I travelled into London yesterday which meant that I could read this month’s Birdwatch (the one with the Crane on the cover). My ‘political birder’ column is about vicarious liability. Usually,I look through the accounts of the rarities in Birdwatch and think to myself a mixture of ‘I’d never have realised what that was’, ‘I wish…
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Green belt
An interesting piece by Simon Jenkins in the Daily Telegraph. Does the Green Belt need a re-think? I’m never quite sure where it is or what it is, myself.
PR on either side of Kew
I’m a little bit puzzled by Kew Gardens. I’ve been asked a few times to sign e-petitions asking for their budget not to be cut but so far I haven’t done that. Here are two rather contrasting e-petitions: Urgently reverse existing, proposed, and further cuts to RBG Kew’s annual operating grant in aid (105000 signatures)…
Signing e-petitions
Do you find that you get asked to sign lots of e-petitions? And do you bother? Well, here are a few rules to help you on your way. Don’t sign an e-petition unless you’ve read it Don’t sign an e-petition unless you agree with it Don’t sign more than two e-petitions a day Don’t sign…
Protect our protected areas
My local patch of Stanwick Lakes is actually a small part of an EU SPA – a Special Protection Area for Birds, notified under the EU Birds Directive. But to me, it’s simply my local patch where I go for a walk to see birds, ignore plants, and to think about the world. It is…
Car crash on the radio
Natalie Bennett’s loss of thought in an interview today is what has happened to most of us who have been frequent public speakers. Such excruciating moments tend more often to win friends than to drive them away. In an age when people don’t want slick (I’ve always thought that Malcolm Rifkind was rather slick) then…
A laughing matter
Birdwatching is such a laugh. Standing for 4-5 hours in the rain (which occasionally turned to sleet just to show how cold it was) and a biting wind is our idea of fun. I blame that Findlay Wilde for having a birthday and luring us all there with the promise (richly fulfilled) of cake. But…
A read on the Wilde side
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Here’s a really good blog by young Findlay Wilde. My version of the same events will be posted tomorrow at 0600. The chocolate cake was very good.
OK, Hawk and Owl Trust – where are you?
A recap: the Hawk and Owl Trust has, unbeknownst to most of its members, become very keen on Hen Harrier ‘brood management’ (known to many as brood meddling). This move has positioned the H&OT very strangely in one of the most contentious debates in UK conservation. Rare Bird Alert held an online poll which showed…
Oscar Dewhurst – Puffin
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Oscar writes: A couple of summers ago I was on holiday in Scotland, and managed to get to the Isle of May, an island which harbours a large seabird colony, for a couple of days. You only get a few hours on the island, so after I’d spent some time photographing the Arctic Terns, which I’d…