Standing up for Nature
Ocelots are elusive and highly sought-after forest cats from Central and South America. I photographed this one in the Pantanal in Brazil after dark. I took it without flash, but by torchlight at a very high ISO (51,200). It was occasionally coming for small fish that had been left out though it was not guaranteed. …
Today the RSPB revealed that wild birds with H5N8 have been detected at two more RSPB nature reserves and yesterday the Chief Vet revealed that H5N8 had been found in a small backyard flock in Settle. These wild birds with H5N8 seem almost to be targetting RSPB nature reserves! Of course, the real explanation (I…
I visited Yellowstone NP in 2011 after I left the RSPB and headed off on a mind-cleansing road trip across the USA where I did a lot of thinking. But it wasn’t just thinking, it was an opportunity to see a lot of fabulous landscapes, meet some great people and see nature that I had…
If you came to the Rainham Marshes Hen Harrier Day you will certainly remember the choral delight of Peregrina EnChantica. Well they are performing again two weeks today, on 20 January, but they’ve got some less musically skilled accompanists in the shapes of David Lindo, Charlie Moores and myself – at least the music…
I spent yesterday afternoon in a room with 13 others judging the Bird Photographer of the Year entries. Our wise decisions will be partly revealed at the end of this month and then fully revealed at the Bird Fair. I felt a bit of a fraud being on the panel as a ‘I don’t know…
The disappearance of income support for grouse moors in a post-Brexit world is apparently on the cards – and is a sound policy route to follow as a small aspect of making our money work better for taxpayers, consumers and farmers alike. But the other side of the coin is that more money should be…
Sometimes several streams of argument begin to run together and form a river. This week there have been signs that we are at standing at the headwaters of a river – let’s hope it doesn’t trickle into the sands. The biggest political game on the block is undoubtedly Brexit – and we all know what…
This report is important and challenging to government. Brexit may mean Brexit but what does it mean for agriculture and environmental protection? Just as government did not have a plan for Brexit (somewhat understandable because government wasn’t in favour of it), Defra still does not have a plan for Brexit. The Secretary of State was…
The Hawk and Owl Trust is looking for a Crisis Management Strategist! The successful applicant will have a ball and chain which they can fit to the leg of the current Chair and a gag of an appropriate size. In between putting out fires that were started by the organisation’s Chair they will update their…