Social Distancing Week 13. Eyed Hawk-moth. Paul writes: I found this dramatic looking creature last week in my garden moth trap. It’s the first Eyed Hawk-moth I’ve seen, so I was really excited. I was immediately impressed by the size, the wing length is around 40mm. When resting normally it’s fairly drab looking and only…
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Sunday book review – Rock Pool by Heather Buttivant
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Here in east Northants we are a bit lacking in coastal habitats and my nearest coast is muddy and sandy rather than rocky. If I lived at the coast I would love to explore the wildlife making its living, or temporarily made captive in the pools between the tidelines. As the author explains here so…
Tim Melling – Dartford Warbler
Tim writes: living in the north means I don’t see Dartford Warblers very often. But on the few times I have seen them I’m always surprised by how small they are. The book measurements are deceiving because they have a long tail. So at 12cm bill to tail tip they are 2cm longer than a…
Saturday cartoon from Ralph Underhill
SNH and wild hacking – still no news
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SNH still hasn’t produced the review of wild hacking that they promised ahead of finalising any licensing decision.
Raptor Aid interviewed me
I spent five hours on Microsoft Teams and Zoom yesterday, and was knackered at the end of it. Not sure why – all I was doing was chatting to nice people. Here is my 1-hour chat to Jimmi Hill of Raptor Aid about blogging, writing, campaigning and driven grouse shooting. Thanks Jimmi for the opportunity….
Guest blog – Wildflower-rich road verges – the botanists’ Hen Harrier? by Kevin Walker
Kevin Walker is a botanist who leads on science, monitoring and data management for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Before that he spent 12 glorious years working as a plant ecologist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, although much of that time was spent away carrying out fieldwork. Although his…
Press release – Global species extinction target proposed
Press release: New species extinction target proposed for global nature rescue plan The upcoming future strategy for conserving biodiversity must include a prominent target to lower extinction rates, say scientists. Biodiversity loss has continued unabated at an alarming rate, and so far, action to deliver on the global agreements in place has failed to prevent…
Just check your garden for one of these
Every few years there are numbers of this gaudy relative of the Starling seen in western Europe in late May/early June and now and again appreciable numbers of them get to the UK. This is one of those years! So check your fat balls and lawns for an exceptional looking starling – a Rose-coloured Starling….
Eye witness account of a Hen Harrier killing in Bowland
The RSPB has this evening published an eyewitness account of the killing of an adult Hen Harrier in Bowland last October. Read it and weep! I’ve known about this case for quite a while and I know the eyewitness as one of the many raptor enthusiasts in the Bowland area. By chance, the area where…