I received the email in blue below a few days ago, but since I was looking at gentians on The Burren (I think that’s what they were) and seeing hundreds and hundreds of Whimbrel in Galway Bay (I’m sure about them), hearing my first Cuckoo of the year in Connemara (yep, that’s a positive identification)…
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Sunday book review – Beastly by Keggie Carew
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This book is a series of stories which explore our relationship with animals. But what a series of stories! From a Barn Owl perching on someone’s head to the furore about letting a few White-tailed Eagles go on the Isle of Wight, by way of the DMZ between the Koreas, Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain,…
Sunday book review – Ghosts in the Hedgerow by Tom Moorhouse
Hedgehogs have declined very dramatically in numbers – to the point of being unknown, now, in many places where they snuffled in living memory. The declines in Hedgehog populations are of a similar scale to many of our largest declines in bird populations. It’s a bit surprising that even more hasn’t been made of the…
Barn Owl by Brian Leecy
Mark writes: Brian sent me this super photo of a super bird and it took me back to various places where I have seen Barn Owls regularly in my life – from the Somerset Levels to the North Norfolk coastal marshes. The Barn Owl is a ‘stand and watch’ bird. I find it difficult to…
Guest blog – Illusions of Abundance by Cathy Robinson
Cathy lives in Hove, where she is in her final year of a Masters in Nature & Travel Writing. She enjoys writing about the natural world, and was longlisted in the Bradt New Travel Writer of the Year 2023 competition. She volunteers at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex as a volunteer ranger and white…
Press release, Trees for Life – rewilding centre opens
World’s first rewilding centre opens near Loch Ness Centre offers gateway to UK’s largest rewilding landscape, boosting jobs and supporting re-peopling The world’s first rewilding centre has been opened near Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands by charity Trees for Life – showcasing how large-scale nature recovery can give people inspiring experiences, create jobs and…
RSPB press release – Big Garden Birdwatch
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The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch results 2023: House Sparrow tops the charts for 20th year running but bird declines since the survey began are “startling” House Sparrows are celebrating their 20th year as the number one bird spotted in UK gardens, but bird declines since the survey began are “startling” with 22 million House Sparrows alone lost…
Dear Kevin…
To Kevin Cox, Chair of RSPB. Dear Kevin, I see BASC has written you an open letter – click here. As an RSPB Life Member I hope you won’t waste too much time (your staff’s time) agonising over replying. BASC, as you know, have long been thrashing around rather aimlessly, being rude to all…
Buy your artichokes here!
I’m a great fan of Guy’s News which arrives at my doorstep early on a Thursday morning at the bottom of a box of organic vegetables from Riverford Organic Farmers. This week it contained the usual interesting insight into real farming and sideswipes at both Defra and the NFU – we are on the same…
Sunday book review – The Biodiversity Gardener by Paul Sterry
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Paul Sterry is no stranger to the readers of this blog, having written a string of guest blogs here over the years. He is a prolific author and photographer. This book describes the success of action, and well-informed inaction, in creating a wildlife refuge. Sterry’s half-acre garden sounds like a veritable oasis embedded in the…