Everything optical for the birder - cameras and binoculars set to go under hammer in Yorkshire saleroom

The pre-sale estimate is £140-£180 for this collection of binoculars which includes Vesper Superfield 10x50, Zeiss Jenoptem 10x50 and Hanoptik 20x60

A FASCINATING array of binoculars, cameras, accessories and other optical equipment will this week go under the hammer at an auction in Yorkshire.

For any interested  birders, one of the star lots (3248) will be a pair of  Swarovski Optik EL 10x42 SV binoculars for which the pre-sale estimate is £400-£600.

                                               

Rather tasty - this pair of Swarovski 10 x 42

Predicted to sell for a lesser amount is a collection of older binocular models, of various brands, where the guide price for the total is £140-£180.

Likely to be of limited value in the field but definitely of interest as a talking-point collector’s item is Lot 3246 - a brass refracting telescope.

Also up for grabs are scores of cameras and accessories, often several included within a single lot.

One item is an a Olympus OM10 camera which, bizarrely, is being sold alongside a Hohner button accordion.

The on-the-premises sale, which will also accommodate telephone and online bids, is to be held tomorrow (Wednesday September 27) by Tennants of Leyburn.

It also includes a whole orchestra’s worth of musical instruments, plus  Fender electric guitars and, in good time for Halloween (if somewhat morbidly). . . a human half-skeleton with skull. 

More information  at: 

https://www.tennants.co.uk

Back in the day - brass refracting telescope 

This collection of Canon cameras is being sold as a single lot

Olympus camera and accordion

Note: The Wryneck is not paid a commission by Tennants for publicising its sales, nor do we have any commercial or other relationship with the firm.

We don't want to get involved! Bird charity likely to be notable absentee from pro-Nature rally in London

It looks like the RSPB has opted to withdraw from political agitation - at least for the time being. The charity’s logo is notably absent from a poster (above) promoting a rally - organised by celebrity naturalist Chris Packham - to be held later this week outside the London HQ of Defra. Earlier this summer, the RSPB incurred the dismay of many of its members when it put out what was widely regarded as an insulting image (below) on social media.

                          

Here was a revelation! How sighting of magnolia warbler lit up the universe for birder William Brewster

Making the headlines - how the twitch was reported in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph

The magnolia warbler that turned up earlier this week at St Govan's Head,  Pembrokeshire, has delighted the hundreds of birders who have seen it. It was exactly the same thrill that was experienced by American birder William Brewster when he encountered it for the first time. His exultation was later described in The Warblers of North America  (published in 1917) by Frank Chapman as outlined below.  

In this day of numerous bird manuals, book knowledge of a bird usually precedes our actual meeting with the species in life, and we are more or less prepared for the encounter.

But before the day of these publications, the embryo ornithologist was sometimes thrilled by the 'discovery' of birds which, as far as he was aware, no one had ever seen before.

William Brewster's  monograph of the magnolia warbler contains a description of such an experience which we are sure will appeal to every bird lover whether or not it has been his good fortune to begin his study of birds in a similarly memorable manner.

Mr. Brewster writes: "Entering a grove of thickly growing young spruces, I sat down to rest on a mossy log. 

"I had been there but a short time when I became conscious of faint sounds in the trees above and around me, chirpings, twitterings and occasionally a modest little effort at song. 

"Watching attentively, I soon spied a movement among the branches, and a tiny bird hopped out into the light, presenting a bright yellow breast and throat for just a moment before flying into the next tree. 

"Here was a revelation! 

"I already knew a few of the most familiar birds, the robin, the bluebird, the sparrow, the oriole, and some others, but it had never occurred to me that dark forests like these might be tenanted by such delicate and beautiful forms. 

"Surely, only the tropics could boast such gems!"

This was a time when the opera-glass had not supplanted the gun and "with enthusiasm now fairly aroused and animated with the spirit of the explorer" the young ornithologist went at once to work to investigate as Brewster goes on to describe.

"In the course of an hour or two, my ammunition was nearly exhausted, and quite a line of poor, lifeless, mutilated little birds lay along the old log. 

"Scarcely any two of my specimens were alike, and as I contemplated in amazement their varied forms and colouring, I felt like the discoverer of a new world, and doubted whether human eyes had ever beheld the like before.

"I can recall with sufficient distinctness for identification but a single bird of them all, a fine adult male black-and-yellow warbler (as the magnolia warbler was then called) which at the time I considered the handsomest.

"I still think it cannot be surpassed in beauty by any New England representative of the family."

Later, in the same paper, Brewster states that, as a spring migrant in eastern Massachusetts, the magnolia warbler is abundant,  frequenting willow thickets near streams, ponds, and other damp places. 

He notes: "It is also not unusual to find many in the upland woods, especially where young pines or other evergreens grow thickly." 

In the autumn, he adds, it is less common and its haunts are then somewhat different from those which it affects during its northward journey. 

"We now find it most commonly on hillsides, among scrub-oaks and scattered birches and in company with such birds as the yellow-rumped warbler and the blackpoll warbler".                                            

Like a 'gem from the Tropics' - colour plate from the book (below) by Frank Chapman

Didn't they want to get their hair wet?Top naturalists call off saltmarsh stroll because of a few drops of rain

 

Not a pair of binoculars between them - nor an umbrella! Has no one heard of Rhianna?

TWO Natural England bosses skipped a walk along a coastal footpath because  . . . it started to rain!

Chairman Tony Juniper and chief executive Marian Spain were scheduled to spend an hour exploring the birds, including redshank, and other wildlife of the saltmarsh in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.

But five minutes into the walk, there was a brief rain shower so, along with other bigwigs, our intrepid duo scrapped the walk and scurried back to shelter.

Said a spokesperson for the delegation: "We walked for about five minutes but had to abandon the planned hour-long walk into the reserve due to the wet weather."

Did she not regard that as wishy-washy - not to say, a dereliction of duty?

"To be fair, it was a deluge," she responded. 

The purpose of their visit had been to 'launch' the first Coronation Coast national nature reserve on behalf of King Charles III who was unable to be present.

Earlier, at the resort's leisure centre, speeches were made, a buffet lunch was laid on and plaques were presented.

Then, following their aborted walk, the delegates all went back home without so much as having seen a single Cleethorpes redshank.                                              

Unseen by the fair-weather naturalists - this  redshank, a species sometimes known as the 'sentinel of the  of saltmarsh' 

 * Top photo (courtesy DIO) shows, from left: Michael Copleston (RSPB), Deborah Campbell (Environment Agency), Cllr Philip Jackson (North East Lincolnshire Council), Paul Learoyd (Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust), Marian Spain (Natural England), Tony Juniper (Natural England), Cllr Colin Davie (Lincolnshire County Council), Mike Green (Defence Infrastructure Organisation), David Hill (Defra)  

The Wryneck says: A bit wimpish, surely! Admittedly the party members were unsuitably dressed, but for highly-paid professional naturalists to skip 55 minutes of a 60-minute walk because of a rain shower beggars belief.  Did Captain Scott retreat from the Antarctic when it started to snow? Even worse is that, through their timorous response to the elements, the VIPs dishonoured the very habitat and wildlife they had come to celebrate. When the information is relayed to the King, he will  not be amused.    

So very 'uncommon in appearance'! Bay-breasted warbler is a species that baffled John James Audubon

 

The appearance of a bay-breasted warbler - the second record for Britain - has proved a magnet for UK birders since being discovered earlier this week on Ramsey Island off the Pembrokeshire Coast. It is a species which intrigued the pioneering American artist-ornithologist, John James Audubon, but, as he wrote in Vol 2 of his book The Birds of America, published in 1841, it was  one that he found puzzling.

This species does not breed in the US or, if it does, must spend the summer in some of the most remote north-western districts so that I have not been able to discover its principal abode.

It merely passes through the better known portions of the Union where it remains for a very short time.

There is something so very uncommon in its appearance that I cannot refrain from briefly mentioning it. 

It is sometimes found in Pennsylvania or the state of New York as well as in Jersey as early as the beginning of April but it is only seen there for a few days.

I have shot some individuals at such times when I observed them employed in searching for insects and larvae along the fences bordering our fields.

At other times I have shot them late in June in the state Louisiana when the cotton plant was covered with blossoms amongst which they were busily searching for food.

The bay-breasted warbler has so far eluded my inquiries that I am unable to give any further account of its habits.

