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Social Distancing Week 11. Wall Brown. Paul writes: every year I see Wall Brown butterflies along the field path next to my house. They first appear in the later half of  May and remain through to August. I photographed this one a few days ago, it was my first sighting here this year. The Wall…

This is a good summery book about arguably our most spectacular of butterflies, the Purple Emperor. The author is an expert on this species and an unrestrained and unrestrainable enthusiast for this butterfly. And that makes this a very good book, packed with stories, anecdotes, history but also with good solid facts. And all wrapped…

Tim writes: the Mountain Hares in the Peak District were introduced from Scotland during the Nineteenth Century by the shooting fraternity after some diversity of things to kill. Ironically the gamekeepers are trying to get rid of them as unnecessary vectors of ticks that can pass the disease louping ill on to grouse. In Scotland…

If you missed Channel 4 News’s feature on wildlife crime associated with grouse shooting then you can see it, but only until about 8pm this evening, by following the link above. It’s worth a look (starts at 44 minutes and lasts 10 minutes). But here are some highlights: Inspector Matt Hagen of North Yorkshire Police…

It’s always interesting to see what the grouse shooting lobby say on social media, and who retweets it. Here’s an example from last week by the newly formed (‘independent’) Campaign for the Protection of Moorland Communities; This was retweeted by Amanda Anderson (as you can see above) the Director of the Moorland Association, by the…