Driven grouse shooting is a field sport of the United Kingdom. It is popular because it provides a challenge due to the rapid flight of the grouse. The grouse shooting season extends from 12 August, often called the “Glorious Twelfth”, to 10 December each year. Shooting takes place on grouse moors, areas of moorland in […]
Tag: Hen Harrier
POLL: Should buzzards be killed to protect pheasants?
Tim Boxall points at a shape in the field bordering the seven-acre wooded pen where he keeps 1,500 pheasants. “Here you are,” he says. “Look! There’s one over here.” He bends down and prises the remains of a pheasant from the long grass. “That’s a buzzard kill, you can tell by the way it’s been […]
POLL: Should there be a ban on driven grouse shooting?
MPs will debate whether to ban driven grouse shooting after a petition created by a leading conservationist passed the threshold of more than 100,000 signatures. Mark Avery, a campaigner and former head of the RSPB, launched the petition in March with backing from broadcasters Chris Packham and Bill Oddie, and the League Against Cruel Sports, […]
POLL: Should the killing of buzzards to protect pheasants be allowed?
Every year, thousands of pheasants are slaughtered by cars. What would we say if the government’s conservation watchdog issued a licence to allow a gamekeeper to shoot 10 careless motorists? Natural England has instead issued a licence to allow a gamekeeper to kill something like us: a legally protected predator, a clever, adaptable native species […]
Champions of the Flyway 2016
Champions of the Flyway 2016 is behind us and now there’s some time to look back. It has been an amazing 48 hours of adrenalin and birds and emotions. I will begin with a quick back-log of March 28th. Had some time in the morning for a quick look in Yotvata. The fields were alright […]
Long-awaited plan to save England’s hen harrier gets green light
Landowners, shooters, gamekeepers and conservationists have backed a long-delayed government plan to resolve a deep-rooted conflict over England’s most threatened bird of prey. The fate of the hen harrier in the English uplands has been of serious concern following years of illegal persecution by gamekeepers who have used poisoned bait to protect the grouse-shooting interests […]
Is the RSPB to blame for the loss of England’s rare hen harriers?
The hen harrier has begun to drag its way back from extinction in England. But according to the grouse industry one organisation is stomping on its claws – the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). On Tuesday, according to the Telegraph, a report by government environment advisory body Natural England was “set to […]
Birders Against Wildlife Crime
Last night Channel 4 News broadcast a short and extremely welcome report on the persecution of raptors on Scottish grouse moors, triggered by the rather unfortunate timing that saw Prince William (below) debate poaching and wildlife crime at a conference in London the day after shooting animals ‘legally’ in Spain. William of course famously enjoys […]