The Lincolnshire Bird Club

No doubt this will be the beginning of many more successful applications to start culling Buzzard..

http://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/n ... gal-battle

I don't know where the logic came from because there is none.

Mr Waddell added: “This Judicial Review was never about changing the law – buzzards, although now very common, remain fully protected birds and the wildlife licensing system quite rightly has safeguards to ensure that there cannot be a ‘free-for-all’ against them. Rather, the case was about seeking the court’s view on whether the existing licensing system, available for the control of wild birds since 1981, was being fairly administered by Natural England. The court found that it was not. It is the right result, for individual justice and for the countryside.”

So there is the open door....

How it can be justified so that a relatively small amount of folk have a few more pheasant and partridge to blast and make a few quid more is nothing short of lame.. And, knowing how gamekeepers tend to behave, who exactly is going monitor how many birds they will kill....Nobody...!

That certainly sets a worrying precedent.

Significantly, there doesn't seem to be any definition of the term, "control". Could that include poisoning?

As a result of the judgement, buzzards everywhere - including Lincolnshire - have become more than a bit vulnerable.

It provides another justification for LBC to have a campaigning, as well as a recording, role.

Incidentally, what is the status of herons under the law? Are operators of fishing lakes, of which there are many in the county, entitled to "control" them under licence?

I think is a real worry and no doubt will gather momentum in the coming months..

With regards to you question about Herons, it is illegal to kill a Heron.. However, you only have to do a bit of Googling to find many ways to take them out. It is another one of those areas where you can be sure it happens.

I don't know if you are aware of this organisation Jim http://birdersagainst.org. They are relatively new and worthy of some support.