The raptor haters – Simon Jenkins

The raptor haters is an occasional series of articles on people who slag off birds of prey. Sir Simon Jenkins is an amazingly gifted writer and obviously a very clever man.  I love the way he writes and I read his articles for pleasure as well as for education. Back in May 2008, when the…

East Africa drought – two things we can all do

The worst drought in East Africa for 60 years is causing famine in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.  Heart-rending images cross our TV screens as they have in previous years – do we react with action or by switching channels? The easier, but important, way to react is to send money to cope with the current…

This blog…

…will aim to cover a variety of subjects as time goes on – including peat, marine protected areas, raptor persecution, habitat recreation, politics, government agencies, valuing nature, forestry …will treat sensitively any information sent to it …would benefit from some decent photographs – does anyone have any suggestions? …will occasionally have guest blogs from invited…

Mellow farming

Yesterday I visited one of my favourite local farmers. Duncan Farrington has pulled off an amazing trick – he has made a commodity into a luxury.  And he has got Nigella Lawson to back him. I first met Duncan a good few years ago when I volunteered to do some bird surveys for the RSPB…

A walk in our woods

Yesterday I paid a late morning visit to Fermyn Woods in east Northants.  Mine was the 21st car parked on the grass verge on a small quiet road.  Clearly others had the same idea, and a bit of time to spare.  The stickers on the parked cars showed that there were plenty of birders there…