BENEATH a cloudless azure sky on the Lancashire moorland, not far from an abandoned stone barn, a diurnal short-eared or 'bog' owl is clapping its wings 50 feet above the ground. It is 'listening' for a vole, which is how it hunts: one ear unevenly placed above the other, circling and swooping until it is joined by a mobbing lapwing whose nest and young are hidden among the white grass and heather below. Welcome to nature's avian daily flight for survival.
A curlew in flight: these endangered birds are twice as likely to be found on managed grouse moors than outside of one
This 7,000-acre managed moor provides nature, sanctuary and a food supply for owl and lapwing alike. So, too, it does for curlew and oystercatchers and, as I was to find out over the next 24 hours as a guest of the fourth Moorland Summit, a myriad of other birdlife, insects and fauna. Organised by the well-known wildlife photographer and author Tarquin Millington-Drake, the 20 or so delegates and speakers were drawn from interested parties as varied and diverse as the moorland bird world itself.
"The main object of these summits is to educate those who have not witnessed the bird and human community a well-managed moor creates and, perhaps more importantly, to bring people who may never consider being in the same room together to do exactly that for the sake of Britain's wildlife," Millington-Drake told us. "My team of volunteers believes that the chief executives of today (of not just shooting but all conservation organisations), who represent members who all love birds and wildlife, are being irresponsible and letting the British wildlife-loving public down if they continue their feuds instead of talking to each other and seeking compromise and ways forward. While they argue, British wildlife collapses, so the talking and working together needs to start now, and that is what our guests are assembled to do."
この記事は The Field の August 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は The Field の August 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Rory Stewart - The former Cabinet minister and hit podcast host talks to Alec Marsh about the parlous state of British politics, land management and his deep love of the countryside
The gently spoken 51-year-old former Conservative Cabinet minister is a countryman at heart. That's clear: he even changes into a tweed waistcoat for the interview, which takes place at his London home and begins with a question about his precise career status. Having resigned from the Commons and the Conservative Party in 2019, the former diplomat and soldier has reinvented himself, first with an unconventional but promising run as an independent for the London mayoralty (abandoned because of COVID19 in 2020) and then as a media figure, co-hosting one of the country's most popular podcasts, The Rest Is Politics, alongside Alastair Campbell, the former Labour spin doctor.
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