Parliament is dissolved in 11 days’ time and that is all the time that remains for Defra to do something this year! It could be about to release a report suggesting a lead-free future, but I somehow doubt it. It could be about to throw lots of money in the direction of the Hawk and…
BLOG POSTS
Guest blog – In favour of the EU by Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson is an independent professional ecologist with more than 15 years experience. When in the field, he specialises in avian and invertebrate ecology, with a smattering of botanical surveying thrown in for good measure. His background as a consultant has led to a keen interest in EU and UK law in the context of…
Pitcairn marine protected area announced
I’m ‘on the road’ so this blog is very short, but I was delighted to hear that hidden in the budget documentation was the announcement that there is to be a marine protected area around the Pitcairn Islands. This is a subject that this blog has promoted over the years (see here, here, here, here, here,…
Read BBC Wildlife’s election special
If you are going to vote on 7 May – and I do hope you will – then your preparation should start by reading the April issue of BBC Wildlife magazine (giraffe on cover). The 6-page election special asks eight questions of the Conservatives, Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, Plaid, SNP and UKIP. The questions…
Gideon (George) Osborne to make environmental announcement in tomorrow’s budget?
Watch this space… …or in fact the Budget speech which you may well hear before I do.
First Hedgehog conservation area
A Hedgehog conservation area (of 90ha) has been established by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Solihull Metropolitan Council, comprising the WWT’s Elmdon Manor nature reserve and the council’s Elmdon Park. The project is funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Hedgehog Officer, Simon Thompson, extends an invitation to Solihull’s residents to participate in a large…
Two weeks to go
Ban driven grouse shooting Our e-petition passed 21,500 signatures yesterday, with two weeks to go (and after less than 10 months). The e-petition is on the Westminster government website which means that it has political clout. Already it is one of the most successful e-petitions ever – being in the top 0.5% of all e-petitions…
Jilly Cooper needs your help
Jilly Cooper was talking about the vote for the national bird on the Today programme (at about 2hr 23 min into the programme) this morning and admitted to not knowing what a Hen Harrier was. This is despite her 1976 book being called…
Vote Hen Harrier as national bird
Today, the voting for Britain’s national bird starts in earnest. The 10 shortlisted species, on the basis of 70,000 votes cast last autumn are (in alphabetical order): Barn Owl Blackbird Blue Tit Hen Harrier Kingfisher Mute Swan Puffin Red Kite Robin Wren You can vote now and right up until after the polls close in…
Oscar Dewhurst – Red Deer
Comments Off on Oscar Dewhurst – Red Deer
Oscar writes: I only live 15 minute’s drive from Richmond Park, so find myself there fairly regularly each Autumn for the Red Deer rut. It’s not uncommon to come across over 100 photographers on a weekend, but on the morning this was taken it was considerably quieter. I found this stag strutting his stuff in an…