It was a gorgeous early spring day at the Lodge yesterday - birds in full song and butterflies finding their way in the sunshine. It was a good time to host a director from one of BirdLife's partners in the Mediterranean. Martin Hellicar, from BirdLife Cyprus, was over to help promote our joint report on the scale of illegal bird killing in Cyprus.
We have estimated that over 800,000 birds were killed on a British military base in Cyprus last year - representing a 183% increase since our joint illegal-killing monitoring programme began in 2002. The dead birds are sold via the black market to restaurants in the Republic of Cyprus for diners to eat (in a dish called ambelopoulia), with criminal gangs earning millions of pounds from this illegal activity.
Trapped blackcap
While the story of bird killing in the Med is well known, these statistics and the video footage of illegal activity (taken on land in the Cyprus Republic) that our investigations team have obtained still have the power to shock.
We are used to distressing statistics about environmental losses. For example, I often cite the fact that there are 421 million fewer birds today than there were 30 years ago. I know that these statistics can sometimes be off-putting - some want to block out bad news or are just inured to them.
But it is so important that we continue to present the evidence to the relevant authorities and to the public as that can be a stimulus for action. The military base authority on Cyprus had stepped up and removed non-native acacia trees (used to lure in birds to be killed) on Ministry of Defence land. Unfortunately, operations were forced to be abandoned last year due to protests from the hunters.
BirdLife Cyprus and the RSPB will continue to do whatever we can to change attitudes to stop the demand for ambelopoulia in the Cyprus Republic while also encouraging the UK Government to do more to stop the supply of dead birds. We need the Ministry of Defence to provide enforcement support to help the military base authorities respond to the trappers and safely remove the remaining 90 acres of acacia so that they can no longer be used to kill hundreds of thousands more birds.
So please read the report, watch the video of the illegal activity on land in the Cyprus Republic, remind yourself that this sort of activity is also happening now on a British territory and then allow yourself to be shocked once again. Shock can lead to anger and anger can be a good motivator for action.
Quite seriously, though, it's high time everyone who holidays in Cyprus (and Malta) dug their heels in and withdrew their custom until this relentless slaughter stops. They certainly won't be seeing me while this continues.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.