Bird Fair Day 2

The winner of the Fair to Nature farming award was unveiled at breakfast at the Bird Fair today and it was…drumroll….Graham Birch.  Congratulations to him and to the two Highly Commended farmers (Ian Crabtree and Charles Porter)(click here for details).  Thank you to Fair to Nature (formerly known as Conservation Grade) for a free breakfast,…

Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill

Ralph writes: if we are going to succeed at tackling big problems like climate change and raptor persecution we need to understand that people are influenced by their emotions and values. Humans as a species are not fact-processing machines and we need to adapt our approaches with this in mind – for more information see…

Bird Fair Day 1

Well, that just shot past. I missed the opening ceremony. I gave half a talk and Tristan Reid gave the other half – it seemed to add up to a proper talk in the end. A lady was emotional about the fact that Turtle Doves had not turned up in her village this year –…

The book to buy at the Bird Fair

This morning I am talking about Passenger Pigeons in a  double act with Tristan Reid in the Main Event Marquee at 1100 (until 1145). Come and listen to the tale of the Passenger Pigeon and what it signifies for us today in a countryside which is losing its farmland birds – and another pigeon, the…

Right arguments – northern, rocky maths

If there were any doubt about the fact that the establishment is mobilising to defend the indefensible – driven grouse shooting – then you only have to pick up the right wing press to have your doubts dismissed. In the run-up to Hen Harrier Day and the Inglorious 12th the defenders of driven grouse shooting…