"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" - Wlliam Blake
Mind you if certain royals can get away with it, there is no hope for catching mear mortals ???
To each their own
Just really thinking out loud but perhaps the big problem for Hen Harriers besides the obvious persecution is that it seems the vast majority of people including RSPB and the vast majority of its members couldn't care less about them as assuming that even if all the approximate 10,000 people who signed the Vicarious Liability petition were RSPB members that seems to be less than 1% of RSPB members bothered to sign.
If RSPB members cannot be bothered for sure we cannot expect the general public to care.
I think you make a valid point Sooty - the vast majority of the general public have never even heard of hen harriers and have little or no connection to the moorland habitat in which they live. People care about what they know and have experienced themselves, that's why there was such a public outcry around "buzzardgate". Buzzards are the bird of prey equivalent of blue tits - everyone's got one in their back garden!
Hen harriers by contrast occupy a habitat which is remote and inaccessible to many. This, combined with their exceptionally low numbers and wide-ranging habits, poses a huge challenge to engaging people with these beautiful birds. However, you are quite right in saying that unless we overcome this hurdle and persuade people to care as much as we do, things are unlikely to get better for hen harriers any time soon.
The incredibly frustrating thing is that this sort of public engagement and awareness takes time - time which it often feels that hen harriers in England simply don't have. But we must persevere. Public support is the lifeblood of any conservation project. That is why the work of a hearts-and-minds project like Skydancer is so important.
At just over a year in, we have worked with 14 schools, a college and a univeristy, attended events including county shows and game fairs, delivered guided walks and numerous talks, and everywhere we go people are saying "I didn't realise! What can I do?" My answer is always, spread the message.
That is why I am grateful that there are people like you who are clearly passionate about hen harriers and determined to spread the message wider. I know it can be disheartening, but please keep the faith. Your passion is exactly what hen harriers need.
BD,it is that work with schools that may be the saviour as no way can we rely on politicians of any party to do what is needed to at least help or even solve the massive problem.
Maybe we will have to trap every H H and paint a white stripe down its head.