Have you ever been on one of those rollercoaster rides, the ones where you plummet into a dark hole from a crazy height emerging only seconds later into the light looking shell-shocked, hair dishevelled and knuckles white? The moment that really makes my tummy go all jittery is when you’ve just had the safety harness pulled over your head, the mechanics start kicking in and you go clunk, clunk, clunk, up the rollercoaster track. As you get tilted further backwards, making the steep ascent to the top of the fall, you suddenly wish that you were on the ground watching the ride not strapped in so tightly you feel like your chest might explode! Then there’s that moment ... that heart-stopping moment when you dangle over the edge; petrified, exhilerated, and on the verge of tears all at the same time. The fall that follows this and the descent along the rollercoaster tracks is almost sweet relief!
I wonder if this is how a peregrine falcon feels as it tucks its wings under its belly and makes a dive for its dinner catch? The speed a peregrine can reach on this flight makes it the fastest living animal on earth. I think that my rollercoaster experience is probably slightly tame in comparison to the peregrine’s 200km/h bullet through the sky approach, but you get the idea. Here in the east, we have plenty of bird of prey action in our skies, from marsh harriers to kestrels and sparrow hawks to hobbys, we don’t give enough credit to these magnificent creatures. Looking up over the swaying reedbeds of the broads or the whispering grassland of the fens, our birds of prey will never cease to amaze me. However, the air of vulnerability that follows them cannot be ignored. Sadly, our birds of prey suffer greatly because of the ignorant minority who chose to persecute such creatures.
Peregrines have suffered illegal killing from gamekeepers and landowners, and been a target for egg collectors for centuries. The brutal fact is that this persecution still happens today. In what could be considered our ‘big brother’ society where crime, indiscretions, celebrity comings and goings, inflation and the like is reported on hour by hour, it seems tragic that such crimes can still happen and fall under the legislative radar. I feel immensely proud everytime I see a kestrel hovering over the A11, or a marsh harrier gliding over the reeds at Strumpshaw Fen, but the battle to help our birds of prey is not won yet. The RSPB along with other organisations is working tirelessly to combat bird of prey crime and is making significant progress to stamp out such activity. We’ll be able to see exactly how the east has been fairing with the soon-to-be published bid crime report. Watch this space...