The second Hen Harrier Day at Rainham Marshes - and a protest march in London this coming Saturday.

It was a relief to arrive at a dry, sunny Rainham Marshes as it had chucked it down with rain as I drove down from a less than sunny Felixstowe.  Rainham was all geared up for the event and there were signs everywhere letting everyone know what the main deal of the day was:

The opening act was a very nervous Peregrina Enchantica, who did such a beautiful job of entertaining us last year.  I thought they more than earned their spot on the main stage this year - last year they performed by the side of the footpath.

There's only one Howard Vaughan!

The first speaker was Rob Sheldon of Birders Against Wildlife Crime.  He's been working very hard to raise money to satellite track as many young hen harriers as possible, to paint a bigger picture of where they go and (sadly) where they disappear.

Next up was Mark Thomas of the RSPB's investigative team.  They have a tough time - some of what they've witnessed has been horrendous and they've been forced to watch the perpetrators go unpunished.  What a fantastic job this team does just to keep going.

We were lucky enough to have Chris Packham for another year.  It's impossible to put words to just how good a speaker he is - what a champion wildlife has in this bloke.  Someone get him knighted, quickly.

I'm coming for you, bird killers.

I was pleased to see that hundreds of people had turned out again and there were some beautiful hand-made signs about:

Back at the Visitor Centre there was, understandably, a large queue for Chris Packham's book signing!

It's too bad that this event only happens yearly.  I think this issue needs to be rammed down multiple throats until everyone gets the message.

HANDS OFF OUR HEN HARRIERS!

Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.