Simon Tucker
simonrtucker.bsky.social
Simon Tucker
@simonrtucker.bsky.social
7 years in farming. Went to Uni, 2:1 in Zoology, 31 years working as an IT consultant then 10 years as my own boss doing IT and eco-consultancy. Keen birder & conservationist, bird ringer & ringing trainer & blogger. Politically left wing.
Our "justice system" is seriously lacking when dealing with wildlife crime. This is a very sombre read.

Lack of wildlife crime convictions opening the door to other serious crimes raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/11/l...
Lack of wildlife crime convictions opening the door to other serious crimes
Press release from Wildlife & Countryside Link (Wildlife Crime sub-group) Lack of wildlife crime convictions opening the door to other serious crimes Wildlife and Countryside Link has today rel…
raptorpersecutionuk.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Even now they cannot admit that their bias has been pro-Israel, pro-Trump, pro-Reform and against common decency!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Katie Razzall: A seismic moment that shows rift at top of BBC
There may be more to this than meets the eye, says the BBC's culture and media editor.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
This government clearly hates nature: building consent given to destroy a designated nature reserve!
c.org/tmYpkMGvjY
Decision Update for Crossness Nature Reserve's Future
Dear Crossness Nature Reserve Supporters, We are devastated that on 5 November the Secretary of State approved the carbon capture plant to be built by Cory Energy on Crossness Nature Reserve, it was r...
c.org
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Given how bad results have been elsewhere in Wiltshire I am reasonably happy with this year's Barn Owl Breeding results.

braydonforestringing.uk/2025/11/06/b...
Barn Owl Breeding Review: Braydon Forest 2025
In a year when Barn Owls in Wiltshire have generally struggled, due to a lack of voles and other small rodents early in the year, I am relatively happy with what we have found in the Braydon Forest…
braydonforestringing.uk
November 6, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Good to see a proper sentence for this criminal. If only our judiciary would do the same!
4 Northern Bald Ibis were killed with an air rifle in Extremadura in 2019. Covid caused issues with the police investigation, but they continues & last month the guilty party was sentenced, 1 year prison term, banned from hunting & fishing for 3 years & a 20,000Euro fine. @raptorpersuk.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Simon Tucker
There are around 1,500 rivers in Britain, so the government’s manifesto pledge to create a mere 9 river walks is simply pathetic.

Give the public a right of responsible access to all rivers & the wider countryside.

Our @righttoroam.bsky.social trespass on BBC news:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Walkers protest over riverbank access
Campaigners take to the banks of the River Dart, calling for the right to access all English rivers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Simon Tucker
UK and Ireland endemic rather.
The eBird taxonomic reshuffle is still underway, but Lagopus has been processed, and Red Grouse is now a UK species-level endemic #UKBirding
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/609783...
November 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Just done a quick update on my Marsh Tit piece: our insignificant population rose to 3% of the national ringed population in 0.15% of the suitable broadleafed woodland.

braydonforestringing.uk/2025/09/06/b...
Braydon Forest Marsh Tits: How Insignificant is Insignificant?
For issues that might become public in the near future, depending upon a couple of responses I am waiting on, got me back onto my favourite hobby horse: the Marsh Tit population of the Braydon Fore…
braydonforestringing.uk
October 31, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Insanity, corruption, cowardice or all three?
Imagine being a Minister in Scottish Govt & sanctioning 6 months of torching this sensitive & important carbon-sequestering habitat, in a climate emergency & against will of Parliament, just so a handful of wealthy elites can get off on killing Red Grouse.

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/30/s...
Scottish Govt fiddles while grouse moors burn
Earlier this month the Scottish Government announced a delay, for the second time, of the implementation of muirburn licensing after caving in to pressure from aggressive lobbying by the grouse sho…
raptorpersecutionuk.org
October 30, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I am pretty fed up with the lies and dishonesty that supports the shooting industry. Why does government ignore science in favour of forelock tugging to the rich landowners?

parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2025/10/30/t...
The Dava Moor mega-fire/s - did muirburn mitigate the damage? - parkswatchscotland
I thought we lived in a world where science guided our decisions about how best to protect nature and the planet. Sadly this would appear not to be the case. Vested interests and the voices of the pow...
parkswatchscotland.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Apart from Morrisons, all of these supermarket chains make huge profits. How about cutting those a bit and not passing on any increase to your customers?
Time to bring back price controls! The fee market is a con: they are cartels:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Tax rises could push food prices higher, warn supermarkets
The bosses of the UK's largest supermarkets warn the chancellor against imposing higher taxes on the industry.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I couldn't get out ringing this week due to a mix of ill health, bad weather and inaccurate weather forecasts. Instead I have spent some time dealing with a matter that has been a source of frustration to me for quite a while:
braydonforestringing.uk/2025/10/25/a...
Adult survival and mortality trajectories differ in four tit species in the Braydon Forest, Wiltshire: 1
In 2022 I was approached by a Dr Will Jones, then at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, after the events outlined in my post, “When Science Imitates Religion”: He asked if I would be …
braydonforestringing.uk
October 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Simon Tucker
🚨 2nd master’s project!
Interested in bird migration & genomics? 🧬🐦
Use whole-genome data to trace the recent colonization of Ouessant Island by Blue Tits and explore how irruptive migratory events can shape colonization dynamics. Please share! #ornithology

www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
October 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A quick question: can something that has never been published be subject to copyright?
October 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Highland Cops on BBC2 tonight: 10 minutes in, rural crime officer gets report of a Goshawk nest that has been damaged. Well worth a watch: he puts the blame for raptor persecution squarely on the shooting estates.
October 23, 2025 at 7:18 PM
What a surprise evil, violent racist lauded by evil, violent, genocidal Israelis.

observer.co.uk/news/interna...
Tommy Robinson receives warm reception in Tel Aviv
The British far-right activist was invited to Israel by a government minister
observer.co.uk
October 20, 2025 at 1:11 PM
"The experience of watching 2,000 upstanding citizens, most of them elderly & many of them infirm, hustled through this slaughterhouse queue of mass justice & into prison, with little opportunity to defend themselves, will be a defining moment in the UK headlong slide into fascism"
via Craig Murray
October 19, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Had to cancel a ringing demo this morning, due to high winds on an open plateau. Managed to salvage the morning with a session in one of our woodlands:

braydonforestringing.uk/2025/10/18/d...
Disappointing Start, Nice Finish: Saturday, 18th October 2025
Today we were scheduled to carry out a ringing demonstration for the Swindon Wildlife Group at Blakehill Farm. This was a rescheduling of the previously postponed session scheduled for the 5th Octo…
braydonforestringing.uk
October 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM