https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2020-06-04/appeal-after-protected-buzzard-...
The moors have been fantastic this spring. The many different species of birds having such a dry and settled spring to nest and rear their young.
But on the negative side the Chew has again been blighted by picnic litter, barbecue mess and subsequent moorland fires around Marsden and Dovestones.
Then just as you begin so see Buzzard and Kite in the area, some brave man with a big gun shoots them out of the sky. Just to allegedly protect hand reared Grouse and Pheasant.
All we can do in the northern moorland areas of the Peak is keep reporting it and hopefully shooting on the moors will be banned.
It seems to have been particularly bad for wildlife on the Moscar estate which backs onto Stanage.
Good to hear someone else appreciating our moorland in stead of writing it off as a "sterile desert".
They are well known for being f*ckers
It's over that way if I remember right that Adam Long saw someone shoot a buzzard whilst he was climbing. The police often get stick for not taking these things very seriously but it must be very hard to actually get evidence so it seems to carry on with impunity. Even if you witnessed it whilst out on your bike or climbing what can you do? Try and make a citizens arrest of someone who is literally carrying a firearm?
It's when the various trade bodies for shooting and gamekeeping come out and say "yes it is terrible, but a few bad apples... blah blah... we're guardians of the moors blah blah" that it gets really infuriating. I mean who else is blasting buzzards and harriers out of the sky over grouse moors than people who sell the grouse for shooting?
Tip of the iceberg I'm afraid.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52667502
Most likely significantly worse than we know.
and poisoning: https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2020/05/28/dead-buzzard-in-north-yorkshir...
Its also very bad in Yorkshire. There was a feature about the persecution of raptors in last Sundays Countryfile.
https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/
Despite the name covers the whole of the UK.
> Its also very bad in Yorkshire. There was a feature about the persecution of raptors in last Sundays Countryfile.
It's bad everywhere. Unfortunately things won't change until the law does and the estate owners are prosecuted for the actions of their employees.
The current situation, where it's always dismissed “a rogue keeper acting against my instructions” is the sort of excuse that even Dominic Cummings would be embarrassed to use. Raptors are being killed because that's what the estate owners are telling their staff to do. Does anyone seriously believe that someone whose job, and quite possibly his house, is dependent on the estate owner actually sits at home and thinks: “I know I'll be sacked and homeless because my boss is really committed to conservation, but f*** it, I'm off to shoot some Hen Harriers for a giggle”?
The constant refrain from moorland groups (who are just mouthpieces for gamekeepers) is that it is a few bad apples. We all know that's a lie - it's an orchard full of them.
Grouse shooting and wildlife crime go hand in hand. I suggest joining Moorland Monitors and the Hunt Investigation Team who are both highly active on social media trying to combat this particular virus.
Would be nice to see some persecution of gamekeepers instead. Where's PETA when you need them?
You also hear them back up their stance with the 'if it's so common why are there so few convictions' mantra.. surely they must know the chance of a keeper being seen/recorded shooting a raptor are slim to none. Absence of evidence does not equate to evidence of absence.
there was a question from Hugh FW on more or less about pheasant biomass- with the 50+million releases every year, more than all other wild breeding birds combined! most don't get shot so may explain raptor increases?
It is so sad that this still goes on. There was a little segment about raptor persecution in countryfile recently (as well as showing the problem they also had an interview with someone from a gamekeepers organisation who certainly said the right things but who knows how much is true). I hadn't really registered it as much a problem these days until I saw that, and read some of those links just now.
I feel inspired to be a bit active in watching out for evidence of this sort of thing now actually. Will certainly keep an eye out for gamekeeper activities and any traps etc next time I'm out on grouse moorland.
There always seems to be plenty of those Fenn traps in and around Shining Clough, even adjacent to the tarmac path on the walk in.
> I feel inspired to be a bit active in watching out for evidence of this sort of thing now actually. Will certainly keep an eye out for gamekeeper activities and any traps etc next time I'm out on grouse moorland.
You might be interested in Snare Watch:
On the grouse moors I've worked on (building wind farms) there are Fenn traps placed every 10m or so along every track and across every burn. As long as they have a cover (even if its just some chicken wire) then they are deemed to be legal. If you are seen interfering with the traps the estate will come after you. The gamekeepers may possibly explain the error of your ways to you and they will pursue you through the courts. They generally take it very seriously.
Even when the land is signed over to the windfarm company the estates still say we are not supposed to interfere with the traps. And obviously we never do.
Thanks for the link, interesting to see where they've been found in the past, and what sort of things to expect.
Since April 1st Fenn traps are still legal for the trapping of weasels, rats and squirrels but not stoat. ( I think)
I look forward to a UKC campaign against the trapping of grey squirrels, or even rats for that matter.
> Since April 1st Fenn traps are still legal for the trapping of weasels, rats and squirrels but not stoat. ( I think)
The question isnt around legality its around the ability to restrict the target victims (leaving aside any morality questions).
> I look forward to a UKC campaign against the trapping of grey squirrels, or even rats for that matter.
