Tomorrow is the Rally for Nature organised by the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and the League Against Cruel Sports working together – for the first time ever? The rally is also supported by Butterfly Conservation, the Mammal Society and The Ramblers. If you have not yet done so, please contact your MP through this handy webpage…
Tag: hen harrier
My northernmost parakeet
It was a cold Saturday morning and there weren’t many other people setting off from my street at 0650. Heading up the M1 I noticed that the trees, leafless, were pin sharp against the lightening blue sky. They looked as if they were drawn with a very fine pen. It’s difficult to get all dreamy…
Inglorious 12
This infographic has been sent to MPs by the Moorland Association and BASC recently. It allows me to make a few points. 1. They say: ‘Managing heather helps preserve and protect UK’s biggest carbon store‘. Not so according to The Times (1 October) reporting a recent study by Leeds University : ‘The owners of…
Dear Andy – letter to my MP
Dear Andy I hope you are well. I’ll be coming to parliament a week today on a rally organised by the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the League Against Cruel Sports, and supported by some other countryside organisations too. If you are around and could spare a few moments to talk then I’d be very…
If nothing happens, something will happen
It seems like the grouse shooters are in a corner and they are not sure what to do next. So they are falling back on the tactic that has served them well up until now – do nothing, give no ground, wait and see. Grouse shooting is in a corner – a corner of its…
You should read this in Birdwatch
I have a great affection for Birdwatch magazine. First, they pay me to sound off about whatever is on my mind at the time and that is just completely lovely of them! Second, they put a Hen Harrier on the cover of the August issue with the headline ‘Stop killing our harriers’ and have been…
A little Stanwick bird quiz – and there’s a prize.
I’ve seen 154 species at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes since I started using Birdtrack in 2004. Here are 149 of them. Which are the missing five? Mute Swan Whooper Swan Pink-footed Goose White-fronted Goose Greylag Goose Canada Goose Shelduck Wigeon Gadwall Teal Mallard Pintail Garganey Shoveler Red-crested Pochard Pochard Tufted Duck…
Nearly six months
On Thursday morning our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting will be only six months old and yet it has gathered over 19,500 signatures. Thank you to all who have signed. I think it is perfectly possible that we will pass the 20,000 barrier by Christmas Day, maybe much earlier, and every added signature sends…
North West Birdwatching Fair
It was better than fair – it was good. I spoke to lots of nice people, and the very nicest ones bought copies of A Message from Martha too! That included the very nice Mike Dilger. He was speaking at Martin Mere before my talk on Saturday and you couldn’t ask for a better warm-up…
Round up
Just a few things that might interest you: the photo above shows an ancient god and goddess – it’s nice to see Athena joining in on behalf of Hen Harriers and thank you to Ron Kinrade for the photo from the Naples Archeological Museum. Athena was (and still is, I guess), of course, quite keen…