Sunday 30 October 2016

Why we must ban Driven Grouse Shooting

What is driven grouse shooting? Where does it happen? Why is there a campaign to ban it?

If you are a birder or British wildlife conservationist, you would have to have been without internet in Outer Mongolia to not have some idea what this campaign is about. There's no need to repeat it.

Mark Avery is a nature conservationist and campaigner (http://markavery.info/category/grouse-and-harriers/).  A few years ago he left the constraints of the RSPB and started his vocal campaign for the ban of this damaging multi-million pound business, where wildlife, habitat and flood protecting heathland is destroyed only for profit.

Why has this been allowed to happen and why has the government been secretly funding this carnage with £4 m in tax payers subsidies?  Those running these estates and shooting on them are the friends and relatives of our wealthy and privileged MP's.
  
At first, it seemed to me that many of the nature conservation groups stayed sitting on the fence and avoiding the risk of looking like anarchists. Talking about Hen Harrier persecution was OK but to be seen as being led by extremist activists was not. From this position, with the help of Chris Packham (watch his video http://bit.ly/2eRJpv0), Mark Avery's almost one-man crusade has become something that almost all British naturalists and conservationists are now backing.

However, the RSPB still continues to back a system of licencing, even though this is unlikely to be effective taking into account the extreme level of criminality.  We can't see how driven grouse shooting is anymore beneficial to our countryside than paint balling and a lot more destructive and damaging.

Mark Avery started a petition, which had 123,077 votes (http://bit.ly/2dSAahr) which  states:

"Grouse shooting for 'sport' depends on intensive habitat management which increases flood risk and greenhouse gas emissions, relies on killing Foxes, Stoats, Mountain Hares etc in large numbers and often leads to the deliberate illegal killing of protected birds of prey including Hen Harriers."


The petition led to a compulsory parliamentary debate due to take place tomorrow 31 Oct 2016 at 4.30 pm, but only after a totally biased government response.

I added my voice to the campaign by making a submission to the Parliamentary Commission for Petitions with the main theme being "You are only custodians of our wildlife at this time" http://bit.ly/2e1LWAW



"Written submissions from Miss Mya-Rose Craig (GRO0510)



My Name is Mya-Rose Craig and I am 14 years old. I live just south of Bristol but regularly visit my grandmother in North Yorkshire, where we go walking in the grouse moors. I therefore have first hand experience of these moors.


I care about nature and wildlife as well as considering myself to be a conservationist. I write a blog called Birdgirl and was a Bristol European Green Capital 2015 Ambassador.

I know that many experts and “not so” experts will have given evidence, but I wanted to give my thoughts as the generation coming up behind yours. You are only custodians of our wildlife at this time, after which you must hand that over to me and my generation.

I live in a farming area, where many of my friends/ families are farmers and I think I understand their needs very well.

The people that own the grouse moors are not farmers. They are not growing food or raising livestock to feed our country. They are businesses which own the land and use it only to make money for themselves."

I know that sometimes things happen because over a long time, things become ingrained. That is what has happened with grouse moors. However, as a young person, I strongly feel that when you are reviewing a system, you should look at everything again to make sure that it is fit for the future. Not 2 more years in the future but 20 years in the future.

In the UK we have very little of our natural habitat left, with forests having been cut down for farming and also for land owners to make money. If we were talking about any other country, we would be demanding that some deforested areas should be re-planted. That is what should happen on the grouse moors.

My understanding is that the grouse shooting of the past bears no resemblance to the industry that exists now. I believe that as a nation we will only succeed in living with the nature around us, if we prioritise our wildlife and give it due respect.

Grouse estates have proven that they can not stay within the law in terms of illegally murdering birds of prey as well as the disgusting (though legal) practice of killing every living thing on the moor. 

In addition there are other issues such as that the moors are causing flooding. I think that the issue of jobs is a secondary one and can be resolved by grants being awarded for job creation in these areas. It is certainly not a valid reason for keeping grouse moors.

I hope that you will give my view, as someone from the next generation, valid considering. I would really like to be seeing eagles and Hen Harriers flying over Britain when I am an adult.


This is the Guardian's recent article about the issue and secret subsidies to the super-rich http://bit.ly/2e1GKxd

This is the letter my Dad received from our conservative MP last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg. This is someone who lives in an alternate world where it's normal to shoot birds and animals and rip foxes apart for fun.  However, the first part of this letter is astounding in how stupid it is and I really hope that he doesn't turn up for the debate tomorrow.

"I do not oppose grouse shooting because it is one of the most delicious game birds. I feel it would be hypocritical to support banning something that I enjoy eating"


1.  Liking something is no justification for it being available to you. If you like the look of ivory, does that mean it should be legal to shoots elephants in Africa to meet your desires?
2. Anyway, you would only be banning driven grouse shooting and so could eat grouse that has been shot without beaters and also you could have free-range farms.


Letter from Mr Rees-Mogg MP to Chris Craig
Copyright Chris Craig





Whatever the result tomorrow, this is only the start of campaign that will win in the end and will bring back our Hen Harriers even if they are allowed to become extinct by our current uncaring government.



About the Author


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people
She organised a conference in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter













Thursday 27 October 2016

A laugh with Sir David Attenborough and hitting 1/5 million views...Wow!



Sir David Attenborough and Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
at the State of Nature Report Launch
Copyright: Layton Thompson (rsspb-images.com)



Sharing a laugh with Sir David Attenborough and Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
at The State of Nature Report Launch

I love these two photographs of me with Sir David Attenborough and feel really lucky to have had the chance to meet him.  The first is just a great photograph of both of us and the second photograph is brilliant as it captures the laugh we had together about how he was the oldest person at the event and I was the youngest.

