We are fast approaching the anniversary of the submission of the Lead Ammunition Group’s report to ministers. We have seen no visible sign of activity from the minister with responsibility for this issue – Rory Stewart. He appears to have dozed off. The recently published LAG minutes from a teleconference held in late April are…
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Bank Holiday Monday book review – The Keartons by John Bevis
I haven’t taken a photograph of a bird for c35 years so nature photography isn’t my passion. This may be because my father was a keen, amateur landscape photographer and sons tend either fully to absorb or shun their father’s interests. But I do remember, perhaps before reaching teenage years, going with Dad to an…
Oscar Dewhurst – Marsh Tit
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Oscar writes: This is a bird I’ve never photographed before, so on my last morning in Suffolk I spent a few hours just wandering through the woodland trying to find them. It took a while, and trying to manoeuvre 800mm of lens onto something so small took some doing, but by the time I drove…
Sunday book review – The Fight for Beauty by Fiona Reynolds
I opened this book with some trepidation because I wanted to like it and wasn’t sure that I would: I needn’t have worried. This book gives a thorough and somewhat engaging account of the protection of landscape beauty in the UK and is written by someone who has played a major and positive part in…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Bird Fair – Friday debate on driven grouse shooting.
Are you coming to the Bird Fair in August? Come on the Friday and you can attend a debate on whether we should ban driven grouse shooting with myself and the leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett on one side and a representative of the GWCT on the other with, we very much hope,…
Slovakia – Day 3.
Many people would think of owls and woodpeckers if they think of Slovakia bird trips. We visited the Eye of the Sea, Morské oko, and walked around the attractive lake and then up to the top of a hill through the ancient beechwoods. No owls that we could see but plenty of woodpeckers: Grey Headed,…
Slovakia – Day 2
This is the Senne fishponds SPA – and has been the subject of an EU Life project. Can you almost hear the waterbirds singing when you look at that photograph? This was a day with warblers coming out of our ears: Barred, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Icterine, Grasshopper,…
M&S #spiritofsummer
M&S are handling their grouse meat issue spectacularly badly. They say they have an ‘industry leading’ Code of Practice – agreed with an organisation funded, to a large extent, by grouse shooters but not supported by a proper conservation organisation. That hardly inspires confidence, does it? And they are so proud of this industry leading…
I was in …
This time last week I was in Slovakia – in the Kosice region of eastern Slovakia. Well done to those who guessed correctly but the fact that Poland and Hungary were more popular choices shows that Slovakia has some ground to make up with British birders looking for a bird-rich destination in eastern central Europe. …