Well done RSPB, and the week ahead

Well  done RSPB! In my Birdwatch column, the political birder, for March I wrote about the e-petition started by Chrissie Harper which asks for the law in England to be brought into line with those in Scotland in respect of vicarious liability for wildlife offences. Vicarious liability is an unfamiliar phrase for those of us…

An everyday story of country folk

Last week, a scene in a long-running play was acted to a conclusion.  The play is a bit of a ‘whodunnit’ with heroes and villains – but since we haven’t yet seen the ending there is time for villains to repent.  Sometimes it’s difficult to know on which side some people are until the final…

The raptor haters? Robin Page.

Robin Page clearly is special.  He has issues.  When you read his own words it is difficult not to think that he has a lot of pent up anger that needs to spill out now and again (see here and here). And so it comes as no surprise that he is angry about birds of…

Raptor haters – an update

A reader of this blog contacted the Chair of the National Trust, Sir Simon Jenkins, over his apparent views on raptors as referred to in my blog on 9 July. And having been in contact with Sir Simon myself he writes ‘The piece was written before I had any link to the National Trust and certainly now…

Mad Max again

Good to see that the RSPB has had a response to Max Hastings’s article of last week published in the Financial Times, a rather moderately worded response given the poor nature of the original article.  It is always a bit of a lottery whether newspapers publish responses or not. It’s frustrating if errors go unchallenged…