It's not often I'm so outraged at government policy that I'm compelled to write to my MP, but this week is one such time.
The government (DEFRA) is proposing to control the numbers of buzzards by destroying nests and removing the bird from shooting estates and has set aside £400,000 for the purpose.
The reason is that buzzards kill pheasants.
The government is pretty comfortable with the idea of killing pheasants, it just wants rich people with shotguns to do it rather than a native British raptor.
The fact that more pheasants are killed by cars than buzzards doesn't mean cars are to be banned, of course. I'd sooner ban pheasants as the stupid birds have twice thrown themselves in front of my car and the last time it cost me £75 in new plastic bits for my bumper.
Pheasants of course, are non-native birds. They were introduced for shooting and around 40 million are released into the countryside every year and people pay to kill them. As Times writer Simon Barnes says: "never has any living species prospered more because of its ability to die."
Well chickens probably have and cows, pigs ... but I take his point.
I was telling Margaret the story on the way back from Whittlesey this morning (a lovely sunny morning) and right on cue, we spotted a buzzard and then a second, circling above the fields.
I've only seen them in the fens in the last two or three years and I'm delighted that they've made a re-appearance. They are now quite common. I'll be furious to find out that their numbers are being restricted in order to sustain pheasant shooting.
I'm writing to my MP and I'd urge anyone else who reads this to do the same.
For more information see: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/314516-rspb-stunned-by-defra-plan-to-imprison-buzzards
Footnote: I am pleased to say that the government has now abandoned plans to trap buzzards and destroy nests. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/30/buzzard-trapping-plan-abandoned-uturn.
However, there are still plans to study the effect that buzzards have on game birds, so I think there may still be plans to bring it back with some more "science" attached.
The government (DEFRA) is proposing to control the numbers of buzzards by destroying nests and removing the bird from shooting estates and has set aside £400,000 for the purpose.
The reason is that buzzards kill pheasants.
The government is pretty comfortable with the idea of killing pheasants, it just wants rich people with shotguns to do it rather than a native British raptor.
The fact that more pheasants are killed by cars than buzzards doesn't mean cars are to be banned, of course. I'd sooner ban pheasants as the stupid birds have twice thrown themselves in front of my car and the last time it cost me £75 in new plastic bits for my bumper.
Pheasants of course, are non-native birds. They were introduced for shooting and around 40 million are released into the countryside every year and people pay to kill them. As Times writer Simon Barnes says: "never has any living species prospered more because of its ability to die."
Well chickens probably have and cows, pigs ... but I take his point.
I was telling Margaret the story on the way back from Whittlesey this morning (a lovely sunny morning) and right on cue, we spotted a buzzard and then a second, circling above the fields.
I've only seen them in the fens in the last two or three years and I'm delighted that they've made a re-appearance. They are now quite common. I'll be furious to find out that their numbers are being restricted in order to sustain pheasant shooting.
I'm writing to my MP and I'd urge anyone else who reads this to do the same.
For more information see: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/314516-rspb-stunned-by-defra-plan-to-imprison-buzzards
Footnote: I am pleased to say that the government has now abandoned plans to trap buzzards and destroy nests. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/30/buzzard-trapping-plan-abandoned-uturn.
However, there are still plans to study the effect that buzzards have on game birds, so I think there may still be plans to bring it back with some more "science" attached.
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