Paul writes: if you have a bee hotel in your garden and notice that some of the tubes have been sealed with a green leaf then you have a Leafcutter Bee in residence. Another piece of evidence you may find are circular cut-outs from the edges of leaves on your plants. Leafcutter Bees are solitary…
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A Distant Call
The Artisans are an indie group based in the north of England. They released their debut album in April: “one of the guitar pop albums of the year” and “the most charming and quirky shimmering guitar pop.” You can download A Distant Call from Monday 12 August – to coincide with the Inglorious 12th. Email:…
Tim Melling – Penguin altercation
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Tim writes: penguins usually seem to stick with their own species, even when they nest in the same area. So this was a rare instance of inter-specific aggression between a Macaroni and a Chinstrap Penguin. I took the photograph at the south end of South Georgia where both species breed. This was at the beginning…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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This cartoon was drawn for Scottish Environment Link – see here for their thoughts on prevention being better than cure.
Guest blog – World Land Trust by Paul Sterry
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Paul Sterry has an academic background in freshwater biology and is a passionate conservationist. He has been writing about natural history and photographing wildlife for the last 40 years, with an emphasis on the British scene. Bird Photographer of the Year and World Land Trust World Land Trust (WLT) is an international conservation charity that…
British Game and Lead Alliance
The British Game Alliance has posted a statement on their website about Waitrose’s very sensible position on lead ammunition – here it is. It’s all a bit feeble. They can’t criticise Waitrose and they can’t criticise the Food Standards Authority so they say – not very much at all. But what they should be saying…
Shameless spin from Moorland Association
It’s very touching to see Amanda Anderson trying to grab the credit for Hen Harriers nesting in Bowland for grouse moors. Yes, there are a few days shooting on the United Utilities land but, to the best of my knowledge, there were no Hen Harrier nests on the large areas of driven grouse moors in…
Garden birds July 2019
July was a month of warmth, heat and rain – like most months of the year really. Everything was growing like mad in the garden though. More a month for butterflies than birds with Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Ringlets joining the earlier species this month. On 31 July I recorded the garden’s first Painted Lady…
Hen Harriers in the news
The RSPB has announced that 22 Hen Harriers have fledged from five successful nests in the Forest of Bowland – all on land owned and managed by United Utilities where they own land to protect their water catchments. This land has a few days grouse shooting on it but, despite the fact that it comprises…
Brecon and Radnor by-election
Although political predictions have been very much awry in recent years I think it is almost certain that the Lib Dems will win back the Brecon and Radnorshire seat in tomorrow’s by election. The seat has often been held by the Liberals and looks destined to go back to them this week. Chris Davies the…