January: I saw a Great Grey Shrike locally (I’d forgotten until I looked back), Defra were hopeless (hardly news, I know), David Harsent won the TS Eliot prize for poetry for a book which included a poem about a killed Hen Harrier, a Scottish gamekeeper was jailed for killing raptors, SNH was put under pressure…
BLOG POSTS
You are reading Birdwatch readers’ Blog of the Year
The readers and non-readers of Birdwatch magazine have voted this blog their Blog of the Year. What a lovely Christmas present! Later today, two summaries of the year through what was covered in this blog (Jan-Jun at 1230; Jul-Dec at 1800). You will have to rush down to your local newsagent, or await the arrival…
Wicken Fen harriers
I’ve just spent some of the evening at the NT’s Wicken Fen and seen some harriers coming in to roost – and a marvellous Barn Owl going out to feed too. Bearded Tits ‘ping!’-ed in the reeds and Starlings did a small amount of murmurating in the distance. We saw several Marsh Harriers and a…
It’s a big story
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A few weeks ago I sat under a dinosaur as two others walked past. The wonderful setting of the Natural History Museum was the scene for the recording of The Big Story which will be broadcast this evening at 8pm and again on Christmas morning at 6am. You can see in the image above that…
President Juniper
Tony Juniper is the new President of the Wildlife Trusts. Tony says ‘It is a huge honour and privilege to be declared as the new President of The Wildlife Trusts. This organisation is the very backbone of conservation in the UK and the work being undertaken right across the country, in the places where we…
39+
Last week I went to the Isle of Sheppey and stood on a mound as the light faded. Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants added their non-native voices to that of a Robin (Britain’s favourite bird) as the light faded. Two Green Sandpipers flew up from the channel in front of me and I was pleased that…
Another honourable mention for Inglorious
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Thank you to my friend Michael McCarthy for this mention of Inglorious in his nature books of the year. Michael’s own The Moth Snowstorm was in my own similar list, as were two of his choices. Inglorious was also listed in similar lists in Country Life, The Times, Mail on Sunday and The Guardian.
PM or PR?
David Cameron is presiding over one of the most radical Conservative governments ever with its assault on social services and the role of the state in general – and yet he himself doesn’t seem to have any strong views. Unlike the Thatcher years (can you remember them? Yes, me too) the position of the Prime…
It’s behind you – oh no it isn’t
Last Wednesday I asked five wildlife conservation organisations what they thought was the best thing that Defra had done for wildlife in 2015. After a bit of sucking of teeth they came back with these thoughts, three of which refer to Rory Stewart’s words on Thursday (would Plantlife, Butterfly Conservation and RSPB have been stumped…
Spider numbers creep up
It was in a fairly early blog here that I told you about the reintroduction of Ladybird Spiders at Arne RSPB nature reserve. More than four years later it’s good to hear that this project is going well. Surveys show that the spiders are expanding outside of the original release areas. Toby Branston, RSPB Dorset…