Not very new, and not very statesmanlike

In the New Statesman this week, there is an excellent and long article by Mark Cocker on shooting (Unfair game: why Britain’s birds of prey are being killed). I recommend it as an interesting read and because it will bring the plight of the Hen Harrier to a new readership. The most interesting quote in…

What next?

There’s been an outpouring of frustration mixed with anger on social media, and in my head, over the fifth disappearance of a male Hen Harrier from the English uplands this year.  Yesterday I was quite distracted whilst doing a BBS visit – I had to keep telling myself to concentrate and count the Carrion Crows!…

Being open

Members of the ‘Sodden 570’ at last year’s Hen Harrier Day event in the Upper Derwent Valley will recognise this area  – we were getting soaked just off the left hand (western) side of the map on 10 August last year. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act provided open access to open ground (in…

Natural England bleats

Natural England roused itself from slumber yesterday, perhaps after reading this blog (you never know – they do, you know!), and uttered a few weak words on the disappearance of a male Hen Harrier from Geltsdale in Cumbria. It’s good to know that Natural England is ‘very concerned’ about the state of a species on…

Looking forward to …

Can anyone spot anything wrong with the following sentence? ‘I’m looking forward to a rational discussion with Robin Page at the ‘Tooth and Claw’ debate on Saturday in Norwich based on his well-argued and wholly accurate piece in the Daily Mail.’