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To dip: verb, slang: to miss a sighting of an interesting, often rare example of wildlife (usually bird) which is known to be or recently has been in an area. Being in the right place at the wrong time. I still haven’t seen the Hen Harrier that is hanging around on my local patch of…

Tim writes: The Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a medium-sized lagomorph (c140g) that occurs mainly on the high desert plateaux of China, but also in Tibet, Pakistan, India and Nepal.  They look a bit like Gerbils but are in the same family as rabbits and hares, but have oddly human ears.  It gets really cold…

The shortest day of the year (more or less)  – so what could be better than seeing lots of Hen Harriers? Well, ‘lots’ might be difficult, given where I live, but actually, at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes. There has been an adult (probably 2nd winter) male Hen Harrier seen off and on for…

Adult European Beaver at Knapdale.  Photo: Steve Gardner A number of leading Scottish wildlife charities and individuals with an interest in conservation have signed an open letter to the First Minister, published in The Guardian today (Friday 21 December) calling for a firm date to be set on granting European Protected Species status to beavers…