Standing up for Nature
And to end Passenger Pigeon Day – here’s a reminder of the Corner Laughers’ song, Martha (Cincinnati, 1914). Midsommar (solstice single) by The Corner LaughersI see the Corner Laughers are coming to the UK again this autumn (they must like it) and have dates around the place – I may go see them in…
Around this time, 102 years ago, the last Passenger Pigeon on earth died in a cage in a zoo in Ohio. A Message from Martha by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.
Today is the publication date for my latest book, Remarkable Birds. It’s a very attractive book, which I can say because I had only a little to do with the choice of illustrations and the laying out of the book. I wrote the words in between the marvellous artwork! The cover is an Audubon –…
‘On 1 September 1914, between midday and 1 pm, in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio, a pigeon breathed her last, and with her died her species. The pigeon was known as Martha, and the species was the Passenger Pigeon. Amongst all extinctions, this example remains unusual in two respects: the precision with which…
Amanda Anderson seen talking to the boys in blue at Edale Hen Harrier Day. A couple of Amanda’s most famous quotes; ‘If we let the hen harrier in, we will soon have nothing else.‘ ‘From the clip, it is very difficult to make out any detail at all, either of a person or a decoy….
They do things differently in Scotland – quite often better (but you’d never know from the rubbish that the SNP MPs are sending their constituents). Scotland has vicarious liability – denied to the English by a grouse-moor-owning Defra minister. Scotland is carrying out a review of losses of satellite-tagged raptors to investigate how many of…
Caitlin Moran (2010 columnist of the year) had an interesting piece in The Times at the weekend. It’s about tradition and mentions the Duke of Westminster (traditionally not paying inheritance tax on his late father’s estate worth £9bn – it’s a tradition, you know, for the very rich not to pay much in taxes). I…
I haven’t had many entries yet for this blog’s writing competition – but then, if you are like me, you never submit anything until the last moment. Closing date: 10 September Length: 400-1200 words Categories: invertebrates international wildlife wildlife and the arts wildlife and politics Plus a prize for the best 18 years or younger…
This new e-petition is trending at over 1000 signatures an hour at the moment. I signed it when it was at about 1500 signatures but it is flying. Now, it is a very sensible e-petition, but interestingly its proposer is Simon King, the Wildlife Trusts’ President Emeritus (!) and is supported by the Wildlife Trusts….
Remember according to the not-so-talented Viscount Ridley ‘Hen harriers, which are ground-nesting birds vulnerable to foxes, are thriving in Scotland … in places where gamekeepers control fox numbers.‘ and grouse-shooter Charles Moore, ‘…most such accusations about the killing of hen harriers are false’ and ‘hen harriers do better on kept moors than on unkept ones…‘. Well,…