*The first UK record of the species is believed to have been the bird reported from Land's End, Cornwall on October 1, 1995

                                         

Exquisite bird studies by overlooked Leeds artist set to go under the hammer at Yorkshire auction

                                            

The pre-sale estimate for this set of four meticulous studies of a brambling is £300 - £500 

ONE of the most overlooked bird artists of the 20th Century is surely Raymond Booth who lived a largely reclusive life (1929 - 2015) in and around Leeds.

He has an international reputation as a painter of botanical subjects but his delightful studies of birds are far less well known - even in ornithological circles.

But his profile is sure to be raised when some of his 90  works - remarkable for what one commentator described as their "intensity and strangeness" - go under the hammer auction next month.

It is being staged by Tennants of Leyburn in Yorkshire at 9.30am on  October 7  https://auctions.tennants.co.uk/

Born in  in North-east Leeds, Booth spent much of his time  in Roundhay Park, believed to be  the second largest urban park in Europe, comprising more than 700 acres of parkland, lakes and woodland.

He had no desire to follow in the footsteps of his father by becoming a policeman.  

In 1946, aged 17,  he won a scholarship to Leeds College of Art but his studies were interrupted by the mandatory  requirement, at that time, to do two years of National Service. 

He spent most of that time helping to guard the Suez Canal with the  RAF in Egypt.

                                             

The artist - a deeply private man

It was probably while there that he contracted TB which was not diagnosed until much later after he had graduated from art college. Subsequently,  he was treated as a long-time patient at a sanatorium where he had plenty of time to develop his artistic  skills.

After his recovery, he expanded his portfolio of paintings which enjoyed sufficient sales to support a career largely spent in the studio though it was not until 1975 that he was given the opportunity by the Fine Art Society to have his own one-man exhibition.

An immensely shy man, he rarely visited galleries where his work was being exhibited and, indeed, seldom ventured far beyond Leeds.

His biggest supporter was his wife, Jean, whom he married in 1991, the couple having met in the artists' materials shop in Leeds where she worked.

But, as with his parents, she was reportedly never allowed in his studio - a place he regarded as sacrosanct.

                                            

Woodcock - pre-sale estimate £150 - £250

Swift - pre-sale estimate £400 - £600

Cuckoo - pre-sale estimate £500 - £800

Evening landscape in May - pre-sale estimate £1200 - £1800   

150 years ago: John Cordeaux reports on extraordinary influx of 'curlew sandpipers' on Lincolnshire Coast

                                       

Curlew sandpiper - Cordeaux ' took a long shot and dropped three'

This report  by Lincolnshire ornithologist John Cordeaux On the Migration and Habits of the Curlew Sandpiper is taken from the October 1873 edition of The Zoologist journal. Whether is identification was accurate is perhaps open to question.

At the end of the last week in August and early in September, there was an extraordinary migratory arrival of curlew sandpipers in the Great Cotes marshes near Grimsby. 

On the 31st of August, I was crossing a very bare sheep-walk, about a mile from the shore, when I came upon a flock of small waders sitting breast to the wind, and very much resembling little lumps of chalk scattered over the short green herbage.

I supposed them either dunlins or ringed plovers, hundreds of which at this season frequent these marshes, but, on bringing my binocular to bear, it became at once apparent that they were neither of these.

From the peculiar tint of the underparts they might, however, have passed muster for young knots in the plumage of the first autumn, but if so they were the smallest knots I had ever seen. 

A nearer acquaintance therefore became absolutely necessary before I could determine the species, and I had no gun. 

A slight hollow, where an old top grip had been filled in, favoured an approach, and up this I wriggled for some distance, and then, slowly bringing my eyes level with the surface, found I was within twenty yards.

One look through the glass at this distance was sufficient to show they were curlew sandpipers.

There were sixty or seventy, somewhat scattered at first, but, suspecting something was wrong, they ran together in a cluster, and stood looking towards my hiding-place.

A well-directed shot at this range would have half-exterminated them. 

They appeared birds of the year, having the same buff-coloured wash on the lower neck and breast which we find in the young knot. 

There was a rather conspicuous lightish streak over the eye; the bill was long and decurved at the end, but not more so than in the dunlin.

However, they stood higher and looked a larger bird than this species. 

Some on the outside kept rising and flying over the heads of those in the rear, showing at the same time their most characteristic distinctive mark, the white upper tail-coverts. 

In their habits, they more nearly resemble the reeve than the dunlin.

