FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

by  Guy Shorrock Recent information on social media has expressed concerns about a possible police ‘cover up’ in relation to some serious wildlife poisoning incidents in Powys during 2012 and 2013.  The police have responded with a short  statement.   Having been involved from the outset with this investigation, I thought it would be helpful to provide a bit more information to allay concerns. In October 2012, in company with colleagues from RSPB Investigations, I visited an estate inside the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales.  Near to two pheasant release pens we located the remains of some pheasant carcases.  They had obviously been there a while and alongside one of them was the decomposed corpse of a red kite.  The pheasant carcases also had many dead insects and the circumstances clearly suggested they were poison baits laid out earlier in the year.  We documented the scenes and safely collected the items with appropriat...

Evidence is emerging of what looks to be a pretty comprehensive police cover-up of the mass poisoning of birds of prey in the Powys region of Wales. According to the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2012), the following incidents are listed: Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 2 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x poisoned red kite (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. This little cluster is of interest, but becomes of even greater interest when you look at the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2013), where the following incidents are listed:

by raptorpersecutionscotland Raptor Persecution Scotland's readerhip year-on-year. Where does the time go? It’s been another good year for our little blog as we edge towards 1.8 million blog views. That’s amazing, and it’s thanks to you all for reading, commenting, sharing, re-tweeting etc. Our readership is a diverse bunch, mostly from within the UK but with growing audiences in mainland Europe, North... [Read more...]

Here is the RSPB's report on bird crime in 2012 which includes accounts of individual offences against bird legislation. The full PDF can be viewed full screen, with larger text or zoomed in  here .

PC Helen Felton and RSPB's Head of Investigations Bob Elliot with illegally killed buzzards (RSPB) Colin Burne, of Winters Park, Penrith, has today pleaded guilty to the intentional killing of buzzards on land managed by a private shooting syndicate in Whinfell Forest, near Penrith, Cumbria. The 64-year old gamekeeper attended Carlisle Magistrates Court today where he pleaded guilty to three charges. These related to the killing of two buzzards on the 11 February 2013, killing five buzzards prior to this date and possession of a wooden stick as an item capable of being used to kill the birds. He received a 70-day jail sentence, concurrent on each charge, suspended for 12 months.  In sentencing, the Judge stated that had it not been for his ill health he would have considered jailing him. On Monday 11 February, this year, a cage trap containing live buzzards was found by members of the public on land managed by the shoot. Cage traps can lawfully be used to control certa...

World premiere of the film about CABS in England Bonn/Sheffield.  The activist operations by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter for better protection of migrant birds are the theme of a new documentary film that has its world premiere at the Sheffield Docs Film Festival this weekend. Under the title  Emptying The Skies  the New York bestselling author Jonathan Franzen and director Roger Kass expose how millions of European songbirds land in the cooking pot every year, under the pretext of retaining ‘old traditions’ and ‘sustainable use’. Bestselling author and bird lover Jonathan Franzen (CABS) The screenplay is written around a group of international activists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter, who travel every year in spring and autumn to the poaching hotspots - mainly in Southern Europe - to combat illegal bird hunting and trapping. Jonathan Franzen and the film crew shadowed the operations - now well known internationally as  CABS bird protection c...