Hmmm – it seems as if the battle fought over water abstraction by the owners and managers of Catfield Fen – Mr and Mrs Tim Harris – is being seen as a useful case study with much wider relevance than even just in the Norfolk Broads, or the UK but on a more global scale…
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Gone, gone, gone…
A brood of five Hen Harrier chicks were ‘brood-meddled’ this year, and all were satellite-tagged so that we could all relish their adventures over the coming years. Trouble is, three of these birds have ceased transmitting signals to their expensive satellite links – just as is normal for Hen Harriers that spend much time on…
Back home again
I’ve been touring around the country for a few days, but now I’m back home for a while. I enjoyed seeing some scenery, some muirburn, some Harbour Porpoises, an Iceland Gull (thank you to the birder in the beach car park at Brora for letting me have a peek through his ‘scope), a male Hen…
Guest blog – Reconnecting with nature through coppicing by Louise Bacon
It’s October, so my thoughts inevitably turn to the woods. Its time to start the coppice cycle again, and this year it’s a little more interesting. Coppicing is the cyclical cutting down of tree growth in deciduous woodlands, usually lowland ones in England or Wales. It has been documented as happening since Domesday Book times,…
Bird Photographer of the Year – Conservation Documentary Award
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Paul Sterry writes: For the 2020 Competition cycle Bird Photographer of the Year has introduced a new Conservation Documentary Award. Photographers are invited to submit 3-6 images along with accompanying text (in the form of extended captions) to tell a compelling story about a bird-related conservation issue. The BPOTY team is thrilled that our fearless…
Tim Melling – Hobby
Tim writes: Hobbies are quite thin on the ground where I live in the Yorkshire Pennines so I was pleased when I came across this juvenile Hobby locally. Hobby is a falcon, one of four species that breed in Britain, the others being Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine. But all others are resident, with Hobby being…
Sunday book review – Pat the Caterpillar by Rebecca and Nicola Bailey
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This is an attractive book about butterflies written by one of the leading young nature enthusiasts. Rebecca’s seen one more butterfly species in her garden than I have in mine so I am envious of her knowledge and good fortune. This book – the first of many? – concentrates on the Small White Butterfly. This…
Tim Melling – Black Bear
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Tim writes: this was a close encounter with a female Black Bear. She had twin year-old cubs with her too (see below) but at this point she was so close I could only manage a head and shoulders shot. I stumbled across them by the roadside at Coal Harbour right at the north end of…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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Guest blog – The Climate Change Elephant by Ian Parsons
It is great to see so many people, young and old, getting involved in the climate change protests, highlighting the sheer scale of the problem to all. It is great that the United Nations are debating it, talking about the urgent need for action, although of course, some world leaders have their orange heads firmly…