I know that there are some readers of this blog who are finding it difficult to get their heads around the idea that there really were lots of Gyr Falcons released under SNH licence in a small part of Scotland this summer (with the intention that they should be taken back into captivity after a…
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I’m #8
Comments Off on I’m #8
This is quite fun – lots of great people ahead of me in this list and also lots of great people below me – so I’m not sure one’s ranking means very much at all. It’s based on Twitter and all life may be on Twitter but Twitter is not all life. However, if you…
After a cup of tea and a think…
No Redpolls so far. This election result is momentous in many ways, and probably in ways we do not yet realise. But the results in places where the Conservatives have not romped home are perhaps as significant for our futures as where they have. In Northern Ireland there is now, for the first time, a…
Good morning!
Well, not so good for some of us, and not so good for the environment, but a very clear result. I managed to stay up until after 01:30 this morning and saw Sue Hayman, a good Shadow Environment Secretary, lose her seat at Workington. And then I woke again just a little while before 06:00…
David Bellamy (1933-2019)
David Bellamy, botanist, naturalist and broadcaster, passed away yesterday. Bellamy was a wonderful enthusiast and advocate for nature. Back in the late 1960s to the early 1980s (at least) he was one of the most notable broadcasters on environmental issues. A characteristic voice (much imitated), bags of knowledge and great enthusiasm marked him out. I…
Parakeets and dead Starlings
You can tell it’s election day because the media are grasping for non-political stories today. These two stories are widely covered in the print and broadcast media: Parakeets – not Jimi Hendrix’s fault – Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Mail Dead Starling mystery on Anglesey – BBC, Guardian, Times, Metro and NorthWalesLive. I had a chat with…
Wild hacking
Tuesday’s blog about the licensing, by SNH, of wild hacking of Gyr Falcons attracted a lot of comments and not a little amazement from people. Imagine driving along a quiet road and finding this falcon. Falcon racing is sometimes the motivation for captive breeding of falcons and their wild hacking (see also here). When you…
Election Watch (22)
Jacob Rees-Mogg may soon be allowed out of hiding and let loose on us all again. Interesting that he has been kept well out of the way while Matt Hancock and Robert Buckland present a more acceptable face of Conservatism and Boris Johnson undermines that image every day. It couldn’t be that Diane Abbott and…
Coul Links – decision expected ‘soon’
Decision due on fate of protected nature site at Coul Links Final report now with Ministers The fate of Coul Links, the globally important wildlife site on the Sutherland coast under threat from golf course proposals, is now in Ministers’ hands. The coalition of conservation organisations (including Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Marine Conservation Society, Plantlife, RSPB…
Election watch (21) – take two leaders
A guy called Boris Johnson is the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Recent history: 2010 General election Won by John Randall, Conservative Majority 11,216 votes 2015 General election Won by Boris Johnson, Conservative Majority 10,695 votes 2017 General election Won by Boris Johnson, Conservative Majority 5,034 votes A guy called Jeremy Corbyn is…