Bob Berzins sends these disturbing-looking photographs from the Moscar estate – yes that name may well be familiar Snaring in the Peak District National Park 11 July, Peak District snares – what they say, 12 July. Bob writes, ‘Moscar Estate (owned by the Duke of Rutland) are constructing a surfaced road across Derwent Moor from…
Tag: Natural England
Sunday book review – Sky Dancer by Gill Lewis
This is a book about Hen Harriers too (see reviews of The Hen Harrier and Bowland Beth)! But this book takes a different perspective – it is a novel about the impacts that Hen Harriers, and their persecution, have on a local family and the community in which it sits. In theory, this is a…
Some news and some blogs
Things that have caught my eye in a busy week: at least two pairs of Bee-eaters have hatched young at East Leake – and Mark Thomas from RSPB was on Today this morning talking about it (he’s very good with the media) official announcement of the West Pennine Moors SSSI (a few fields were snipped…
The new Gove – ‘I am an environmentalist’
Michael Gove’s speech ‘The unfozen moment – delivering a Green Brexit‘ is very, very good. It’s, by far, the best speech made by a government environment minister since at least 2010. Not only is it erudite and clever, it shows a better grasp of the issues than his two immediate predecessors could muster after…
Sunday book review – Bowland Beth by David Cobham
I very much enjoyed David Cobham’s previous book on raptors, A Sparrowhawk’s Lament. This new, slim offering has many of the same features that made that book such a pleasure to read; a love of raptors, a selection of anecdotes and a range of snippets of conversations with others involved in the subject. But this…
Not telling, yet…
I emailed the NE Media Office this morning with the following simple questions: Has NE consented culling of Lesser Black-backed Gull in the Bowland Fells SSSI for this year? Was an appropriate assessment made of the impact on the conservation interest of the Bowland Fells SPA before any consent was issued? Please may I see…
Those gulls again (Bowland Gull Cull 2)
The revelation towards the end of Friday afternoon that nesting Lesser Black-backed Gulls were being killed, perhaps under licence from Natural England, in the Forest of Bowland AONB has attracted a lot of comment on social media over the weekend. Natural England responded very quickly to say that they were investigating matters. The Forest…
RSPB calls on NE to act (Bowland Gull Cull 1)
RSPB press release: The RSPB has learned that large numbers of protected birds are being killed on a grouse moor in Lancashire. A RSPB staff member working in the Bowland area discovered two estate workers shooting nesting lesser black-backed gulls – on a grouse moor managed by the Abbeystead Estate – leaving their chicks to be…
Important new seabird data from 5-year GPS study
Over a 5-year period, 1300 seabirds of four species (Shag, Kittiwake, Razorbill and Guillemot) were tracked to see where they went when foraging from their breeding colonies. These data were then applied to all breeding colonies around the UK to produce predictive maps of marine use by these four species. these predictive maps could be…
UK Hen Harrier survey results – what they say (4) – the coalition of chaos
The coalition of chaos on the Hen Harrier – all it lacks is a contribution from the DUP. Aside from that it has spin, U-turns, failure to answer the question, attempts to blame the victims for the problems, attempts to blame the other party for everything for which you are responsible and a strong whiff…