Not very nice....

....the photograph below that is. 

Regular visitors to Birds2blog will appreciate that this is another of my so called 'gap fillers' between my birding days....far and few between still I'm afraid. 

This is a 'not very nice' photograph of a Mountain Hare found decomposing in a snare, a snare which doesn't differentiate about what it traps in its deadly spring mechanism which of course includes birds of prey. There is an ongoing trial with regards to this disgusting piece of 'land management' equipment, but to cut to the chase....

The trial of an 'estate employee' - I think we know his 'job' - has been adjourned until mid-August, coincidentally after the opening of the grouse shooting season, it also coincides with the opening of a game fair on an estate with a 'bad' reputation (Red Kite with two broken legs and a blow to the head causing death). A chairman of a 'National Heritage Group' is also attending this game fair, he was the convenor of a National Park for many years and under his leadership it has now become the first National Park in the world to have a brand new town built within it on an estate. With much hesitation I've withheld my intentions to publish who holds ownership of this estate, but this decision may not hold for very long. 


The aforementioned 'chairman' holds the distinct title of being the single most disastrous thing to happen for conservation since the first conservation laws in 1949. The good news for shooters and every developer in the land who are out to destroy what we have left is....that his tenure has been EXTENDED by two years. 

You couldn't make it up could you!  


And finally....

Mountain Hare. Unknown.

Here is a much nicer picture of a Mountain Hare as it should be seen, and....

Pine Marten Cliff Raby

....a much nicer picture of a Pine Marten. Thanks CR I really appreciate this.