Month: July 2012

Britain’s 50 great shoots: oh how we laughed!

In the latest edition of The Field there’s a big spread on what they consider to be Britain’s top 50 pheasant and partridge shoots. Here’s the opening paragraph to explain their selection:

“While there will be many familiar names in The Field’s Top 50 Shoots for pheasants and partridges for 2012, there will be some new names, too. All are recognised as outstanding; either they show reared game very well or they show wild game well. And it is possible to take a day at most of them. Attention to conservation and woodland and land-management also stand at the forefront of these shoots“.

We only got as far as page 1 of the list; it’s hard to read when you’ve got tears of laughter flooding your eyes. The cause? Seeing the names of two estates: Edradynate and Glenogil. Regular readers will be familiar with both names and the ‘outstanding’ attention to conservation that’s at the forefront of their activities.

Well done to the editorial team at The Field – you clearly know your stuff!

Pick a number, any number

It seems to be the in thing to do….pick a random number, insert the name of an animal (e.g. pigeon, lamb, pheasant, grouse) and then insert the name of a predator (e.g. buzzard, sea eagle, peregrine, sparrowhawk, golden eagle) and bingo! You have a totally unsubstantiated ‘fact’ about the effect of raptor predation that can be used to further demonise birds of prey.

Following hot on the heels of Alex Hogg’s flawed mathematical equation on buzzard predation on his estate (see here), an Aberdeenshire farmer is claiming that golden eagles were responsible for 180 missing lambs [presumably on her farm] this year alone (see here). To support her claim, she posted a video on YouTube under the heading ‘Golden eagle attacking ewe and lamb’. What the video actually shows is a young golden eagle taking a curious look at a lamb and ewe – not exactly what you’d call evidence of an eagle attack! (See video here).

Of course this isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last, that  farmers blame eagles for killing absurd numbers of lambs. In 2010 SNH completed a costly study (at the taxpayer’s expense) to investigate the effect of white-tailed eagle predation on lambs. This followed claims by local crofters that the eagles were consuming ‘200 lambs’ per year in Gairloch. Unsurprisingly, the scientific study found differently (see here).

The question of raptor ‘attacks’ was recently raised in the Scottish Parliament by Alex Johnstone MSP (who happens to be the local MSP of the Aberdeenshire farmer mentioned above). Johnstone wanted to know how farmers might be compensated for ‘what I believe are increasing losses’ [from raptor attacks]. Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson responded by saying that any potential action would need to be ‘evidence-based’. Well said that man. Video footage of the parliamentary question & answer here.

Stuff and nonsense

The airwaves are busy with criticism of last night’s episode of Countryfile, which featured a few pieces on evil birds of prey, especially buzzards and peregrines.

It’s too tedious to reproduce all the arguments here – we’ve heard it all before, although the SGA chairman Alex Hogg’s apparent inability to count was quite amusing. In a voiceover we were told that Alex was due to release 700 pheasant poults into his woodland pens (prior to letting them loose into the wider countryside so they can be shot dead). The interviewer (Tom Heap) then asked Alex if he had any idea how many poults he might be losing to buzzards. Alex’s response: “We’re probably losing, getting on for over a thousand pheasants in a year to buzzards“. Hmm.

At least the RSPB’s Duncan Orr-Ewing was able to provide some balanced and constructive discussion, but it was disappointing that the producers failed to include any meaningful discussion on the persecution issue. Tom Heap took to his Twitter account after the programme and offered this:

“Am intrigued…many accusing #countryfile of buzzard bias. Why? Real country issue, meticulous balance. Proud of our work“.

For anyone who missed it, the episode can be seen on BBC iPlayer for the next seven days (here).