Louise Gray’s previous book, The Ethical Carnivore was 5th in my books of the year for 2016 (see review here), and this follow-up, also on food, is a contender for a top-10 listing this year, I reckon. Eating fruit and vegetables doesn’t quite have the moral jeopardy attached to it that surrounds eating an animal…
BLOG POSTS
Guest blog – Through the Looking Glass by Colin Rees
Colin Rees is a life-long natural scientist and has worked as an environment/biodiversity specialist for international organizations in over 80 countries. He is co-author of Birds of a Feather: Seasonal Changes on Both Sides of the Atlantic (reviewed here) and author of A History of Cornish Ornithology: the path to conservation and Nature’s Calendar: a year in the life…
Sunday book review – The Peak by Rod Dunn
Comments Off on Sunday book review – The Peak by Rod Dunn
An attractive book of relatively few words but a great many excellent images. The photographs are wonderful and portray the landscapes, wildlife and built environment of our oldest National Park. There are many good portraits of birds here, and I enjoyed them. The butterflies were even better and the plants better still. But the landscapes…
Sunday book review – Shaping the Wild by David Elias
This is David Elias’s first book and it is a cracker. The name might ring a bell with readers of this blog as he wrote a guest blog here almost five years ago (Dead from the neck down). This is a thoughtful, knowledgeable and loving account of upland Wales, its wildlife and its land use….
Sunday book review – Ten Birds that Changed the World by Stephen Moss
I have reviewed several of Stephen Moss’s books here (Tweet of the Day (with Brett Westwood) 2014; Natural Histories (with Brett Westwood) 2015; Wild Kingdom, 2016; The Twelve Birds of Christmas, 2019; The Accidental Countryside, 2020; The Swallow, 2021; Skylarks with Rosie, 2021) and enjoyed them all. They vary in depth and scope but are…
Guest blog – Linnets by Kerrie Gardner
Kerrie is a Devon-based artist and writer who likes to dabble in a variety of crafts. Before becoming self-employed she was an ecologist and prior to that she worked as an environmental educator with the Dorset Wildlife Trust. She contributed to the BTO’s Red Sixty Seven book and has written for Penguin, discussing the loss of biodiversity…
Guest blog – The Art of the Impossible by Roy Dennis
Roy Dennis is a senior and eminent wildlife conservationist with a lovely voice and plenty of things to say. He once worked for the RSPB as Highland Officer and before that he was the director of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory. For many, Roy is best known for his role in promoting reintroductions of mammals…
Book review – Natures Wonder’s by Jane V. Adams
Comments Off on Book review – Natures Wonder’s by Jane V. Adams
This book will sit snugly in many National Trust shops. It takes you through the seasons and points you towards things you should see, hear, smell and feel. Almost the first thing to look for is your first Brimstone butterfly – I’ve seen a few in the last 10 days so it must be early…
Book review: Twitching by Numbers by Garry Bagnell
This book wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea but I enjoyed it. The author has already created a bit of a Twitter storm by offending some readers with remarks that were definitely not politically correct. I have only read the expurgated version so I am mostly unsighted on what has been removed. It would still…
Book review – The Meaning of Geese by Nick Acheson
Comments Off on Book review – The Meaning of Geese by Nick Acheson
This is the tale of a wild goose chase although the chase isn’t that wild as it is mostly carried out on an old red bicycle (I liked hearing about the bicycle) and not all of the geese are completely wild either. The author cycles around north Norfolk during the winter and describes his encounters…