This blog was down for a few days a little while ago while something that doesn’t mean anything to me was fixed so that everything worked properly again. It’s magic as far as I’m concerned. However, now, for a while, I’m on a monthly payment scheme which allows me to get technical work done on…
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Not so brrrr!
Yesterday the thaw came. When I ventured out of the house at lunchtime yesterday it was almost warm! There was still snow on the ground but it was getting slushy. The garden bird count was much lower – an experience it seems of many of us. The Fieldfares had gone back to the fields; there…
Thank you again – you eco-zealots!
Over the last few years we have been on a journey together. Those of us who are affronted by the scale and impacts of wildlife crime, and/or those who object to driven grouse shooting as an unsustainable leisure activity which is underpinned by wildlife crime, have used a range of techniques that are available to…
Paul Leyland – Gasteruption jaculator
Paul writes: This strange looking creature, with a marvellous name, is a parasitic wasp. It is quite harmless to humans as the appendage to its abdomen is not a sting but an oviposter. The wasp searches out for nests of solitary wasps or bees. Once a nest is found the wasp bores its oviposter into…
Trusted trustees (4) – GWCT’s Ian Coghill and James Paice
The longest-ever serving GWCT Chair, Ian Coghill is standing down after eight years, in July. He will be succeeded by former Defra Agriculture Minister of State, Sir James Paice. Ian Coghill has led the decline in reputation of the GWCT over the last eight years, although Chief Executive, Teresa Dent, must take a large share…
Brrrrr! 2
It’s still snowy here in east Northants – snowy and misty. Yesterday I saw 23 species of bird from the house: Red Kite, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap, Starling, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Reed…
Sunday book review – Inheritors of the Earth by Chris Thomas
Reviewed by Ian Carter The full title of this book tells you most of what you need to know about its main message. While conceding the point that there have been significant losses of wildlife, the book focusses on the positive aspects of a human-dominated world. It is one of a growing number of recent…
Tim Melling – Crested Kingfisher
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Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) ranges from northern India, across China to Japan. They seem to occur at pretty low density on large, fast flowing, clean rivers. They perch on wires, branches and rocks but they do not hover. Like most Kingfishers they excavate nesting tunnels in river banks. I photographed this one with its tail…
Brrrrr!
I don’t think I’ll be moving far today – not far from this computer in fact. The kitchen is quite cold – one can tell by being there or by looking at how cloudy the olive oil has gone! But the garden is lifting with birds. There are still several Reed Buntings out there and…
An Unreliable History of Birdwatching (47) by Paul Thomas
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