A week ago RaptorPersecutionUK published a post which revealed that Amanda Anderson of the Moorland Association had said that some of her members were planning to apply for licences to control Marsh Harriers on moorland. RPUK is rarely wrong but we all waited for the rapid, detailed and hurt denial that would have been an…
Tag: hen harrier
Findlay in Number 10
You must read this account of Findlay Wilde’s visit to Downing St to talk to Sir John Randall, the environment advisor to the Number 10 Policy Unit. Findlay is a good advocate and I’m sure that he and John got on well. I was fascinated by some of the remarks that John was happy for…
Dear @MichaelGove
I was surprised to notice the other day that the Secretary of State for the Environment (and some other stuff), Michael Gove, follows me on Twitter. I’m not foolish enough to think that Mr Gove is reading every word that I write, nor perhaps any of them, but just in case, I thought I’d pen…
The Raptor Persecution UK Marsh Harrier revelation
I can’t remember Raptor Persecution UK getting a story badly wrong – admittedly their spelling and grammar are sometimes a bit suspect but their facts and news are spot on. And so I’d be very surprised if they have been misinformed about the desire of grouse moor managers to bump off Marsh Harriers revealed today. …
‘I cannot let great recipes die just to be politically correct’ – Tom Kitchin
‘Every year when August 12 comes round I get so many trolls on my Twitter feed, telling me about lead poisoning, about hen harriers, but I cannot let great recipes die just to be politically correct.’ says the Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin, whose Edinburgh restaurant specialises in all sorts of game (as quoted in The…
NE don’t know much about their study
Back on 1 October I asked NE some questions. They asked for extra time to answer them and I had a response yesterday afternoon. The questions related to an excellent NE publication of 2008 entitled ‘A future for hen harriers in England?’ which it is well worth having a good look at, and asking yourself…
Silence from the Food Standards Agency
It’s apparently GB Game Week (#GBGameWeek) where the shooting industry tries to persuade us all to eat game meat. Although I am veggie for four days a week, the freezer has quite a lot of venison in it – and very enjoyable it is too. But I know where that venison comes from, it’s shot…
Everyone’s talking about wildlife crime except Defra
This is the sixth Defra response to an e-petition attempting to press them into action on wildlife crime and unsustainable upland management associated with grouse shooting. And this is the sixth response in Defra which has failed to admit the scale of the problem of wildlife crime and failed to bring forward any sensible response….
Guest blog – Ireland’s Harrier crisis Ryan Wilson-Parr
Ryan has studied Hen Harrier for over 20 years as a researcher, an accredited ecological consultant and as a contracted Raptor Expert to the National Parks & Wildlife Service. Ryan is Chairman of the Irish Raptor Study Group, Director at the Golden Eagle Trust and Project Scientist for the Hen Harrier Project, a new results-based…
Defra calls this a problem species…I call it wondrous!
‘Targeted control of problem species is only one part of a complex mix of factors that can influence populations’ Defra response to Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting. This is what targetted control looks like in twentieth century UK: Please sign the e-petition to which Defra was replying to show…