They run rapidly with the tibio-larsal joints much bent, and they have the same habit which we see in the reeve of raising themselves, stretching their necks, and peering about when they suspect danger. 

Their flight also is very reeve-like, their long pointed wings increasing the resemblance. 

They fly in a lump or cluster, close together, sometimes rising to a considerable height, and then again sweeping or skimming the ground, wheeling rapidly round the pasture and dashing up to windward, they will alight suddenly and commence feeding. 

Later in the day I returned to this field with my gun, but did not get a shot: they had then got mixed up with a flock of peewits, rising and going off to the coast together. 

September 1st. Again on the look out for the curlew sandpipers, but did not find them in this field. 

In a marsh about half-a-mile further inland, there were about fifteen or twenty in company with peewits, and feeding with them. 

I got a long shot at three, dropping one.

The survivors, instead of making off, continued to fly round and hover (winnowing the air like kestrels) above their wounded mate, and uttering the most piteous little bird-wail I ever heard. 

It was wonderful to see such an exhibition of feeling and sympathy on the part of these little creatures. 

In an adjoining field, a very bare summer-eaten clover, there were many more foraging in company with curlews and peewits; these latter rose, leading the sandpipers with them. 

There were probably from one hundred to a hundred and fifty, these collected into two flocks, flying round in a wide circle and not offering a shot.

Their call is peculiar. It is not a whistle, but a "chirrup," and may not inaptly be rendered by this word. 

When the flock are in full chorus, which is generally the case when they are on the wing, the effect is exceedingly musical and pleasing.

It is not unlike the twittering of snow buntings, and most opposite to the sharp distinct call of the dunlin. 

I saw several other small parties during the next two hours, and later two flocks in a thirty-five acre pasture near my marsh farmstead - probably about seventy in one, fifty in the other. 

I killed four out of these, some of the survivors, as in the previous instance, hovering for a short time over the dead birds, uttering the same pitiful wailing note. 

These flocks all occurred within a comparatively circumscribed area, and I can speak positively as to their having been composed exclusively of curlew sandpipers.

I saw, however, during the day many very extensive gatherings of similar appearance careering above the marshes at great distances, much too far indeed for identification, yet, judging from what I had seen on my own land.

I feel tolerably confident that they also were curlew sandpipers, and probably all of them migratory flocks. 

On the following day, as far as I could judge, they had entirely left the district, and I have only seen half a dozen since. 

In the specimens procured, the bill and claws are black; the legs, tarsi and feet very dark green - the colour known as "invisible green"; iris dark brown. 

The stomachs of three examined were filled entirely with insect remains - Coleoptera, Diplera, and their larvae - also several sharp angular fragments of quartz, not  picked up in this district. 

* Photo: JJ Harrison via Wikimedia Commons

You've heard of the Cornish chough, but what about the Kentish chough? Just you wait and see!

Chough - historic links with Kent

                                                           

In 1941, Forces sweetheart  Vera Lynn famously predicted there "will be bluebirds over the while cliffs of Dover - just you wait and see".  

Fast forward to 2023, and there is a new refrain - there will be choughs over those famous white cliffs on the Kent coast.

How come?

In partnership with the Kent Wildlife Trust and Paradise Park, Cornwall, an organisation called the Wildwood Trust is determined to re-introduce a species more associated with Cornwall than Kent and not seen in the latter county for some 200 years.

Specifically, it is seeking to  re-establish a 'core population' of 20 to 35 captive-bred birds.

Crucially, funding of £232,000 has been secured from  Natural England's Species Recovery Programme Grant Scheme to set the ball rolling.

It is understood some creche-reared birds have this month already been released in a secret location, but the doors of their aviary remain open should they find life in the wild too much of a challenge 

The ambitious project builds on more than four decades of providing suitable chalk grassland habitat, the loss of which - coupled with persecution - led to the bird's demise.

Yet, the chough has retained a deep cultural link throughout Kent's history - it  can be spotted on pub signs across the county as well as on the coat of arms of the city of Canterbury.

According to legend, choughs gained their red beaks and feet after a crow flew into the cathedral and paddled in the blood of the murdered Archbishop  Thomas Becket as he lay dying.

