The last four days have been wonderful – time spent with family, time spent sitting in the garden and time spent with Spring nature. This is a time of arrivals – the emergence of butterflies, the flowering of plants and the growing mix of songs in the dawn chorus. Here are some of my weekend…
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April British Wildlife
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The latest British Wildlife arrived in the post on Thursday – and if it had been a wet Bank Holiday weekend it would have been read by now! But the weather has been glorious so I’ve only dipped into it. My column, written six weeks ago, is about legal challenges and Wild Justice. I write…
Bank Holiday Monday book review – Enlightenment Now, by Stephen Pinker
Reviewed by Ian Carter The premise of this book is that by almost any metric you care to choose, things have got better for humans as a result of the scientific revolution and ‘progress’ driven by research, industry and wealth creation. It’s hard to argue with the logic. We live longer, enjoy better healthcare, are…
Paul Leyland – Red-breasted Carrion Beetle
Paul writes: I found this beetle a few days ago along the River Derwent at Weldrake Ings in Yorkshire. It was sitting on an old log, possibly looking for a mate. It’s a Red-breasted Carrion Beetle (Oiceoptoma thoracicum), which is fairly easy to identify once you get close to it. A very distinctive beetle, with…
Sunday book review – Bird Therapy by Joe Harkness
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This is a redemptive story – of how the author recovered from a pit of despond and how nature helped him to make that transition. Chapter 1 is very moving and although getting the low-down on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalised Anxiety Disorder may not sound like a rattling good yarn it is a good…
Tim Melling – Tibetan Macaque
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Tim writes: This is a male Tibetan Macaque, sometimes known as Milne-Edwards’ or Chinese Stump-tailed Macaque (Macaca thibetana). They are the largest species of Macaque and occur mainly in Eastern Tibet and Western China. He was watching over his harem of females when I took this and did not like me stopping to take his…
Saturday cartoon (3 of 3) from Ralph Underhill
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See Extinction Rebellion website
Saturday cartoon (2 of 3) by Ralph Underhill
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Mark writes: there is a big contrast between this… … this … …these images from the Extinction Rebellion London protests … … and this … MPs debate climate after school strike – but only a handful turn up. Government benches mostly empty for debate inspired by schoolchildren’s climate strike. Photo: parliamentlive.tv
Pheasant chick imports now arrive by Eurotunnel
The Times reports today that Eurotunnel is the last remaining route into the UK for millions of French-bred Pheasant chicks after ferry companies boycotted the imports. From The Times report (by Will Humphries) it appears that Eurotunnel was unaware of the numbers of live birds being imported on 3.5 tonne trucks and that animals are…
Saturday cartoon (1 of 3) from Ralph Underhill
Mark writes: did you see the Attenborough programme on climate change on Thursday evening? I saw lots of it but was distracted by other things. I’ll watch it again soon.