Singing in the Rain!
All images on this page courtesy of Stewart Abbott of Derbyshire Bird Tours
After a drizzly start to the day, the magnificent community gospel choir Sing It Bold brought their own sunshine with a wonderful opening performance, led by the irrepressible choir leader Melissa La Joy Moore!
Hen Harrier Action‘s own Adrian Rowe opened the afternoon session, welcoming all, and delivering an impassioned plea for urgent Action for Wildlife.
With the weather rapidly improving as the clouds cleared and the sun emerged, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Jo Smith opened the guest speaker sessions with a great speech about the remarkable initiatives that the Trust are leading to create a wilder Derbyshire.
Dr Rose O’Neill from the Campaign for National Parks shared with the crowd the organisation’s campaigning work to fight for nature in our National Parks, and we welcomed on stage the newly re-elected MP for Sheffield Hallam, Olivia Blake.
The passionate and forthright campaigners Rob Pownall and Charlie Moores from Protect the Wild drew huge applause from the crowd for their uncompromising approach to combatting wildlife crime and persecution, and closed the first speaker session of the afternoon.
A Stunning Guest Performance from Folk Legend Martin Simpson
Fresh from a summer of headlining folk festivals all over the UK, legendary folk musician Martin Simpson entertained the crowd with a stunning set including Skydancers, the title track from his new album, a song commissioned by Chris Packham.
Best-selling Children's Author Gill Lewis Announced the Winners of This Year's Young Wild Writers competition
Children’s author Gill Lewis took to the stage to announce the winners of Hen Harrier Action’s 2024 Young Wild Writers Competition. Congratulating all the entrants on using their creative writing ‘superpower’ to engage with us at an emotional level, she revealed the winners in each of the three age categories, and read the winning entry – eight-year-old Aedan Garvey‘s story – The Last Axolotyl – in full.
A Heartfelt Plea from Mark Thomas: Stop the Killing
RSPB Head of Investigations UK Mark Thomas delivered a compelling speech about ongoing raptor persecution investigations, including some shocking recent cases.
He concluded by revealing the RSPB’s newly launched Stop the Killing campaign.
Best-selling nature author and Guardian Country Diary writer Mark Cocker provided us with some wise and thought-provoking words on why language matters, why names matter, and how we can all work together more effectively to defend and restore nature.
Wild Justice Celebrate 10 Years of Hen Harrier Day Activism
Finally, the three indefatigable campaigners from Wild Justice – Ruth Tingay, Mark Avery and Chris Packham – took the stage to celebrate 10 years of Hen Harrier Day activism, since that first rain-soaked event in 2014. Many of what became known as the Sodden 570, who gathered at the foot of Derwent Dam, calling for an end to the killing of Hen Harriers, were present in the audience.
Ruth, Mark and Chris gave us all some wise words and made a compelling case for changing our own behaviour to help nature and tackle the climate crisis.
A huge thank you to everyone who 'turned up for nature' to Action for Wildlife Day at Carsington Water on Saturday 10th of August, and many more who sent messages of support but couldn't attend on the day. Hen Harrier Action's Paul Samuels filmed the whole event, and we'll post a link here to our YouTube channel as soon as the editing has been completed.
All images on this page courtesy of Stewart Abbott of Derbyshire Bird Tours
Huge thanks to Stewart for taking such wonderful shots during the afternoon