Tomorrow’s blog is a guest blog by the Chair of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Ian Coghill. He is a character and it’s well worth a read.
On Thursday this blog is part of a ‘blog tour’ by Simon Barnes’s new book – and there is a reader’s offer to be had.
There is still some wonderful artwork on sale from the exhibition of Ghosts of Gone Birds – Christmas presents?
We note that Helen Phillips is leaving Natural England in February. She has had a very tough job at the top of that organisation and some would say she has been a very tough lady too.
This month’s BBC Wildlife magazine has a short piece by me on my favourite natural history book. The book was Highland Birds by Desmond Nethersole-Thompson but to see why you’ll have to buy the magazine.
Farming has noticed that there is an outside world out there that pays its way and might want a say as a result – at least Farmers Weekly has. It ranks the RSPB as the most influential ‘pressure group’ and wrongly says that I have retired – does it look as though I have retired? You can vote on who you think is the most influential pressure group.
A senior figure in UK nature conservation got in touch with me and wrote ‘Your blog letter to Kendall is excellent. My blood hath boiled over with this character. If he wants to pursue ‘productivity’ then you are absolutely right that SFP should be scrapped and only those farmers capable of delivering environmental gains should receive payments for the things that society wants. ‘.
Another wrote ‘The feature I would most want on your blog is a “desktop Peter Kendall” who I could punch with a click of a mouse!’.
Here’s a farmer who is trying hard. Good luck to him.
Please do sign the epetition on vicarious liability for landowners whose employees break the laws protecting birds of prey. And I wonder when the RSPB will join in given that it is RSPB policy?
Look out for an article by me in the December British Wildlife magazine – just seen the proofs and it looks good.
Keep in touch with the spoon-billed sandpiper project here – it’s an exciting and brave piece of work.
This month’s Birdwatch has my column, the political birder, on declines of farmland birds but lots of other good things too – a feature on one of my favourite artists (Carry Akroyd (one of her paintings is on my office wall as I write this)), a helpful article on how to identify different redpolls (gorgeous photos). And thank you to Malcolm Fairley for your letter in Birdwatch about grouse moors, hen harriers and for what you said about my column.
I haven’t seen enough birds recently.
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Funny that Mark as have just come from Martins blog and asked about RSPB backing petition as it must be vital that they do,surely they would not ignore it simply because they did not start it up?
It is nice that farmers are saying that they want to be wildlife friendly but the general public must not think this means that production is not important as all these wildlife friendly farmers want to marry the two things together similar to Hope Farm.
I enjoyed watching the video link of the farmer creating a lapwing nesting area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL6gwsP7L8o&feature=youtu.be&a
I think that number1farmerjake is doing a good job, but could he not kill two or more birds with one stone. Instead of trying to maintain almost bare earth areas for nesting lapwings by cultivating twice a year ,could he not incorporate some nectar and winter bird seed crops into this area? Such a crop would help young lapwing chicks and also provide food for over wintering finches.
I am assuming that he is receiving environmental payments for the lapwing nesting area and I would be interested to know how much payment is received per breeding lapwing pair . It must be an awful lot!
Re the pressure group poll, probably one the bleakest articles/polls I have read in the farming press. Interestingly there is no reference to the commodity traders and supermarkets who whilst not being pressure groups as such, demonstrably place more pressure and exercise more of a malign influence on the farming industry than all groups listed in the FW poll put together.
Mark, out of curiosity I went to the Farmer’s Weekly poll (asking which organisation is most anti-farming) to see in what huge numbers the anti-RSPB brigade had turned out. I had to vote to see the results. Somewhat surprisingly given the importance this poll has apparently been given, is that my vote was just the 66TH and that an insignificant 18 votes had been for the RSPB! Yes, I’d like 66 votes to be cast on a poll I run on my website, but I’d hardly expect anyone to take any notice if that’s all the interest I could get. Strange world where 65 people (plus me as the 66th) can cause so much discussion…
Charlie – I did the same! Funny isn’t it. i think I was number 36 or so!
Ghosts of Gone Birds was a fantastic exhibition but much of the artwork was out of my price range (by some thousands!) – the one affordable original I wanted had already gone when I visited (oh hum).
I share your passion for Carry Akroyd – one pice of hers needs framing and that will we have one of her pieces in every room of the house bar the little private ones (and I should do something about that I think).
I like these wee lighter interjects in your blog, and the Simon Barnes’s blog tour is a fab idea.
Steve – many thanks indeed.