The rather diminished Big Butterfly Count?

It’s time for the Big Butterfly Count– good luck! Have you ever thought how beautiful are butterflies?  Me too! Then imagine this butterfly without its wings – not so pretty then is it?     And I just wonder – will the Bird Fair survive the weather given that the Game Fair has not?  And…

Wuthering Moors 23

Natural England spent over £1m of your money pursuing legal action against the Walshaw Moor Estate for alleged breaches (but a mere 43 of them) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the Habitats Directive.  The alleged offences related to the building of tracks, paths, car parks, grips, ponds, butts and other associated infrastructure for…

40 days of…?

Today is St Swithin’s (or Swithun’s day) and by tradition the weather today will stick with us for the next 40 days.  At the moment the sun is shining here in east Northants – I wonder! Whatever the weather, in 40 days the swifts will be largely departed and wader passage will be well underway. …

It’s raining, raining, raining

It’s raining.  It’s still raining.                   And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. G K Chesterton                 A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain…

Worth a look, and then another look

You can get a sneak preview of one chapter of my new book, and so much more, by walking into your local WH Smith or similar and buying this annual. My article is about bird reintroductions and covers some of the material of Chapter 8 in Fighting for Birds – 25 years in nature conservation….