I’m delighted that You Forgot the Birds won the Birdwatch readers’ guano award for 2016. I expect the Badger cull was a close second but I don’t know for sure. Although the Badger cull has a much bigger and more harmful impact on wildlife the YFTB crew seem to me to encompass an awful lot…
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Guest blog – On Nature Writing and Reading by Nicola Chester
Nicola lives with her family in the North Wessex Downs, in the far west of West Berkshire. She has written for the RSPB and her local newspaper for over a decade, has written a book on Otters and features in each of the Wildlife Trusts’ Seasons Anthologies, edited by Melissa Harrison. As well as writing…
Press release from the RSPB in Scotland.
Starts General licence system used as cover for criminal destruction of birds of prey RSPB Scotland has expressed concern at Scottish Natural Heritage’s response to their recent consultation on the ‘general licences’ that permit the killing of some species of protected birds under certain circumstances. We do not believe that this approach will contribute to…
Guest blog – Wildlife politics by Lizzie Wilberforce
Lizzie gained her enthusiasm for wildlife from her family during her childhood, growing up in Bristol. Conservation volunteering soon became a passion, and she then moved to Wales in 1996 to study at Aberystwyth University. Since 2003 she has worked in nature conservation in the voluntary sector in Wales. It was Politics with a big ‘P’ that…
Nature Directives are saved – but not for us…
It’s great that pressure from the EU population has meant that the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive have been passed as fit for purpose. A staggering 520,000 people signed up across the EU to save these nature-saving pieces of legislation – more than have ever supported any similar EU petition in the past. I signed…
Defra’s year
I asked a bunch of NGOs what they thought were Defra’s greatest achievements of 2016; The GWCT, BASC, Butterfly Conservation and Plantlife were, apparently, stumped as they couldn’t come up with anything. I also asked Defra themselves and they said they’d get back to me – but they…
Turtle Doves are everywhere
According to the Daily Express the Turtle Dove is making a massive comeback and you only really need to look out of the window, right now, to see one, or two, or probably a few. Happy Christmas Daily Express picture editor! Coo!
British values in Defra
Sajid Javid is considering introducing the need for public office-holders to swear an oath of allegiance to British values. This blog has come across a draft of a version which might be used in Defra, indeed, some say it has been in use for quite a while: I promise on my honour to do my…
Sunday book review – Bobby the Birdman eds J Wills and M Mcdonnell
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Bobby Tulloch was a Shetlander whose fame spread far beyond the isles of his birth. Born on Yell in 1929 he died in 1996. For many of us his name will ever be associated with the Snowy Owls which nested on Fetlar from 1967 to 1975. To those of us who never knew the man…
Tim Melling – Walruses
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Tim writes: Walruses spend quite a lot of their time loafing around on the beach together, especially the males. We were watching one such inanimate group when a few decided to take a swim. They then became curious about who was on the beach watching them. I lay flat by the water’s edge and waited…