Standing up for Nature
This is a gorgeous book – the most gorgeous book that I have read this year. David North and the design team at Mascot Media are to be congratulated on the sheer beauty of what they have produced. Cley and Salthouse marshes are on the north Norfolk Coast at its northernmost point and have long…
I’ve been meaning to review this book for weeks as I’ve had it on my desk for what seems an age. I don’t know why I didn’t get round to it earlier but I’m glad I finally did because I enjoyed it very much. We are taken in a dozen chronological chapters from the end…
I was sent these images asking me for an opinion on which species of harrier is involved. The discussion around the bird centres on whether it is a Northern Harrier or Hen Harrier – but you might have other views. It was photographed in a location where neither of those species is a breeding bird…
Jonathan Porritt was working for environmental improvement long before the birth of any of the young climate campaigners given a voice in this book. Indeed, before some of their parents! I found this a moving book. Many Just Stop Oil campaigners, often in their twenties, talk about their lives, beliefs, campaigns, fears and struggles. It’s…
I’ve done a lot of bug-watching so far this year. One of my favourites is the Dock Bug. This small book (180 pages) is packed with enthusiasm which might rub off on those who have not yet discovered the joy of bugwatching. The subtitle discloses the fact that this is a book produced in North…
We had these seven solar panels installed in early July on the part of our roof that is south-facing. The panels and their battery are working well and we spend quite a lot of time looking at an app that tells us how much solar electricity we are generating and the state of play of…
Heading home from our Edinburgh family in late July we took the A68 south and gave a little cheer as we breasted Carter Bar and passed into England again – it’s nothing anti-Scottish, we give a little cheer when we are heading north and pass into Scotland too. Seconds later I noticed a young Golden…
My home is not just a study area for a year-long bioblitz and the site of numerous repairs and improvements to the outside of the house it also houses an ongoing decluttering project. We have the clutter collected over a combined nearly 14 decades of life; books, music cassettes, videos, trinkets, things to hang on…
This slim volume of little more than 100 pages addresses the big questions of life on Earth. Not, ‘Shall we go to the pub?’ but ‘Why are there so many species and why are there more in some places than others?’. The author is a proper biologist and he writes this book to explain how…
This is a big book full of beauty. It has over 400 A4 pages of paintings of over 250 UK fungi. And every one of those pages holds the eye because of the amazing complexity of the fungi and the artist’s skill. From Scarlet Waxcap to Warlock’s Butter, and from Giant Puffball to Lemon Disco,…