To take greys. Possibly if our glorious guardians of the countryside werent busy butchering every alledged predator (aside from the guns who are known to kill purely for fun rather than food) pine martins would be able to recover. Whilst more research is needed evidence from Ireland and elsewhere indicates that greys lose their advantage over reds when an effective predator that the reds have evolved alongside is not artifically suppressed.
It would be so uplifting to see nature bounce back if these estates suddenly became reserves. Still managed, but with the aim of diversity in mind.
Hardly surprising that these bastards would take the opportunity of having no-one around to do what they want.
I think I might even have predicted it weeks ago...
> is the sort of excuse that even Dominic Cummings would be embarrassed to use
Don't be silly; it's just the sort of excuse Cummings would use, and laugh in our faces whilst using it.
I still wonder if he knew Barnard Castle was an archaic almost forgotten phrase that meant a pathetic excuse.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/26/barnard-castle-means-pathetic-excuse-durham-...
The only benefit of knowing that some self-righteous eejits think that they can meddle with legally set Fenn traps is knowing that at least one of them won’t know how the safety catch works and will get a rather nasty surprise.
> It would be so uplifting to see nature bounce back if these estates suddenly became reserves. Still managed, but with the aim of diversity in mind.
You mean like the council’s shining example conservation, mowing heather on Ilkley Moor during nesting season?
Interesting to note that ALL of the "brood managed" hen harriers - the ones taken from grouse moor nests to be reared and released elsewhere- have failed/died/ disappeared
https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/the-five-brood-m...
> You mean like the council’s shining example conservation, mowing heather on Ilkley Moor during nesting season?
You mean where they said they werent aware of it and notified the police and natural england.
Write or email to your MP and complain or forward links like the one from Raptor Persecution to your MP. I do it all the time.
I do get replies sometimes.
Cynics - and I"m one - say it won't make a blind difference. But if this ever gets discussed by MPs or brought to their attention, they can't help but note or be aware that its not just one or two bodies such as the RSPB who are bothered or be taken in by whatever excuses or flannel they are given by supporters of shooting estates. Also if one of the shooting lobbyists say to your MP that it only happens rarely your MP will know from the emails which have been sent that this is not true. etc.,.
I'm all for diversity, that's why I like to see the grey squirrel in my garden.
Sabotage the apparatus of grouse moor management whenever possible.
Direct action is needed against rogue estates.
> The only benefit of knowing that some self-righteous eejits think that they can meddle with legally set Fenn traps is knowing that at least one of them won’t know how the safety catch works and will get a rather nasty surprise.
It's easy to smash up Fenn traps. I encourage everyone to do it.
> You mean like the council’s shining example conservation, mowing heather on Ilkley Moor during nesting season?
At least they weren't actively killing raptors.
You don't really get what I mean.
I don't know about Ilkley Moor ; its out of my area, but yes, the council here needs to change its ways. They employ contractors.........we need to get Cumbria Wildlife trust for example actively managing the towns green spaces.
I think I do. I think you mean the limited notion of diversity which excludes non indigenous species. Apologies if I'm wrong.
> Cynics - and I"m one - say it won't make a blind difference. But if this ever gets discussed by MPs or brought to their attention
It was sort of discussed under the guise of the petition to ban grouse moors. It wasnt one of westminsters most upstanding hours.
For those in Scotland might be worth writing to your MSP. There is going to be a vote around restricting the mass killing of hares.
https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/scottish-parliam...
it's a bit hard to say until you tell me the sort of diversity you had in mind with your idea of "managed moorland".
Interesting. Fozzys story is based on a pro shooting blogpost. It seems to be a bit more complicated
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/country-and-farming/row-breaks-out-over-cou...
Sounds like a trap. As I said, I'm not that familiar with Ilkley Moor issues. But the book describing the success of Knepp estate I find very convincing for example. Nature doing its bit with the help of management by the landowners.
Where moorland is concerned, like many others on here, I don't understand why trees are so persecuted for starters, in the name of conservation. I haven't noticed many grey squirrels on large parts of the Barbon estate for this reason.
I believe the council used to lease the shooting rights to the Ilkley moor but due to burning of heather and pressure from the local public they didn’t renew the leases.
And one of their arguments is that id you don' intensively manage it it catches fire. It catches fire because it's easily accessible and gets set alight.
The same argument is being used by the Walshaw estate who want to create tracks into previously inaccessible (by vehicle) moorland and blanket bog....it will help if it catches fire hint hint.
Walshaw has been a sorry saga for years. Failure of estate to, failure of legislation and failure of the regulator
> Interesting. Fozzys story is based on a pro shooting blogpost. It seems to be a bit more complicated
Being a bit of a cynic, but why wouldn't it surprise me if someone from the hunting fraternity was responsible for the mowing in the hope that it would make the council look irresponsible and therefore people would ask for the licences to be restored...
As I mentioned a bit earlier, I'm realising that the local council here in Kendal, at different levels, have little understanding of the issues. I'm quite amazed. They have to work to health and safety guidelines etc I realise, but they employ contractors with strimmers and stand on mowers to do the work that should be given to gardeners or the wildlife trust for example. People who would enjoy their work intrinsically and can educate and involve others. Hopefully the management of Ilkley Moor will evolve and become more successful.
I know only too well