Free food but no drink

On Saturday a few minutes in my favourite blackberrying patch provided an easy couple of ice cream containers of free food. Thee are plenty left and I must get out again before the weekend to harvest some more. The plan was to have a celebratory pub lunch afterwards, but the local pub, I found, is…

Red Kites in August

I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the August tally was a rather low 16 days out of 31 . January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days out of 31. April: 20 days out of 30. May:…

NE response to an FoI request

Fair enough – I thought that might be the response. Is it reasonable to take all 20 working days to answer an enquiry whose answer was always going to be this?  The 20 working day period for response is supposed to be the maximum available in order for the relevant enquiries to be made.  NE…

The future of grouse shooting?

Have a look at this machine that lobs clays towards grouse butts in ways that somewhat match the flight of Red Grouse packs over the shooters. I’d be interested to hear how similar the shooting experience is from those who blast grouse out of the air. Could this replace ‘real’ grouse shooting?  I somehow doubt…

National Trust reintroduces Water Voles on Exmoor

Water Vole.  Photo: National Trust/Steve Haywood Endangered water voles are returning to a stretch of river where they have been extinct for more than 30 years – thanks to a National Trust river and waterways project.  Once regularly spotted on Britain’s riverbanks, they are now the nation’s fastest declining land mammal, disappearing from 94 per…