The Third Peak District Hen Harrier Day

Here is a photo I took of Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales speaking at the third Hen Harrier Day in the Peak District last Sunday (7^th August). She was one of six inspirational speakers at the event which was intended to highlight the cruel and illegal persecution of the Hen Harrier – a bird of prey that should be thriving and breeding in upland habitats such as those that occur on our nearest National Park. Gamekeepers do not like Hen Harriers because they take some young grouse to feed to their chicks and because of this these birds are killed or deterred from breeding on the moors – both actions are completely illegal. There is no doubt that these birds are being killed by gamekeepers on moors managed for driven grouse shooting, because they are fairly common on similar habitats in other areas of Europe, for instance certain Scottish Islands and the Isle of Man; the difference is that grouse shooting is not practised on those places and so the birds are free to live and breed undisturbed. In addition to killing of birds of prey, Red Grouse shooting is associated with a number of other environmental problems because maintaining grouse moors by burning heather can damage blanket bogs and lead to erosion, flooding, and pollution of nearby streams. Hen Harriers are not the only animals to be slaughtered just so shooters can kill big bags of Red Grouse; stoats, weasels, Peregrine Falcons and even Mountain Hares are victims of this rich man's hobby, which lasts for only three months of any one year at most. And so our gatherings are designed to coincide with the start of the grouse shooting season, the so-called “glorious twelfth”, and it will be an annual event until the Hen Harriers and other wildlife is left in peace. Some of us think this will only happen when driven grouse shooting is banned all together and hence we are petitioning parliament about this subject. If you agree with me that you would like to be able to see Hen Harriers populating the Peak District once again perhaps you will sign the petition? It can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/125003