A Hen Harrier poem by Anneliese Emmans Dean

  A poem by Anneliese Emmans Dean from her new book – see review tomorrow   Endangered   Silver shimmer Heather skimmer   Ring tailer Air sailor   Grouse catcher Pipit snatcher   Big dipper Trip flipper   Sky dancer Slim chancer   Hope carrier Hen Harrier  

Hen Harrier Day 2017 – an update

The Hen Harrier Day website – maintained by Birders Against Wildlife Crime – is the place to keep in touch with Hen Harrier Day events, but here is an update. Hen Harrier Day celebrates the beauty of this wonderful bird and highlights its threatened status which is almost entirely due to wildlife crime.  Hen Harriers…

The not so talented Viscount Ridley, at it again

Viscount Ridley was writing in The Times yesterday, Viscount Ridley has form (here, here). It is a splenetic piece of writing which accuses just about everyone except grouse moor managers of being in it for the money.  Environmentalists talk up climate change so that their mates can make money from green energy apparently, thinks the…

The party manifestos and the environment – a round up

When I vote next Thursday, I won’t vote on solely environmental grounds, but it will be a significant factor in my choice.  I hope it will be a factor in your choice too. There is a massive difference in the approach to the environment from the Left and Right of politics which is very clear…

Let’s see the back of Andrew Bingham in High Peak

The Peak District is a fulcrum for change in the British uplands and has been the scene of three Hen Harrier Day events so far. Each of those events was held in the constituency of Andrew Bingham, High Peak, but we didn’t see him at any of them. The constituents of High Peak were strong…

Hen Harrier Day politicians

A week today we will have the result of the 2017 general election.  It’s your choice.  Today I’ll be writing about individual constituencies and candidates. Over the three Hen Harrier Days to date we have seen a few politicians attend. I’d like to see them all re-elected, or in one case elected, on 8 June….

If only it were that easy…

The RSPB video of a man collecting Hen Harrier feathers, some apparently still attached to the bird, has now been viewed more than 15,000 times. If you get to it via the RSPB website and are all fired up about wildlife crime then the RSPB offers a suggestion for how you can help.    

Labour Party manifesto

Recent Labour Party manifestos have been disappointing on environmental issues. How does this one shape up? Here are my thoughts on likes and gripes (restricted to the environmental issues): Good things: ‘We will defend and extend existing environmental protections.’ – will we see anything similar in the Tory manifesto? I doubt it’. But The Greens…