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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cantelo" data-source="post: 3407611" data-attributes="member: 2844"><p>I suspect that many will regard this post as wildly optimistic, naive and perhaps complacent, but here goes .... There's certainly been a very welcome increase in Buzzard numbers across the UK - numbers in my home county, Kent, have risen from 1 pair in 1999 to 1,000-2,000 in 2013, in roughly the same period Peregrine has risen from 1 to 30-40 pairs Marsh Harrier has increased four or fivefold to 80-100 breeding females.  In my natal county of Hampshire Red Kites now number 50+ pairs,  Goshawk now has an established population and Buzzard has spread out from the New Forest to pretty much the whole county. I'm not in a position to know for sure to what extent this success is due to a new, progressive attitude by a new generation of gamekeepers (as claimed by some) or the comparative rarity of that profession now compared to the past, but I do know of shooting estates in Kent where Buzzards and other raptors are not just tolerated but cherished (yes, really). So I tend to doubt that this welcome expansion would have happened quite so quickly had all gamekeepers fitted the Victorian stereotype. The trouble seems to be that there still remain far, far too many 'old school' gamekeepers (or owners?) who are still too influential and too many in the industry to turn a blind eye towards at best or covertly encourage at worst those who continue to break the law. So although we can complain about the RSPB's failure to tackle specific problems I think we ought to remember that it has been an important factor in the way in which attitudes towards raptors has changed. There's still a long way to go but the fact that Botham et al now feel threatened cannot be entirely divorced from the growing public sentiment that the RSPB (amongst others) has helped to foster. The wind of change is on our side.</p></blockquote><p></p>

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