But let's go further than that. Blacka Moor is primarily a public recreation site. It is not a bird reservation. Projects undertaken to encourage Black Grouse etc would only succeed on this site if there were restrictions to public use. Anyone who knows anything about birds knows that. Blacka Moor's wildlife as it is now has developed and thrived alongside public use including dog walking over many generations. It is a robust compromise and those species that do not like the kind of disturbance that comes from public use like this simply go elsewhere and there are many suitable and less disturbed places pretty close by. I love birds but have no interest in the sometimes obsessive species counting that I classify alongside train spotting. We know where this could lead. Instead of a landscape which evolves naturally we get something that's increasingly engineered with specialist habitats for certain birds. What next after the Black Grouse and the Nightjar? The Black Tailed Godwit or the Red Necked Phalarope for goodness sake? It then becomes a very precious exercise in which people have to keep to certain areas and behave much more carefully. In short a Twitchers' Theme Park. That may be OK in a bird reservation. Not in a place designated as a public pleasure ground.
2 comments:
So you don't want to see black grouse and nightjar breeding at Blacka Moor, then? Even if the only reason why they're not there is your dog running off its lead?
In response to the above question, I adapt my behaviour and my dog’s behaviour to the circumstances and always have done so, according to what I believe to be appropriate. I am also very much in favour of certain places being dog free (such as parts of urban parks) just as others should be cattle free and free of farming practices and the interference of managers who can’t leave well alone. I leave it to your imagination to guess where I’m thinking of.
But the argument, as with many things, from SWT is phony. Creating special habitats for certain birds here will not succeed unless there is considerable restriction on people’s freedoms long enjoyed. It’s all of a piece with the conservationist fiction of designating Blacka as a special site for upland breeding birds when there aren’t any, then gardening and tinkering with the site to try to make it happen.
Incidentally, I have also made my website available for comment from other people even accepting that they might wish to question what I say. An anonymous person who does not even identify themselves with a nickname might wish to consider whether they could do the same and open their own views up to interrogation on the internet. When can I expect to comment on your website? I’m not trying to discourage comments here, just suggesting that some reciprocation would be welcome.
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