Doncaster Council has backed a ban on heather burning to save the region’s peat moors from being damaged for grouse shooting. In a letter sent to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Mayor Ros Jones said that the environmentally-damaging practice, which is performed by shoot operators to engineer breeding habitat for red grouse,…
BLOG POSTS
Update on 2020 Hen Harrier brood meddling (1)
Natural England issued an update on their controversial Hen Harrier brood meddling project on Friday but I’ve only just seen it. They’ve also sent me (and the RSPB) a further update from their legal department because both RSPB and I are taking legal action against this daft project. First, the Natural England blog. As reported…
News from a kitchen window
Oh no!
RSPB acts – good!
The Times reports that RSPB has intervened to brief its BirdLife International partners in France and Spain to warn them of the unpopularity and indeed perhaps the folly of reintroducing Hen Harriers to southern England. The Times is reporting old news, the emails are over a year old and were obtained by the Countryside Alliance…
Paul Leyland – Brimstone Moth
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Paul writes: This is a colourful night-time visitor to many gardens. The Brimstone (Opisthograptis luteolata) is smaller but a brighter yellow than its butterfly namesake. There are also a series of chestnut marks along the edge of its forewings, making it unmistakable. It’s a very common moth and can be seen throughout the UK in…
Tim Melling – Yellow Wagtail
The subspecies of Yellow Wagtail that breeds in Britain is flavissima, which means very yellow, as opposed to the nominate Continental breeding subspecies flava, which just means yellow. The two are pretty similar from the neck down but our British flavissima is also yellow on the throat, cheeks and eyebrow with a complementary green crown…
Jane V. Adams – Clutching at Straws
Jane is a naturalist, photographer and nature writer living in Dorset. Her work has appeared in books, anthologies and blogs for charities such as The Wildlife Trusts and the International Bee Research Association. When she’s not exploring Dorset’s lanes and countryside she can be found lying on her stomach watching insects in her garden. Jane’s…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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Why is Natural England so reluctant to disclose a piece of science?
I’ve been asking Natural England and the BTO to send me a copy of a 2018 BTO research report. The BTO say they can’t because NE won’t let them (see my email to BTO, their reply to me and my response to them) and Natural England just say I can’t have it (see here). I…
Response from Natural England on ‘secret’ BTO report
At the same time as I contacted the BTO about a report that they produced for Natural England (see my email to BTO, their reply to me and my response to them) I also asked Natural England for a copy of the said report. It’s a report from 2018, it’s referenced in Natural England guidance…