LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS

Reports of wildlife crime are rising.
These heinous acts demand justice.
Please consider giving £15 today and help us demand justice for our wildlife.
I WANT JUSTICE FOR ANIMALS
Far too many wildlife crimes go unpunished and I know you want to see the disgraceful perpetrators punished as much as I do.
By supporting our wildlife today, you will enable our Investigations Team to increase the amount of time they can dedicate to investigating serious incidents that we already know are happening to foxes, badgers, hares and deer all over the UK.
Any funds raised before 4ᵗʰ July will help us prepare for the start of the stag hunting season.

Investigations on the Mendip Hills jointly with local monitoring groups has led to the Yeo Valley dairy company confirming that no hunts are allowed on their land, thus reducing the amount of land available to the hunt.
John, I know that like me, your love for our wildlife knows no bounds. If you can, please consider giving £15 to our Justice for Wildlife appeal and help us to stop animals suffering today.
JUSTICE FOR WILDLIFE
As a valued supporter of the League, thank you for standing up for animals. Together we can bring more animal cruelty offenders to justice.

LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS COMMENTS ON JEREMY HUNTS COMMENT

Last night, Jeremy Hunt was quoted by The Telegraph as saying he would initiate a free vote in Parliament to repeal The Hunting Act 2004 if he became Prime Minister.

At the League Against Cruel Sports we know the importance of compassion, as every day we defend animals from being persecuted in the name of ‘sport’. And we are not alone.

From polling we commissioned ahead of the last general election in 2017, 85% of respondents and 73% of Conservative voters want to see hunting remain illegal. We call on Jeremy Hunt to listen. We have invited him to our offices, which are in his constituency, to discuss the realities of this barbaric activity, insisting that he retracts his pledge to repeal the Hunting Act 2004.

Fox hunting is a brutal activity in which hounds tear apart the foxes in the name of ‘sport’ – this cruelty should have no place in a modern compassionate society.

We urge our supporters to help keep the ban; making our voice stronger by doing any or all the following today:

Write to your local MP to express your horror at the suggestion of the Hunting Act 2004 being repealed
Write to your local paper
Sign our petition
Like and share our updates on this via social media

FOX HUNTING & JEREMY HUNTS STUPID IDEA TO LFT THE BAN

It's got to be a Tory Party leadership hopeful’s gimmick and does it show ignorance in the mind of Jeremy Hunt, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland’s Foreign Secretary? In a period of our history where we are divided, almost down the middle, on what is best for our nation, a politician has the stupidly to mention ‘fox hunting’.

There is civil unrest, open defiance of democratic authority and regions of the world where populations are being slain and we have a Government Minister bothering to allow the possibility of repealing Blair’s Socialist sop to the labour voting urbanites. Cynically there is only about 4% of the vote so did he care if they did not vote for him?

Mind you, Hunt has seemingly been a tad wily, in that he has said that he would only do it when the will of Parliament could enable it. In other words, a gimmick, and it shows that he could not give a damn for our countryside and all that is good out there.

I don't give a hoot whether it is a gimmick or not, but it sends the wrong message that killing of our wildlife is okay. Well, it shouldn't be and with daily report of of birds of prey being shot I deplore any suggestion that a hunting ban should be rescinded when many activists are fighting hard to maintain habitats, re-introduce species and campaign to allow wildlife to flourish again.

I will balance my disdain of Hunt’s idea with the comment that in our parliamentary world of mistakes being punished with screams to resign by the ‘opposition’ I would remind everyone that no one is perfect; everyone has a right to an opinion and feel free to articulate it. I know that is not the way Westminster works, but certain past leaders made mistakes, made amends and we still live in a free democracy. Well sort of! Remember Sir Winston Churchill.

Come on Jeremy Hunt, deal with what is important and don't mess with what some of your chums might want! We need more bans to stop killing of wildlife, not one less. Get real and stick with mainstream ideas while activists fight for the rights of wildlife.

Alpine Swifts at Maigmó

What a great day we had after as slow cool start climbing up to the two vantage points of Maigmó.  The two white road signs, just off the A7, indicate where we are going to.  The lower, La Melonera, is a 2.5k climb and Balcó D’Alacant is 4.5k. Both have excellent views with clear vistas all around and ideal for seeing raptors.

On Friday 5th July, the three of us Bryan, Mark and myself were watching and listening on the lowest slopes even before the sun came up over Montnegre.  Maybe we were a little early and our usual viewing of Woodlarks was minimal; they were feeding among the Almond trees and so were Chaffinches that are always nice to see. Two Wood Pigeons perched on the electric cables, Red-Legged Partridges called and so did an Iberian Green Woodpecker.  We moved slowly up listening and watching and parked several times where we had sunshine and clear views. It was slow.  Mistle Thrushes flew around and as we moved upwards we heard and saw Crossbills. We heard Jays twice before we saw one fly across the road.  We located Firecrests too and enjoyed them searching in the foliage.

