This date is the earliest I have heard a Nightingale in Northants but I won’t be hearing one this evening in lockdown. In any case, for the last couple of years the regular haunts near my home have been bereft of Nightingales. My favourite Nightingale wood is Glapthorn Cow Pasture (a Beds, Cambs, Northants Wildlife…
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Tim Melling – Tibetan Macaques
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Tim writes: these are Tibetan Macaques, sometimes known as Milne-Edwards’ or Chinese Stump-tailed Macaques (Macaca thibetana). They are the largest species of Macaque and occur mainly in Eastern Tibet and Western China. They are classified by IUCN as near-threatened largely because of habitat destruction. They live in mixed sex groups of twenty to thirty with…
Bird song (29) – Goldfinch
There are lots of Goldfinches in my garden these days, and all other days of the year actually. They are much commoner now than they once were. Despite being delightful, gorgeous birds to look at, their song is an unimpressive twittering. Here are some examples, from Portugal; … and from Kensington Gardens, London, UK; ……
Bird Song (28) – whitethroats
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We have two species of ‘whitethroat’ warblers in the UK, the Common Whitethroat and the Lesser Whitethroat. They look rather similar, although there are lots of differences when you look closely, and they live in similar habitats (hedgerows and scrub) but they sound quite different. Both have now arrived in east Northants, with Lesser Whitethroat…
Bird Song (27) – why a dawn chorus?
We know why bird song is a feature of Spring – it’s because the function of bird song is usually to defend a territory and its food and nesting resources and to attract a mate. Song is largely concentrated in the Spring in high latitudes because that’s when birds breed. But why is there a…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
In yesterday’s Natural England blog on the licensing of taking Peregrines from the wild Natural England’s Director for wildlife licensing, Dave Slater, points out that Natural England can issue licences for a variety of purposes which include falconry. The legislation in question is the Wildlife and Countryside Act where the relevant section is, I think,…
from Mr Carbo
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Helena Horton – maybe you thought I didn’t mean it?
I received an email from Helena Horton of the Daily Telegraph yesterday afternoon asking for a quote and a chat about NE’s licensing of taking Peregrines from the wild. I, and Wild Justice, have recent experience with the Telegraph and Ms Horton (see here, here) and so back in February, after another lapse on the…
Bird song (26) – Yellowhammer
A bright yellow farmland bird, sitting atop a hedge and singing ‘A little bit of bread and no cheeeeeeese’ makes this a winning combination and a relatively easy bird to identify by song or sight. It’s a rattle followed by that cheeeeeese note – there’s nothing quite like it in most parts of the UK…