I must draw you attention to an excellent article on the decline of birds in our countryside by the irrascible Robin Page who majors on the tragic loss of skylarks.Please note his comments on magpies which give good reason for their massive increase, although I believe that his estimate of 600,000 pairs currently is a woeful underestimate.
People are mildly amused and consider me a tad eccentric when I go on and on about the wretched magpie but this is a serious issue and these appalling creatures are part of a major problem which is wrecking our songbird population.
There are four major points to be raised:
1} Where are the Greens when you really need them? - They are twittering about leftwing issues, unproven science and capitalist wickedness.
2} The weak-willed, the soft and the terminally tender-hearted must accept a large proportion of the blame for not permitting proper 'management' of our wildlife.
3} The RSPB has weakened and lost the plot.
4} Destruction of habitats and use of pesticides are heavily criticised by the more 'right on' bird lovers and, to be fair, they are not wrong. However, their emphasis is wrong.
****** Recommended site: http://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/
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