A section of the Canterbury coat of arms 

                                             

Ornithological titles likely to attract interest at scarce books auction in Yorkshire next week

                                                                      

One of the illustrations in the impressive book

A RARE 1875-published book by John Gould is expected to be star attraction  at an auction  sale in Yorkshire next week.

Tennants of Leyburn expect the hammer to fall at between £15,000 and £20,000 on John Gould's self-published A Monograph of the Trogonidae or Family of Trogons which contains 47  hand-coloured lithographic plates.                                          

Another of Gould's masterpieces

Also in the sale on September 29 are Morris' British Game Birds and Wildfowl (with 60 hand-coloured plates) for which the pre-sale estimate is £250 - £350  and Volumes 1 - 10 in Collins' New Naturalist Series which is expected to fetch between £80 and £120.

Tennants can be contacted at  01969 623780 or enquiry@tennants-ltd.co.uk

                                                                     

                                                       

First in King's Series of National Nature Reserves 'launched' at ceremony in Cleethorpes, near Grimsby

                                                             

Natural England chief executive Marian Spain unveils a plaque at  Cleethorpes Leisure Centre   

THE  Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve has been  formally 'launched' at a ceremony in Cleethorpes, near Grimsby. 

It is the first in the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves and is due to be joined by 24 others over the next five years.

It covers  33 square kilometres along almost 30 kilometres of the Greater Lincolnshire coast containing a rich variety of sand dunes, saltmarshes, mudflats and freshwater marshes.

It brings together the  Donna Nook and Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes national nature reserves along with other sites such as the RSPB's Tetney Marshes reserve.

A statement from Natural England reads: "The new reserve is close to large urban populations, with Grimsby and Cleethorpes to the north, Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea to the south, and Louth and Lincoln to the west. 

"The reserve will help to unlock more opportunity for local people to access and experience the coastline for their own health and wellbeing, supporting communities to get active, providing education opportunities or learning new skills through volunteering or to simply recharge in nature."

                                                       

This outline map indicates the extent of the Lincolnshire reserve

King Charles meets young nature enthusiasts on a visit to Lincolnshire earlier this year 

That's fantastic, chaps! Natural England chairman Tony Juniper praises landowners as hen harrier numbers rise

Hen harrier chicks - what future after they leave the nest?

THE chairman of Natural England, Tony Juniper, has hailed the news that 141 hen harrier chicks have fledged in England this year - the seventh year in a row that numbers have increased.

Says he: "The continuing year-on-year increase in the number of hen harriers fledging from English nests is fantastic to see.

"It shows how, through partnership work, it is possible to reverse Nature’s decline even in the most challenging of circumstances. 

"This is testament to the volunteers, landowners and partner organisations who have worked so hard to support and monitor these birds."

                                            

Tony Juniper - breeding delight tempered by persecution concerns

There are now thought to be more hen harriers in England than at any time over the past 200 years.

In 2023, 54 nests were recorded (up from 49 last year), of which 36 were successful (34 last year). 

This represents an average of 3.9 chicks per successful nest. 

Northumberland had the highest number of nesting attempts, 17 in total and the highest increase on the year before where 9 nests were recorded. 

The Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale area also remained a stronghold with 15 nests recorded in 2023.

The fledglings recorded this year includes 24 'brood-managed' chicks - birds taken from six nests on grouse moors and reared to fledging in captivity. 

The brood management programme is controversial. Critics claim it represents appeasement of grouse moor owners, many of whom regard raptors as grouse-eating vermin.

But Natural England describes it thus: "It is an  experiment to see if removing hen harrier chicks from grouse moors for rearing in captivity for later release reduces conflict with game shooting and reduces persecution sufficiently to allow populations to recover. 

"Natural England is committed to a full scientific investigation of this technique and the brood management trial has recently been extended."

Despite his exultation at the apparent progress, Mr Juniper acknowledges that challenges remain.

He continues: "Despite all the good practice among many landowners illegal persecution still stubbornly persists. 

"We know that much more needs to be done to protect these precious birds and we remain absolutely committed to working with our partners to stamp out the despicable killing of these wonderful creatures that bring so much joy to so many people. 

"We will continue to work hard, improving monitoring and conservation management to achieve long term recovery."

The landowners and partner organisations praised by Mr Juniper have not been named - nor those sites where illegal persecution is though "stubbornly to  persist". 

