This review, which is quite important, was published on World Ocean Day two weeks ago. It gained a lot of acclaim at the time and this was pretty well-deserved. The group (which I said at the time it was set up, back in July 2019, looked like a good one), chaired by former Environment minister…
BLOG POSTS
Heading for Christmas
I said that we bought a live Christmas tree in a pot last December and the idea is to keep it alive and use it again, slightly larger, next Christmas. Having passed the summer solstice it is now down hill all the way to the winter solstice, but the good news is that the tree…
Wild Hacking? Still no news.
Local residents have not yet been told whether SNH is going to license wild hacking of Gyr Falcons in Scotland this year. The report on last year’s events, which I have now read, admits the failings of the bird survey carried out last year (and highlighted on this blog back in December so it’s not…
Natural England not very open
Natural England are under fire from all sides it seems. On this blog last week Bob Berzins’s account of the failure of NE to release details of a licence which allowed widespread unlimited killing of several species of birds (see here and here) suggested that the organisation might have been deliberately witholding information which it…
Press release – 25,000 Green Jobs from RSPB for Wildlife Link
Twenty-five thousand jobs could be created through government investment in a green recovery Investment in nature recovery could provide a major boost in employment in England and help create a more resilient economy as part of a green economic recovery from Covid-19 according to new figures put together by conservation groups. In addition, it would…
Paul Leyland – Ruby-tailed Wasp
Social Distancing Week 14. Ruby-tailed Wasp. Paul writes: sometimes being confined to the garden to watch insects isn’t a hardship. I’ve been joyfully following these beautiful wasps for the past week and they should be around until the end of July. Ruby-tailed Wasps are one of the most colourful insects you are likely to see….
Sunday book review – Imperial Mud by James Boyce
This book goes straight into my shortlist of books of the year for 2020: no doubt about it. I wish I had written this book but since I didn’t, I’m very glad that someone else did so that I could read it. I guess I am sounding enthusuastic about it – I am. It’s a…
Tim Melling – Woodlark
Tim writes: Woodlark is a rarer cousin of Skylark that inhabits heathlands and young forestry plantations mainly in the south. They like light, sandy, free-draining soils too, and lots of bare ground where they feed. So despite the name, they are not a woodland bird. Though unlike Skylark, Woodlark does perch in trees. A bit…
Cut and paste, and add more errors: wildlife reporting in the Daily Mail
The Daily Mail online have simply cut and pasted the Moorland Association’s news release – with all its errors and misrepresentations – see here. We are supposed to think that a dozen pairs of Hen Harriers on English grouse moors (some of which are not grouse moors) is a ‘high’ number whereas there should be…
Saturday cartoons from Ralph Underhill
Two topical wildlife cartoons from Ralph this week; And the cover of the Scottish Gamekeeping Party’s manifesto would be: