I was sent this photo of a mystery bird photographed in a garden in Higham Ferrers (east Northants). It was seen, appropriately enough, on 4 July. I’ve seen this bird in the wild but never as well as this. I was sent a recording of its call too, and that pretty much nailed it.
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Mystery birds (1)
This robin-like bird was recently filmed in a Devon garden – it looks not only robin-like but Robin-like to me. I think it is a Robin. But it’s very washed out. It’s obviously not a Redbreast nor a typical juvenile recently out of the nest. It’s very pale but it is not albino. How do…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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This cartoon was drawn for Scottish Environment Link – see here for their thoughts on the polluter pays principle.
76 minutes of chat with Fieldsportschannel.tv
I had a chat with Fieldsportschannel.tv ‘s Charlie Jacoby last week. I was lured to a field in Yorkshire en route to meeting Henry Morris and friends on their run across the moors. I am, it seems, The Joker to ‘their’ Batman (which one is Batman then? Andrew Gilruth? Tim Bonner?) and the Vader to…
Pandas attacked by Pheasants?
The Daily Telegraph quotes Jake Berry (who is unfortunately likely to have a prominent role in any Johnson government) as wanting to make the hook-beaked (eh?) Curlew ‘the panda of UK conservation.’. Jake will never persuade Curlews to eat bamboo and give up sex but maybe that wasn’t what he meant. Because this is…
River
River, a Hen Harrier from Lancashire disappeared in an area of grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (a notorious raptor-persecution hotspot) in North Yorkshire in November 2018. She was one of several young tagged Hen Harriers that didn’t even make it to Christmas, yet alone to their first birthday, let alone to raising eggs and…
It’s not us – it’s you GWCT
By chance, my review paper of Pheasant impacts was published at the same time as a BTO study to which I refer in the British Birds article: Pringle, H., Wilson, M., Calladine, J. & Siriwardena, G.M. (2019). Associations between gamebird releases and general predators. Journal of Applied Ecology. Pringle et al. add another piece of…
CIEEM press release
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On Monday 8 July 2019, Parliamentarians and environmental groups gathered to launch a new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Nature, which aims to provide a forum for engaging and inspiring parliamentarians and others with the natural world, the major threats that it faces today, and the positives that come from a healthy natural environment. The…
New BTO President
The new BTO President, taking over from Chris Packham CBE, is Frank Gardner OBE the BBC Security Correspondent and birder. When interviewed by Keith Betton for Behind More Binoculars Frank said things like this; Where did it all start for you with birding? I was about ten, my mother got me into it, and we…
Guest blog – The Ethics of Animal Exploitation part 4 by Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons is a veterinarian, naturalist and photographer. After a period in private practice, he followed a 35-year career as a Government veterinarian, latterly as the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer. Alick’s lifelong passion is wildlife; he volunteers for the RSPB and NE in Somerset, is chair of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare,…