You may remember that c10 days ago I published some information received from Natural England about brood meddling (see here). There was some information missing from that response which has now been supplied in the form of this interesting email from Prof Ken Norris to the rest of the scientific steering group; Note that this…
Tag: hen harrier
Look what we’ve done now – revisited
This is a blog I posted soon after the result of the EU referendum in June 2016. I think it stands re-reading. How will it all play out now? I went to bed worried on Thursday night (or was it Friday morning?) having heard the first few referendum results, and woke to be devastated by…
Wilful blindness continues, completely unabated
Here is an annotated (in bold and italics) copy of the government response to the phenomenally popular petition by Chris Packham to ban driven grouse shooting (see here). Basically, Defra maintains its wilful blindness of the issues and their responsibility to solve them. Grouse shooting is a legitimate activity [only in the sense of being…
The RSPB has a problem over its position on driven grouse shooting
Here are three somewhat disguised but accurate quotes from RSPB local groups on the subject of driven grouse shooting: I am Group Leader for the ******* Group. I have been an RSPB member for [decades] and a volunteer for [decades]. However, I struggle to see how DGS as a licenced activity would enhance biodiversity, combat…
A poem – Inglorious Bastards by Jeremy Sabel
England’s uplands are infested By old money and interests vested Lords, Earls, Viscounts and Dukes Morally bankrupt driven grouse shoots But don’t meddle with The rural way of life Swathed in lies Publicly subsidized Cloak and dagger Soaked in blood This traditional slaughter Fusillade and laughter Wildlife murdered Where are our Hen Harriers? Insurmountable barriers…
Poor old Duke
We are often told that Hen Harriers depend on grouse moors for their survival – this is a big lie rather than a small one. The fact is that Hen Harrier breeding success over a long period of time (in England and Scotland) and survival (as measured by the lack of survival of satellite-tagged birds…
Some information on brood meddling
Information recently received through Environmental Information requests – some areas are still to be answered in any detail. But this does show us the identity of the Scientific Advisory Group and formally discloses some relevant information on the brood meddling process. Interesting, I feel, that NE don’t know how much time they have spent on…
A chat about the uplands between me and Charlie Moores
I wrote a short piece about the uplands in the Manifesto for Wildlife last year and a slightly longer piece on this blog a while later – click here (actually, I’ve just re-read it and I think it is worth re-reading, even if i say so myself). Charlie moores caught me in an unguarded moment…
A chat on a train
A fortnight ago, I set off to give a talk about driven grouse shooting at Walthamstow Wetlands as part of the London Wildlife Festival. I got off the tube at Tottenham Hale (a new experience) and walked to the site to find lots of glum faces as the Saturday and Sunday events had just been…
I wonder who got that changed…?
Earlier this year the North Pennines AONB Partnership published a draft of its new Management Plan 2019-2024. Consultations were held and a report setting out the results of those consultations was promised, but it has not yet appeared as far as I’ve seen – I’ve been looking now and again. The draft remained on the…