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| Peregrine. |
Majestic hawks, falcons, harriers and kites are falling victim to countryside criminals intent on blasting them out of the skies or inflicting painful toxic deaths.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is today calling on ministers to herald tougher legislation and enforcement so that some of the country’s most precious wild heritage can thrive in their natural elements. Express.
The problem here is that the growth in bird of prey numbers is all too often at the direct expense of songbirds. In days of yore, gamekeepers kept sparrowhawks - as just one example - in check. Today they will be prosecuted and face significant penalties for such work.
I have lived in my present house in Sheffield for 42 years. Sitting facing my front window - until about six years ago, I had never seen a single bird of prey. Today, it is an unusual day when I do not see at least one sparrowhawk and, slightly less regularly - a buzzard. Kestrels are far from unknown and I am pretty certain that the huge raptor I saw from distance earlier this week was my first sighting of a red kite in this city - a deliberately reintroduced species which is causing havoc to bird populations across the country!
SHEFFIELD IS A CITY - NOT A RURAL SETTING!
I have heard tell of the long extinct goshawk being wantonly reintroduced into the UK - folly if ever there was such a thing!
The same people who advocate these very policies are, all too frequently, the same people who bemoan the fall in songbird populations but who will always endeavour to proffer alternative explanations for the problem.
The reasons for songbird decline are varied but let us not pretend that uncontrolled populations of birds of prey are not a major contributor to this ecological disaster.
Please donate to the feet-on-the-ground charity, SONGBIRD SURVIVAL.
