As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 9 November 2017

Sir Ian Botham accuses RSPB of being 'dishonest' and 'milking' the disappearance of a rare bird of prey


28 OCTOBER 2017 • 4:07PM

Sir Ian Botham has reopened a row with one of Britain’s leading wildlife charities, accusing it of being "dishonest" and "milking" the disappearance of a rare bird of prey.

The former England cricketer said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) had “milked it” when a bird in Scotland, believed to have been a golden eagle, went missing in March, and then “swept it under the carpet” when a landowner claimed to have spotted the bird a month later.

The RSPB maintains the eagle is still missing and accused Sir Ian, an advocate of grouse shooting, of “PR spin”.

The case bears similarities to an incident in February when the charity revealed that a rare hen harrier, also thought to have been hunted illegally, had been seen alive and well after going missing for 10 months.

Asked what changes he would make to the organisation in an interview with the Shooting Gazette, Sir Ian said: "I think they [the RSPB] need to be more honest.


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