Today I am also celebrating having 1.5 million views on my blog. It's unbelievable and something that I never expected in a million years.  The most read blog post is still the one on sexism in birding and nature conservation with a huge 25,000 views. So thank you to everyone who reads my posts.



About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter











Tuesday 18 October 2016

Siberian Accentor Influx


Siberian Accentor Easington
Copyright Young Birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig


Sometimes strange things happen with birds. 


On Sunday 9 October 2016 a Siberian Accentor turned up in a quarry on Shetland, a “First” for Britain. They are extremely rare in Western Europe, and had come all the way from Northern Siberia and the Urals or its wintering grounds in South East Asia. 




Every single twitcher around the country was in what was practically physical pain. This was as a result of a combination of it being a “First” for Britain, hard to see even in its native habitat and they were not able to get to Shetland to see it. I was included in the they. I had various commitments; such as school that I wasn’t able to miss and it was a long way from Somerset to Shetland. In the end we braced ourselves for the situation and decided we’d just have to learn to live with it. However, it stayed for only two days and was gone before many twitchers could get up there.



However, there was a tiny bit of hope, a mini influx of Siberian Accentor had turned into a mass influx with around 80 arriving into Western Europe during the next few days.



Then as we had been praying for, another one turned up on Thursday 13th October 2016 in Easington near Spurn, East Yorkshire. A Second for Britain.

People couldn’t believe their ears, but the disbelief didn’t last long and almost everyone made their way as soon as they could. Unfortunately for me, I still had the pesky obligation of school. I was sitting at home that evening seeing everyone’s photos on social media. Eventually it got too much for dad, and mum and I sent him up on the Friday before he actually imploded. One parent had to stay home with me, though, as they couldn’t just leave me for a cross country road trip (as much as they probably wanted to), and so Mum decided to be the bigger person and stayed behind. Dad came home that evening on cloud nine, but wisely didn’t gloat.

The next day, Saturday, I had AONB Mendip Hills Young Rangers, which I can’t miss. I get a John Muir Gold Conservation Award at the end, but only if I don’t miss sessions. Dad didn’t mind too much, but mum certainly wasn’t happy. I had a great time finding out about ancient lead mines but I had an underlying sense of stress. Was the bird going to stay for just one more day?

Then came news of another Siberian Accentor near Teeside, a third for Britain. This one was being hard to see and not out first choice to try for.

Finally, Sunday morning, we left the house at 5.30 am. The entire drive up, the stress was almost palpable. During a trip to the Amazon in Peru, one evening Mum missed a bird that was new for us that Dad and I saw. She was not happy and it was somehow Dad’s fault (for not giving better directions). The next day, we went back to the same spot and Mum this time managed to see the bird well. Our bird guide, Gunnar Engblom exclaimed with relief that the “Craig Family Harmony Index” had been restored! So the phrase was coined. Right now, there was a high risk of the Craig Family Harmony Index remaining fairly un-harmonious. Dad wasn’t stupid and so wanted us to see the bird just as much as Mum and I. Otherwise a few years down the line Mum would have no recollection of agreeing to him going without her.

When I woke up a few hours later we had arrived, and it was raining. It was fine until we were out the car and it was like a switch had been flicked and suddenly it went from drizzle to torrential rain. That would have been fine as well, except when we got to where the bird had been seen that morning and discovered that we had missed the Siberian Accentor by 5 minutes. For over an hour we waited in this pouring rain, when finally someone started yelling for their mate to come over. There was a lot of confusion; did he just want to have a chat with his friend, or had he seen the bird and forgotten to tell everyone else? Everyone started frantically looking around and then we saw it!

It was a terrible view, my bins were foggy from the rain, rain was making everything harder and there was a large fence in my way. Besides all this, I was ecstatic. But, 10 minutes later, I managed to see it again! This time it was a bit better. Siberian Accentor basically looks like a Dunnock with a stripey head and not hard to identify.

After twenty minutes the bird disappeared again and so after a while we decided we should probably get back in the car before the rain completely soaked through our coats. 


Shorelark, Spurn
Copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

We then went to Spurn to see a Shorelark and bumped into our good friend Ruth Peacey. She had been thinking of going to Cornwall for a Red-eyed Vireo but my message last night telling her she was insane had swayed her to make the sensible decision. There is only one rule of twitching, always go to see the rarest bird that is least likely to turn up again, asap! We then all got soaked looking for the Shorelark on the beach. At this point we had enough and we retreated to the car. Eventually the rain stopped and we jumped out of the car to join people watching the Shorelark just a few metres away. I took loads of photos of it and enjoyed the close views. 


Shorelark, Spurn
Copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Shorelark, Spurn
Copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig


Young Birder Mya-Rose Craig  - birding with my Mum and Dad
Photograph taken by Heather Wilde

We birded around in that area for a while, but then decided to try our luck with the Accentor again to see if we could get better views.

When we got back to the site, it was sunny. The bird, again, had been seen just a few minutes before we arrived. But after a few more minutes of patient waiting, it flew out into the open a couple metres away. We got amazingly views in brilliant weather conditions and we all took lots and lots of photos.


Siberian Accentor Easington
Copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

So far, in the last few weeks just under 150 Siberian Accentor have turned up in Western Europe including a total of eight in Britain, 53 in Sweden, 44 in Finland and 9 in Denmark but nobody knows what has caused the influx. In the space of a week they had gone from "OMG, a First for Britain" to "Just another" Siberian Accentor.  Some really good friends Rob Lambert and Lucy McRoberts were on the Isles of Scilly and so missed the birds. Just hoping for another one for them!



About the Author



Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter