George Edwards
Nom de plume
Haven't been on here a while, like the new look! And have forgotten what sort of discussions are acceptable, so mod please remove this post if it's not okay, really not trying to lower the tone.
But…! Anyone know anything about the Vanuatu megapode / Scrubfowl (Megapodius layardi) ? From what I can tell is Red List Threatened / Vulnerable, with population 2000-10000, scattered over a few Vanuatu islands, population decreasing due to habitat loss and egg collecting (ie eating).
So I was more than a little surprised while channel surfing between World Cup matches yesterday to see a BBC presenter, going to said area (can't remember name of exact island as I only caught 5 minutes), and then going to great lengths to find nests, dig up the eggs and… barbecue said eggs on beach! To say I was gobsmacked is putting it lightly.
She appeared to know a fair amount about what she was doing, even taking the temperature of the surrounding earth (megapodes bury eggs in hot earth), and explaining that "collecting" eggs was only permissible during a certain period as numbers were falling, so I naturally assumed this was going to be some kind of science project. Nope, straight to beach for a barbie.
I Googled her and was even more amazed to see she was (ex-) President of the RSPB and a sometime presenter on Springwatch, which purports to be all about conservation (or so I thought). Chris Packham is one of the leading voices of Extinction Rebellion continually preaching about sacrifices we should be making to save the species on the planet - I always thought he was one of the good guys, and know he is a real birder having been to places and heard stories of a positive celebrity effect he has had by visiting.
So naturally at this point I'm thinking I must have it all upside down, maybe it was a different bird. Or, this sort of thing happens all the time, while we birders are making every effort not to disturb birds with the click of our shutters, the great and the good are having a laugh at us idiots and making fry-ups with endangered species and getting paid good money to do so by the viewers.
But…! Anyone know anything about the Vanuatu megapode / Scrubfowl (Megapodius layardi) ? From what I can tell is Red List Threatened / Vulnerable, with population 2000-10000, scattered over a few Vanuatu islands, population decreasing due to habitat loss and egg collecting (ie eating).
So I was more than a little surprised while channel surfing between World Cup matches yesterday to see a BBC presenter, going to said area (can't remember name of exact island as I only caught 5 minutes), and then going to great lengths to find nests, dig up the eggs and… barbecue said eggs on beach! To say I was gobsmacked is putting it lightly.
She appeared to know a fair amount about what she was doing, even taking the temperature of the surrounding earth (megapodes bury eggs in hot earth), and explaining that "collecting" eggs was only permissible during a certain period as numbers were falling, so I naturally assumed this was going to be some kind of science project. Nope, straight to beach for a barbie.
I Googled her and was even more amazed to see she was (ex-) President of the RSPB and a sometime presenter on Springwatch, which purports to be all about conservation (or so I thought). Chris Packham is one of the leading voices of Extinction Rebellion continually preaching about sacrifices we should be making to save the species on the planet - I always thought he was one of the good guys, and know he is a real birder having been to places and heard stories of a positive celebrity effect he has had by visiting.
So naturally at this point I'm thinking I must have it all upside down, maybe it was a different bird. Or, this sort of thing happens all the time, while we birders are making every effort not to disturb birds with the click of our shutters, the great and the good are having a laugh at us idiots and making fry-ups with endangered species and getting paid good money to do so by the viewers.
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