BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND..................................................SPOTTED REDSHANK RIVER CONDER HOWARD STOCKDALE

Monday 8 June 2015

For Sale!

The gamekeepers champion Ian Botham and front man of campaign group 'You Forgot The Birds' which is funded by the shooting industry, has recently made the ludicrous claim that the RSPB are 'looking the other way' when it comes to Hen Harrier persecution, because they are using the species as a fund raising tool.

Now that's a pretty hard one to swallow, but Botham may well have a point to make there about the RSPB and cash before conservation. Read on....

Before her death in 2001 a kindly lady bequeathed 20 acres of green space in rural Cheshire to the RSPB, her dying wish was that the land should never be built on. The RSPB were fully aware of the wish made by this lifelong environmentalist, but hey....they're now looking to sell the land to housing developers in a blatant money making act of betrayal. The RSPB's director for Northern England claims the development could promote and enhance the biodiversity of the area, despite the land being home to Barn Owls, Lapwings, and Badgers. 

But campaign group You Forgot The Birds are saying the RSPB are putting cash before conservation - well they've got to be correct there now haven't they - and that this kind lady would be horrified about what might happen to the land she entrusted to the RSPB as a lifelong enthusiast for the local environment.

The farmland had been valued in 2001 at £60,000. Today, if planning permission was to be granted, the RSPB stand to make £6m, and the charity is urging the council concerned to allow a housing estate of up to 150 houses to be built. The aforementioned RSPB's director for Northern England came up with another remarkably intelligent remark when he said it was unfortunate her land had to be sold but it would benefit more wildlife, which sounds to me like this guy is in the wrong job and should be made head of RSPB Finances with immediate effect.

The Royal Society For Personal Betrayal. Building homes....but not for nature.    

And Finally.
Photographs Pete Woodruff.

I found the corpse of what I think is a marine mammal at Cockersands last Wednesday 3 April. My identification is that of a Harbour Porpoise, although I welcome anyone who wishes to correct me. 

 Harbour Porpoise. Erik Christensen.

7 comments:

  1. Harbour Porpoise indeed Pete, apparently there were another two washed up along the south Sefton coast in the last few days, victims of the bad weather rather than something more sinister I hope.

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

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  2. I gave up on the RSPB some years ago, Pete, as an organisation that is purely financially driven and doesn't seem to give a toss about the environment. I just couldn't see any justification for many of their more significant actions. What really worries me is that many of the RSPB decisions are held up by planners as setting precedent when presenting to local authority planning committees - unsurprisingly these situations are used to advantage by unscupulous planners, based on the RSPB's worst decisions and their involvement in inappropriate development.

    It's high time that the RSPB's actions and motives were exposed to the world at large.

    I'm getting very angry!

    With best wishes - - - Richard

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  3. In answer to Richard's last statement, I believe that that is what Mr. Botham and his "What about the birds" organisation are attempting to do. Unfortunately the RSPB membership still consists of far too many people who believe that it can do no wrong and that anybody who shoots is automatically and without question, the enemy.

    Not everything that Mr. Botham says is acceptable but I do believe that he has made some valid points, especially when he was able to get the RSPB to concede that in reality, less than 30% of their funds were spent on birds.

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  4. Ooohh gee, this makes me sick....
    Surely a lawyer could highlight the fact that this lady gave the land for a specific cause, not for this organisation to sell and make such profit on Nature's back.
    Now that makes one wonder how many associations function in the same way.... :(

    About the European Stone curlews, we drive 3 hours across the Pyrenees mountains to photograph them! In my hilly area, it is very difficult because the vegetation is too lush and you can't often see this kind of bird.

    Keep well Pete

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  5. Dave....Harbour Porpoise indeed, thanks.

    Richard....RSPB, good, bad, very bad, all rolled into one.

    Derek....Pretty much as I have said to Richard.

    Noushka....Lawyers on the case, we'll see.

    Your comments are much appreciated, thank you.

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  6. I completely and utterly disagree with your interpretation of the 'RSPB field'. I will go into it in some detail privately but you have, I'm afraid Pete, been taken in by the garbage purveyed by the Daily Mail and others. I suggest you re-research it and read carefully what Andre Farrar said. Regards Pete

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  7. OK....So look forward to your private message Pete, though at this stage cannot understand why it needs to be private.

    Meanwhile in the first instance it wasn't the Daily Mail's garbage - and I have no idea who 'the others' are you mention - which pointed me in the direction of this 'For Sale' issue. Secondly, from what you are saying here it sounds as though the story is incorrect and that I have been 'taken in' and the RSPB have not betrayed this lady to try to make £6m after all!!

    By the way, this reply has been written up void of reading what Andre Farrar has said....I'll go and do that now.

    Thanks for keeping in touch with Birds2blog, I really appreciate it.

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