Our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England is going really well – yesterday (we are still in Week Four) it passed 4600 and 4700 signatures. One of the reasons why some of you will hesitate to sign it, as I hesitated to launch it, is because you don’t like banning things (or at…
Tag: hen harrier
Banning driven grouse shooting – a case example (or two?)
Today our e-petition passed 4600 signatures – thank you! On Friday the RSPB in Scotland issued this to the media: RSPB Scotland is calling for more sporting estates to take action to protect the country’s hen harriers during the breeding season. The conservation charity says grouse moor managers and gamekeepers must do more to prevent…
Hen Harriers in The Times
Our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England is going really well – yesterday (we are still in Week Four) it passed 4500 signatures. Thank you to all who signed it and to Chris Packham, Tony Juniper, Brigit Strawbridge, The League Against Cruel Sports, Birdwatch magazine, Birders Against Wildlife Crime and Rare Bird Alert…
What a hoot! #owlsforall
This morning I did a little interview on the Today programme (1hr 21 minutes into programme) – about Labour’s new policy of an owl for everyone. What a hoot! Yesterday the Labour Party Press Twitter account was hacked (by the Provisional RSPB or the Provisional Barn Owl Trust or the Provisional Hawk and Owl Trust?)…
Talking Point from British Birds
The following article appeared in the May issue of British Birds and I am grateful to them for permission to reproduce it here. We are outnumbered – but we shouldn’t give up! In response to Iain Robertson’s editorial in the March issue of BB, I contend that bird conservationists in the UK actually have a…
Hay, hay, hay
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I had a listen to the programme of Shared Planet, of which I was a small part, after watching the end of Brazil v Mexico which I just caught after getting back from lunch and dinner with friends in London. Not bad – a couple of bits I was keen that they should make the…
Hen Harrier Day in the Peak District
I can report some progress on arranging our Hen Harrier Day rally in the Peak District on 10 August. I was checking out some localities the week before last, I have had helpful discussions with the Peak District National Park, the National Trust, the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the Sheffield Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and Severn…
Banning driven grouse shooting – a summary of the issues
I’ve written quite a lot over the last few weeks about driven grouse shooting and why I want to see it banned in England. I’ve had lots of responses too – on this blog as comments, on Twitter, on Facebook, by e-mail and face to face. Here’s a summary of what I think are the…
Is this pretty?
Heather burning is vitally important to grouse shooting. Burning the heather on a rotational basis, every few years, creates a pattern of young and older heather. The younger heather produces green vegetation that is eaten by Red Grouse whereas older heather provides more nesting cover. This image from talented wildlife photographer Peter Cairns shows…
Another unsatisfactory response from Defra
I met up with Sir John Randall MP earlier in the week for a chat about a range of issues – mostly about birds as Sir John is a keen birder. Yes, we covered Malta, Hen Harriers, the banning of driven grouse shooting and a range of other topics. We also talked about diclofenac use…