Standing up for Nature
It’s worth getting to know this spectacular species for several reasons. It can grow in abundance on old Beech trees so, once found, you are likely to have enough for a decent meal. It tends to persist into the winter, even after the onset of cold weather has ended the season for most other species….
Alan Stewart MBE is a retired police inspector with a wealth of experience in investigating wildlife crime. This is his fourth book on the subject. Here is a quote from the author’s introduction ‘On driven grouse moors there is little evidence of change. While the licensing of shoots may help, the only real solution…
Tim writes: this is a male Common Blue resting in a sea of Bird’s-foot Trefoil, which is also its larval foodplant. This is a second brood individual photographed in late August, which is the offspring of the generation that was on the wing in June. I took the photograph at the RSPB’s new reserve…
Hunting down things to eat (and write about) becomes more of a challenge as the winter months drag on, particularly during prolonged spells of cold weather. I certainly wasn’t expecting to find this species, at least not in flower, during the second half of December. Whilst it’s tempting to blame climate change for this…
Parrot Crossbills are restricted to the Western Palearctic, breeding mainly in Scandinavia and NW Russia. But this population is nomadic, occasionally wandering to Britain when their pine cone crop fails. Wandering birds occasionally stay here to breed, and it has become apparent in recent years that a population of about 100 pairs breeds in Caledonian…
Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting came out of nowhere as far as I was concerned. But I have supported it and will continue to support it, and it has topped 20,000 signatures which is respectable rather than spectacular, but I remain confident that it will reach a much higher total by the…
The December issue of British Wildlife came through my letter box yesterday but others must have got theirs earlier as I had a few emails and messages on social media about my column. Here’s a taster: ‘On the ground, local NE staff may well be doing their best, and will be doing some good, but…
This email may have started the spurt of support for the ridiculously-worded e-petition in favour of grouse shooting. It was sent out, as you can see above, by a person whose anonymity I will preserve, at least for a while, as he or she (sounds like a bloke though doesn’t he or she?) has done…