Last week Natural England released the ‘results’ of ‘their’ monitoring of Hen Harriers in England in 2020. Their press release was a bit confused and a bit in error and was packed out with quotes from Natural England’s mates in the shooting industry about what a great thing brood meddling of Hen Harrier nests is,…
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People’s assembly on climate change – no idiots there.
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This is an inspiring read produced by a selection of 108 ‘ordinary’ people who spent 60 hours learning, thinking and voting on measures to deliver what is government policy, but not enough government action The measures are a middle ground if we are to be serious on getting to net zero. I would have liked…
Badger eradication
The Westminster government seems to have forgotten that it says that its aim is to eradicate bTB in cattle (which it is miles away from doing, and hardly seems a plausible aim by following the current loosely termed ‘strategy’) and is now fixated on eradicating badgers from large areas of England. Whereas the government announcement…
Press release – Leigh Day
Legal challenge to Environment Agency’s decision to grant a permit for one of Europe’s biggest waste incinerators A campaign group, representing seven villages in Essex, has issued a legal challenge against the Environment Agency over concerns that residents will be exposed to the potentially hazardous effects of the development of one of Europe’s biggest waste…
Social distancing and shooting
You can’t shoot a virus. If I were running a shoot, which I’m not, I’d be pretty uncertain as to what I am allowed to do from Monday onwards when the rules in England change. But the rule of 6 seems to apply to everyone, including those shooting Red Grouse and Partridges, whose seasons are…
Guest blog – From Wasps to Wildflower Nectar by Amanda Tuke
Amanda is a nature and environment writer and blogger based in the wilds of suburban south London. She writes mainly about suburban wildflowers, insects and birds on her blog. Her nature writing has appeared in anthologies, on the London Wildlife Trust blog and in Devon Life Magazine. She also blogs on www.freelancenaturewriter.com about her…
Kingfisher reporting rate
Yesterday’s BirdTrack reporting rate graph was Kingfisher. I’m not sure I would have identified this species from its reporting rate – it’s not a very common/obvious species because its reporting rate is quite low. What happens in June – September? Is this when juveniles disperse and there is more whizzing around and indeed more calling?…
Sunny September?
A warm, sunny day in September feels like a gift. A warm, sunny day in September with the buddleia in flower is even more of a gift. It’s Red Admiral time and there have been quite a few in the garden. They are beautiful and provide a wonderful end to butterfly times which started back…
Dull title, important paper
You may remember the EMBER study which was published in 2014? I’ve always thought that it was an important study and a good study, although it deals with a bunch of science that is not my area of expertise. Certainly, if true, its findings are important because it forms part of the basis for the…
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Benedict Macdonald and Dara McAnulty for winning their categories of the Wainwright Prize. Ben’s book, Rebirding, won the new category for global conservation. Dara’s book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, won the category for UK nature writing.