Standing up for Nature
North West Bird Watching Festival at Martin Mere cancelled because of bird flu. A dead Hen Harrier with bird flu from Highland in this week’s non-informative update from Defra (see here). Also five Gannets tested positive from two locations in Cornwall. Remember, the number of birds testing positive may not be the number of birds…
This is a very individual book, and I’m afraid it didn’t appeal much to this individual but that does not mean that it won’t appeal to you. So let me describe it. There are four parts to this book; First Contacts; To Describe, Name, Represent; Ecopoetics: Life Force and Resistance; Towards a Symbiotic Way of…
This book, by farmer’s daughter and now-journalist and media presenter Anna Jones, is one of the most enjoyable and interesting books I have read this year – and I write that in full knowledge that in a few weeks I’ll be choosing my books of the year (click here for 2021’s list). It examines the…
Just have a listen to this amazing interview of Robert Goodwill (ex-DEFRA minister (though not for very long)), farmer and Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, by Charlotte Smith, on BBC Radio 4 Farming today this morning. I had to have an extra Digestive biscuit with my tea to recover from it (click here, 9…
Two things; today’s weekly update from DEFRA and an interesting remark on this morning’s Farming Today. 1. DEFRA’s weekly update (click here) is the usual less than transparent and informative list but you don’t often see Long-tailed Skua mentioned on a UK government website – might this be a first? Many of us heard about…