The same document insists that full legal protection of raptors must be maintained

The same document insists that full legal protection of raptors must be maintained. It also records a steep fall in the numbers of songbirds: skylarks, song thrushes, tree sparrows and bullfinches have all gone down by more than 50 per cent in the past 25 years. Yet the RSPB attributes their demise to inimical farming practices, and concludes that “sparrowhawks are not a significant cause of these declines”. Such remarks are red rags to the likes of John Pugh, who maintains that members of the RSPB are no better than “blood sports enthusiasts”. He claims that, by supporting the obsessive protection of raptors, they are in effect promoting mass slaughter every day of the year.”Who are they to say that I cannot have peewits and curlews on my land?” he demands.

“Who are they to say that I cannot have bullfinches in my hedges? Why should I have all these hawks killing everything?”He points out that the RSPB already culls magpies and crows on some of its reserves, and now he is calling for an immediate change in the law which would enable landowners to take out licences for culling peregrines, sparrowhawks and goshawks. He maintains that his crusade is gathering support, and predicts that if no positive action is taken within the next few months, an alternative, more realistic bird society will come into being, with 50,000 domestic pigeon fanciers as instant starter members.Less aggressive lobbyists are surprised, to put it mildly, that the RSPB has fired off its latest broadside without awaiting the report of the five-year joint raptor study now coming to an end at Langholm, the Duke of Buccleuch’s estate in Dumfriess-shire. The aim of this major investigation, in which the RSPB itself has been taking part, along with the Game Conservancy Trust, the Institute for Terrestrial Ecology and other bodies, is to study the interaction of grouse and harriers. Its conclusions are eagerly awaited, and will be the talking-point of the summer.Meanwhile, here on the Cotswold escarpment, my neighbour has just lost his eighth tumbler pigeon in as many weeks to our resident sparrowhawk, which flickers up and down the lane like a grey shadow. Unlike John Pugh, Dave take his losses calmly, reckoning that he has to live in harmony with nature. But not everyone is that philosophical, and fireworks are to be expected..

Winter’s spell is broken The earth stirs Leaves burst, buds erupt. Songbirds herald dawn and a woodpecker taps a steady rhythm on the bark of an old oak. A barn owl skims the edges of the churchyard, swooping in search of a scurrying mouse The morning mist evaporates. Another working day! No lengthy queues, no rush hour, no road rage, no deadlines PCs, faxes and mobile phones are aliens to this world.

My workplace of 4,500 acres in Norfolk is an oasis of hedges, woods, spinneys and dew ponds, cosseted and cocooned from the surrounding desert of wheat fields, fume-filled roads and antennaed, sodium-orange-lit villages. This is an ecosystem managed primarily for game birds, with huge fringe benefits to others.
Being a gamekeeper on a wild bird shoot is not solely about controlling predators. It is about creating a suitable habitat for ground-nesting birds It’s about control, not destruction It’s about management, not disarray. The months of March to July are probably the most magical and important to me. I aim to ensure a successful breeding season for all the birds, although this is not always assured due to unpredictable weather patterns. Keepers work closely with the farming team on lay-outs of brooder crops, field margins, hedge-cutting plans, management of set-aside and the spraying of herbicides and insecticides.

A brooder crop is a spring (or sometimes winter) crop made up of a mixture of annuals to produce seeds for food and cover for young birds in the summer and autumn. These run adjacent to field margins, a one-and-a-half-metre uncut strip running up a hedge or ditch that provides cover for young birds and also acts as a winter habitat for insect life. High hedges are used as windbreaks, cut only once every two to three years to leave berries for winter food and nesting for songbirds. Herbicides are kept to a minimum and insecticides are seldom sprayed after the middle of June. Insects are vital as part of the diet to promote the healthy growth of young birds.Woods are split up into small spinneys and belts composed of conifer and deciduous trees. They are thinned every five years and rides are cut each autumn to encourage the growth of wild flowers and help ensure strong, tall trees free of competition.In addition to managing their habitat, we supplement the birds’ diet with hoppers of wheat at which they can feed ad lib.