Brading Town Council were very disappointed to learn that a dog walker strayed from the public footpaths and entered the RSPB reserve on the Marshes. His dog disturbed nesting birds, and when challenged by an RSPB Warden, he told him that he “would go where he liked!”

It’s this sort of attitude from individuals that gives all dog walkers a bad reputation, especially as all birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird listed on Schedule 1 while it is nest building, or at a nest containing eggs or young, or to disturb the dependent young of such a bird.