Here is Dara McAnulty (centre) pictured with his brother Lorcan and sister Blathnaid, and some bloke off the telly. I’ve been watching Dara’s blog for months now, and I look at it every week for sure. And I follow him on Twitter too (@naturalistdara). This morning Dara was making his second appearance on Tweet…
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Isle of Man Hen Harriers
Yesterday we learned that the UK Hen Harrier population in 2016 was lower than in the previous two comparable surveys (2004 and 2010) but slightly higher than in 1998 and 1988/89. In the Isle of Man, a self-governing Crown Dependency (which is not a part of the UK, nor subject to the Common Agricultural Policy…
UK Hen Harrier survey results – what they say (4) – the coalition of chaos
The coalition of chaos on the Hen Harrier – all it lacks is a contribution from the DUP. Aside from that it has spin, U-turns, failure to answer the question, attempts to blame the victims for the problems, attempts to blame the other party for everything for which you are responsible and a strong whiff…
UK Hen Harrier survey results – what they say (3) – Defra
Defra is the government department responsible for wildlife and their new Secretary of State, Michael Gove, wants to know the answer to this question ‘If we want the UK’s approach to environmental protection and enhancement to be seen as the best in the world, what does that mean and what does it look like at…
UK Hen Harrier survey results – what they say (2)
2000 pairs of Hen Harrier are missing from the UK – overwhelmingly due to widespread, systematic and illegal persecution by grouse shooting interests. The results of a UK-wide survey were released today: there were 545 pairs in 2016 compared with 633 in 2010. The media response: Overall, there are quite a few mentions of these…
Hen Harrier survey results – what they say
The UK is missing around 2000 pairs of Hen Harriers according to a survey carried out in 2016 whose results were released today. We know that the main cause of this harrier-deficit is deliberate, intensive and illegal killing of Hen Harriers by those who wish to shoot Red Grouse for fun. The lack of Hen…
UK Hen Harrier Survey results
2016 saw a UK-wide Hen Harrier survey and the results are now out. The 2016 estimate of the Hen Harrier population for the UK is 545 pairs which is quite a lot less than the 2010 survey’s estimate (633 pairs) and an awful lot less than that for 2004 (749 pairs). However, it is worth…
Remarkable Birds – a new review
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A review of Remarkable Birds, by Michael McCarthy, from Resurgence and Ecologist. Some extracts: I was particularly entranced by a moody, haunting vision of rooks rebuilding their nests in spring by the Russian 19th-century landscape artist Alexander Savrasov, and by the bold-faced osprey of his British contemporary Prideaux John Selby. Remarkable Birds goes beyond the…
Bee-eaters in Notts
It doesn’t look like a particularly interesting part of the world – but it is now! A gang of at least seven Bee-eaters have been found in rural Nottinghamshire, and the RSPB and CEMEX have set up, very rapidly, a viewing scheme. Good for them. I was the second viewer there this morning just after…
Donana fire
I spent c12 days in the Doñana area in late April/early May, with Ruth Miller, and we were researching a potential book – which we are now writing. And so it was even more interest and concern than usual that I have watched the news of the massive fire that has consumed large areas of…