My recent visit to Poland was largely a family holiday, with family reasons for being in Poland, but that doesn’t mean that all birdwatching was out of the question. In fact I spent some time in the totally wonderful Bialowieza Forest. There is plenty of forest in the area but the strict reserve is only…
BLOG POSTS
Guest blog – Ramridge Raiders part 2 by Paul Sterry and Rob Read
Authors and photographers, Paul and Rob spearhead the international competition Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) whose lead judge is Chris Packham. Woodlands have been on my mind recently, what with my growing interest in Rob’s local patch Ramridge Copse. Perhaps because of that when I glanced at my bookshelves the other day I spotted…
RSPB press release
Protecting the best places for nature will fight the climate crisis New maps reveal that the best places for nature also hold over two-gigatons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of all of the greenhouse gases the UK generates in four years The Governments of the UK must take urgent action to protect and restore these…
Hen Harrier Day 2019 #HHDay19
It looks like there will only be one Hen Harrier Day event in the UK in 2019 – but everyone who cares about this bird and wants to see an end to its persecution is invited. Hen Harrier Day events started in 2014 and have been held at locations from Northern Ireland to inside the…
RSPB press release
Solar deal powers up RSPB nature reserves The RSPB, the country’s largest nature conservation charity, has used a new finance deal with Triodos Bank to help install renewable energy projects across its nature reserves. A loan of £710,000 has supported the installation of over 700 solar panels at seven nature reserves, including Minsmere, The Lodge…
June Birdwatch
Comments Off on June Birdwatch
June’s Birdwatch is full of good stuff. This article about the World Land Trust‘s 30th anniversary is well worth a read, for example. There’s an identification guide to pratincoles which took me back to August 1973, I think it was 1973, when two friends and I found a Black-winged Pratincole in Norfolk. It must be…
Garden birds in May 2019
This year I am keeping a list of birds seen in or from my garden. I didn’t add any species for the year in May – which is a bit surprising. Although, I was in eastern Europe for a couple of weeks so this was really a half-month! However, it is a sad sign of…
Man with stick and figleaf
Comments Off on Man with stick and figleaf
I met this man in the Wilanow Palace Park in Warsaw a few days ago. I think he is Hercules but he reminded me that Michael Gove is supposed to be coming up with a licensing system for lethal control of corvids (and doesn’t seem to be making much progress). I have no personal knowledge…
Guest blog – I must tell you something of the Beaver by Derek Gow
“I must tell you something of the Beaver”. When William Harrison the Canon of Windsor wrote those words in 1577 he presented his description of the beaver he knew in the following fashion “Certes the tail of this beast is like unto a thin whetstone, as the bodie unto a monstrous rat: the beast also…
CIEEM press release
Comments Off on CIEEM press release
Scottish Ecologist Awarded Profession’s Highest Accolade Professor Desmond B.A. Thompson FCIEEM FRSE has been awarded the 2019 CIEEM Medal Des Thompson is a highly influential ecologist who has made an outstanding and life-long contribution to nature conservation and upland ecology at both national and international levels. An excellent communicator, a brilliant scientific administrator and an…