’ survey for this blog (click here to enter your views). They are behaving so strangely that I wasn’t too surprised to read their rather odd account of the second…
Charles Moore – revisited
I am thinking of adding the phrase ‘Expert campaigner – Charles Moore’ to my website given the plug that the former editor of the Daily Torygraph gave to my work a while back. As pointed out earlier, Mr Moore forgot to mention that he is not just a neutral journalist but is a keen supporter…
A recap on e-petitions
Let’s just have a recap: Ban driven grouse shooting Number of signatures: 20,073 Open for signature until 30/3/15 Introduction of offence of vicarious liability for raptor persecution in England Number of signatures: 10,908 Closed 17/11/2012 Licencing of upland grouse moors and gamekeepers Number of signatures: 10,429 Closed 27/02/2014 You’d think, wouldn’t you, that…