I was wondering how long it would take to start farmer bashing. You really need to get that shoulder checked out before that arm falls off.
I think you’re the one with the chip there. That is unfortunately the reality for a fair chunk of the UK. Assuming you’re a farmer, it may not be the case for you, but poisoning/killing of birds of prey and other predators is prevalent throughout the UK, predominantly carried out by farmers and game keepers.
The reality is these birds are being reintroduced because of the historic persecution from farmers.
It’s not just farmers however, but they are the group that have the most clout and the industry that do the most environmental damage in the UK. Whenever there’s a request for reintroduction of a species of wildlife invariably the NUF will pipe up, along with other special interest groups (angling societies are another prime one - for example the reintroduction of beavers).
Farming is no different to any other major industry. People make a profit from exploiting nature, and prefer to reduce possible causes of lost profit. Too many people have this romantic view of the smallholder with a few acres, that’s rarely the case any more because they went out of business years ago.
(Replied so late because I was on holiday for a few weeks).
Edit: And as for the kite and bird theory, while there may be some connection between the increas in Kites and some reduction in small birds, I propose another theory:
The fall in bird numbers is not related to an increase in kite numbers (which are still going to be below their historic numbers) but due to the same cause drastically reducing songbird numbers throughout the western world. Modern farming techniques.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/relay.n...rds-declines-agriculture-environnment-science
In fact, France's story has repeated itself across the industrialized world. In the U.K., farmland bird populations
have collapsed by more than half since 1970, with much of the crash
occurring by the 1980s. Since 1980, Europe's total farmland-bird population
shrunk by 300 million birds. And in Canada and the United States, 74 percent of farmland bird species
shrank in number from 1966 to 2013.
But since the 1960s, agriculture's
“green revolution” has dramatically reshaped how we grow food. In the industrialized world, croplands have transformed into mechanically sculpted monocultures, nourished with fertilizers and protected with herbicides and insecticides.
Perhaps you should look closer to home and be honest with yourself. Farming is an environmentally damaging exploitative industry.
Btw I also work in an environmentally damaging, exploitative industry, as do lots of others. I understand there are problems with it and realize that much of the criticism against it is legitimate. I don’t complain about people having chips on their shoulders when they criticise it however.