Sunday, October 18, 2020
A golden eagle was surveying the moors from a small hill almost a kilometre away.
About a dozen black grouse were flushed from the side of the track; five ravens crossed the sky going south, and my first redwing of the autumn flew from a conifer.
I was surprised to see this, in an area probably not much visited by walkers.
It's a ladder trap for corvids apparently. Such a trap is not illegal, but a DEFRA document on-line sets out a code of practice; for instance, the trap must be inspected every 24 hours. I think it's the first bird trap I've seen in the Highlands, and it's certainly the biggest I've seen - about the size of a small garden shed.
The thing is - what do they want to trap? There are no rooks, jackdaws, magpies or jays around here. There are hoodies, whose numbers seem to fluctuate - I haven't seen one on any of several recent walks. Ravens are protected, although I think they can be culled under licence. But I wonder what the landowners are trying to protect from corvids. There's no driven grouse shooting here - not nearly enough red grouse - although estates might offer walked-up grouse shooting. Perhaps they're protecting the black grouse - although this would no doubt also be for future shooting rather than conservation purposes. There are no sheep grazing here, so they're not concerned about lambs. I'm really at a loss to understand what the trap is for.
// posted by Christine @ 11:12 AM 
