UK turtle dove survey warns of low numbers, but hope is on the horizon The first ever national turtle dove survey has estimated that just 2,100 pairs of turtle dove now breed in the UK This migratory bird is primarily at risk due to loss of habitat and unsustainable levels of hunting Although sobering results,…
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Sunday book review – An Eye for Birds by Bruce Kendrick
The author, as a 10-year-old spent six months in a sanatorium to recover from TB and started to develop his interest in birds, helped (as so many of us were) by the Observer Book of Birds. At school he found three mates who were interested in birds too and they explored the Wirral and its…
Sunday book review – Meadow by Iain Parkinson and Jim Holden
This is a sumptuous-looking book – truly beautiful. The photographs, by Jim Holden, are gorgeous. It’s a pleasure to flick through the pages, except that one doesn’t flick, one doesn’t want to miss any of them so even in a quick look through the book one finds oneself turning each page carefully. Iain Parkinson is…
Sunday book review – A Haven for Farmland Birds by John Meed
This book is about the author’s patch where he walks regularly and studies the farmland birds that it contains – especially the Grey Partridges and Corn Buntings. The site is on the southern edge of Cambridge and from reading the book it seems as though I have passed it several times on trains. Next…
Sunday book review – The Secret Life of the Adder by Nicholas Milton
This is a very attractive and interesting book about a species which, these days, I hardly ever see. When did you last see an Adder? I haven’t seen one for years and yet in my youth they were noticeably commoner. As were signs saying ‘Danger Adders’ which I always thought were put in places (eg…