At a tourist spot there are two small pools of water which we paid attention to.  But on our way back down we stopped again and this time we were lucky to see many birds drinking and with one female Sparrow Hawk sitting on the rim.  Just a quick look, but enough to recognise it. A place to remember and allow more time on our journey.

Bryan was aware that there were good numbers of Bonelli's Warblers and that they will be found at altitude.  We listened and watched these birds in several locations and they were numerous and a joy to watch. Mark was able to photograph them for the first time.  He was pleased.

We spent considerable time at each viewing point.  We were having terrific views of Pallid Swifts having previously spoken of finding Alpine Swifts.  And there they were swooping around and flying not more than 10 meters over our heads.  The photographers got busy and Mark and I added these fast fliers to our lifetime lists.  It could be that they were feeding young as they had beaks full of food.  Maybe there are nests nearby as there were spells when they were not visible. 

If that wasn't enough then in the far distance two raptors were spotted.  The big lens did the job and Bryan was content to say that one was a Short-toed Eagle and the other one Golden.  Okay, distant but nice to see and to know that they are around.  We had two other distinct and clear views of Short-toed Eagles although two of the views may have been of the same bird.  The third view was when one flew into the top of a pine tree and settled there for a while.

Sometimes we only get fleeting images and that is true when I saw two falcons fly into view and over the ridge not to be seen again.  They had to be Peregrine Falcons on the basis of elimination but I cannot be sure. 

On route down we turned off onto an un-metalled road and this was new ground for us.  It was stoney and easily passable.  We came upon a large ruin that I presumed was for ice in past times.  Surrounded by pines we listened and sharp ears picked out Long-Tailed Tits and a family of five passed through as Bonelli's Warblers fed in the trees.  Earlier we had great views of both Crested and Coal Tits and somewhere out three too was a Great Tit.  The only one absent was the little Blue Tit.

If we add to our list Blackbird, Serrín, Greenfinch, and one lone male Black Redstart we had a good number of species. For Mark and myself Alpine Swifts, at last.  They are some bird to see with there patches of white, sheer size, long wings, their speed and acrobatics.  It was also this year’s first for Bryan. 

Eventually time, the strong sun and the heat got to us and we headed down and home thoroughly pleased with our day and for the two photographers to examine their results.

We intend to return to this mountain again, although Mark will have returned to Scotland and we wish him well, but Bryan and I will spend more time next week and to also include Agost.  We intend to ‘break more fresh ground’.

Respect the mountain.

TONS DUMPED IN THE SEA

3,978,617

tens of tons

hundred of tons

thousand of tons

millions of tons

and those last seventeen - pah!

three million

nine hundred & seventy eight thousands

six hundred & seventeen tons 

dumped into the oceans

deliberately, thoughtlessly,

couldn't  carelesslessly 

it's the human ways

to dump in water ways

It's not the place to dump 

It's not the spot to discard

It's not the place to use as a sump

It's not the spot to show disregard

tens of tons 

for our ‘sons’ 

to accommodate

hundreds of tons 

for the next generations

to ingest and to sate

thousands of tons

for all the nations

to accommodate 

three million tons

discarded in six months’

and that is only to date

plastic and it's associated 

wrappings are wrapping up 

our planet that we shouldn’t hate

grow to love it more 

think outside the box before

we find out it's too late

please no more seventeens

added onto high digit numbers

they all add up every one

so go plastic free this July

John Edwards(C)4th July 2019

IT SHOULD BE PLASTIC FREE IN JULY

STILL TOO MUCHO PLASTICO

GLASTO GLASTO BLASTO

is this the new- nuevo way-o

you've  banned it     you've tabooed it-o 

the single use plastico

here we go       here we go

is it a full ban-io

it’s a reverse io

to the days of yesteryo

taps in shiny lines spilling tapileau

into containers non plastico

to musicos danceros and drinkilos

sipping from hard re-usable bottlios

so shiny metal bottlios

give two fingers to Perrier o

Evian and Buxton-o

will scream loud-io

or will it not catch on-io

and it will drift out to sea io 

there's still a long way to go-io

go plastic free in Julio

John Edwards (C) 30th June 2019

San Pedro del PinItar

The Salinas at San Pedro del Pinatar has held a Roseate Tern for a while.  I've seen them at Coquet Island off the Northumberland coast while moving up and down on the swell from the boat. I decided to take a look.

For many years now I have not been enthused by any visit to San Pedro and this morning was no exception.  I had to work hard to find any wader and the first were two Kentish Plovers.  A few Avocet also showed.  There were a good number of Flamingos feeding and a pair of Shelduck with a brood were next to the reedbed.  There was not much around at all and the four Little Terns brightened my day up just a tad.

The experts have decided to separate Spotted Flycatchers into a Mediterranean one and the other as we have always known them.  They are my bird of summer.

Bryan Thomas on his blog has written knowledgeably, with clear photographs, of the two species, and the differences can be viewed.  It is on his blog at birdingcostablanca.blogspot.com. Enjoy the read.