I spoke at the BTO HQ in Thetford on Thursday evening – and it was a fun evening. Indeed it was a fun day. There was an audience of 40+ people and we started at 1915 and they didn’t let me go until well after 2145! There were lots of questions, and some of them…
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We are 21,500 ahead
The supporters of a ban on driven grouse shooting, are now 21,500 signatures ahead of the forces of conservatism who wish this unsustainable hobby of shooting birds for fun and profit to continue. We’ve pushed on by another 900 signatures in the last week. But it’s not quite as simple as that, as there are…
Guest blog – Cyprus winter camp by Alister Clunas
Alister Clunas was born on Orkney. He gained a Masters degree in Resource Management from the University of Edinburgh. His first conservation job was an Assistant Watcher on the Farne Island on £13 per week. Later he worked as a Ranger in East Lothian, a Property Manager in the Yorkshire Dales for the National Trust…
Paul Leyland – The Footballer
Paul writes: This is a beautiful brightly coloured hoverfly. It is sometimes known as The Footballer, probably from the days when lots of teams wore striped shirts! It’s one of the commonest and most widespread hoverflies and is seen throughout the UK. It has a long flight period. I usually see them from the…
Wild food (30) – Wild Garlic by Ian Carter
Wild Garlic, or Ramsons as it is sometimes called, is one of the most eagerly awaited plants of the spring for its aesthetic appeal and for its flavour. By late April it carpets the floor of ancient woodland where conditions are right, a haze of white flowers among the long-established green leaves. It is often…
Sunday book review – Orchid Summer by Jon Dunn
I’m no botanist (and I can produce references if needed) but I loved this book – and many of the readers of this blog will love it too. The idea is simple – see all the orchids of Britain in a year. Do you think the author succeeded or not? If not, how close…
Tim Melling – Przewalski’s White-throated Dipper
This is the same species of Dipper that occurs in Britain but is of the Tibetan and Chinese subspecies Przewalski. I posted it for interest because it does look subtly different from European Dippers. This one has a wholly dark belly, lacking the brighter orange band that we have on British Dippers.. I’m finding it…
An Unreliable History of Birdwatching (48) by Paul Thomas
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Yorkshire Dales NP takes the high ground on raptor persecution
There have been previous signs that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is ashamed of its deserved reputation as being a raptor persecution hotspot – and wants to do what it can to highlight the issue and move people towards a solution. This is in stark contrast with the inspid response of the Peak District National…
Defra’s third draft on grouse shooting: wholly inadequate
The e-petition of Ed Hutchings, which calls for licensing of grouse shooting, has received a government response.I know that Ed is travelling at the moment but before he headed off he said he would write a guest blog here on his return in which he was expecting to comment on the government response which he…