More about Natural England's £875,000 hen harrier action plan is at :

Increasing hen harrier populations in England: action plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Friendly advice to Chris Packham: whatever the stuff is, don't get it on your binoculars - it's hard to shift

 

Keen to make a point - the popular (and controversial)  broadcaster  

THIS striking image is being used by Channel 4 TV and Chris Packham to promote a programme at 9pm on Wednesday (September 20).

Advance word is that the celebrity naturalist and campaigner will applaud the disruptive tactics of activist groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. 

The programme’s title is: Is It Time to Break The Law?

In the meantime, there is a more immediate question.

That picture: is it real oil or is it a substitute?

Chris Packham polarises opinion. You either hate him or love him. That being the case, it’s probably Marmite.

'Small feathery bombs of life with punky coifs and needle bills' - that's the crested tit to you and me

Amy-Jane Beer with a copy of her prize-winning book

"Either  I had the best dream or I just won the Wainwright Prize  for Nature Writing." That was the note of exultation sounded on social media by Yorkshire-based Amy-Jane Beer after her book, Flow, was last night named as winner of the prestigious award. Success brings with it a cash prize of unspecified amount. Below is a review of the book:

A "dart of supernatural blue fire" - that is the description of a kingfisher in flight by Amy-Jane Beer in her new book.

"It is in my sight for the single gasp of a second and gone, but its electrifying passage has lit the day completely anew, and I laugh in awe and disbelief."

The Flow is not a bird book - it is a highly informative, entertaining, lyrical (and sometimes hard-headed) exploration of the significance of rivers in art, literature, science history, politics, scripture, mythology, folklore and more.

However, it is whenever her prose turns to matters avian that Beer's writing is at its most colourful and captivating.

For instance, she describes the sedge warbler as a "gangster warbler", with "bold head markings like those close-cropped hairstyles favoured by urban cool kids" and a "loud and abrasive song whose whistles and flutes are interspersed with chucking, churring, buzzing raps".

On her travels in Scotland, she hears an unfamiliar call "like pennies dropping into a piggy bank".

Then comes the identification.

Crested tits!

"Small feathery bombs of life with punky coifs and needle bills, moving incessantly in a sequence of dart, peer, probe, repeat".

In effect, a short poem - terrific writing!

The Flow - Rivers, Water and Wildness is published by Bloomsbury at £18.99 in hardback or £10.99 in paperback.

Rare 'white' starling flies in from Russia to feast on sea buckthorn berries on Lincolnshire Coast

A rare ' white' starling has taken up residence in Cleethorpes on the Lincolnshire Coast. The bird is part of a flock of 100-plus that is believed to have flown to Britain from Russia or some other part of northern Europe. It has been seen feeding various on ploughed farmland, grass or, as here, on sea buckthorn berries.

Never mind the RSPB apology, pressure group opts to 'adopt' insulting message for its own campaigning

                                                    

Mark Avery - Wild Justice director

 

AN insulting image produced by the RSPB has now been adopted by the litigation-loving pressure group Wild Justice.

Although it did not immediately withdraw the message from its social media output, the society apologised for it following a backlash both internal and external.

In a statement, chief executive Beccy Speight said: "The reason that we issued our apology is that we do believe that the nature of public discourse does matter and that we have a role to play in that, and that we campaign on policy, not on people.

"So, the framing of that tweet, where we called out individual people, we felt was incorrect and inappropriate, and we apologise for that."

But now Wild Justice has decided that, whatever Ms Speight thinks, the message and image require wider publicity.

Enthuses one of its founder-directors, Mark Avery: "We thought it was so good that we've adopted it as our Twitter profile image for a while."

Is Wild Justice not breaching the RSPB’s copyright of the insulting message?

The latter is hardly like to sue - or even to object. The RSPB and Wild Justice share the same figurehead, Chris Packham, who is vice-president of the former and a founder-director of the latter.

                                           

The image that has been at the centre of the brouhaha

The Wryneck says: This decision by Wild Justice (Ruth Tingay, Mark Avery and Chris Packham) is regrettable. It lends credence to the widely-held belief that the group's activity is motivated not so much by concerns for the welfare of wildlife but by its three members own political prejudices. But campaigns are never won by hurling insults, least of all those that are poached from other organisations. Wild Justice has become too strident. It needs to fade out the personal abuse and name-calling in favour of a reasoned, mature and responsible approach to the issues of the day.