Alistair Gammell worked for RSPB for 40 years and was closely involved in the drafting of the Birds and Habitats Directives and for growing RSPB’s international work. He was RSPB’s first International Director and retired from RSPB in 2009. He then worked successfully to establish large-scale fully-protected marine reserves in the seas around the British…
BLOG POSTS
RSPB press release
New report reveals huge declines in Europe’s birds New data suggests around 600 million breeding birds have been lost in the EU and UK since 1980 A significant proportion of these losses are as a result of massive decreases in the more common and abundant bird species The largest drop in population is seen in…
Sunday book review – Vagrancy in Birds by Alexander Lees and James Gilroy
This is a scientific investigation and account of why and how birds turn up a long way from where they might be expected. It’s the science behind the biology which enables twitching to be a hobby. Both the authors are academics, both are birders – it’s a potent combination. The book begins with a review…
This ‘track’ must go
Bob Berzins wrote about this track in February 2017 and again in January 2019. This planning case has now been settled with the landowner having to remove the track, reinstate the vegetation and pay costs. This is a good result, though a slow result – see here for details.
Press release – Argaty Red Kites/Beaver Trust
Argaty Red Kites granted beaver translocation licence In a significant policy step, Argaty Red Kites in Perthshire has been granted Scotland’s first edge-of-range beaver translocation licence. Argaty, a working farm which is home to the award-winning red kite project, has been awarded a licence by the Scottish Government’s nature agency NatureScot for the release of…
Brood meddling challenge – some more
Following on from this morning’s blog, here is the court order. I may get it framed and put it in the loo. You’ll see from this that the RSPB did not, in the end, apply for permission to appeal whereas I did and was turned down – this is entirely normal as one is asking…
Justice for Hen Harriers?
Late last week, I heard that our appeal on the unlawfulness of Natural England’s brood-meddling scheme had failed. That judgment has now been handed down and is public. The RSPB’s similar but independent challenge has also failed. It’s difficult to say much about this result without sounding like a bad loser – tell me whether…
DIM Wallace, 1933-2021
Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace, (dim wallace as his artist’s signature was), known most usually as Ian Wallace, passed away in his sleep last Thursday night at the age of 88, not far short of his 89th birthday on 14 December. He was a writer, very definitely an artist, and a leading ornithological figure for a…
Sunday book review – The Colour of Silence by Clare Newton.
Comments Off on Sunday book review – The Colour of Silence by Clare Newton.
This approaches a coffee table book. Open the book at almost any page and you will find pleasant and arresting images, often close-ups of plants. And on many pages there are some thoughtful words, often quotes from the dead and famous. It’s a good book with which to spend some time. I enjoyed looking through…
I have a cold and a cough
They are just a cold and a cough because I’ve been sticking things up my nose and trying to find my tonsils to do lateral flow tests, all of which have been negative. I don’t think I’ve ever had hypochondiacal tendencies, I’m more likely to think and say ‘I expect it’s nothing’ but in these…