I have had a response (Tuesday evening) from Defra to my request for information on the Hen Harrier Sub-group. Most of it is a series of e-mails trying to fix dates for meetings but there are just a few interesting bits too. The information will also be published on www.govuk – good luck to you…
BLOG POSTS
Liz Truss – do one good thing
The continuing decline of farmland birds in our countryside (red line) is a clear sign that we are farming unsustainably (there are plenty of other signs – but this is a pretty good one). Yes 2012-13 was a pretty bad period for resident birds (and we are mostly talking residents here) but hardly one out…
Something from Defra
I had a response (yesterday evening) from Defra to my request for information on the Hen Harrier Sub-group. Most of it is a series of e-mails trying to fix dates for meetings but there are just a few interesting bits too. The information will also be published on www.govuk – good luck to you if…
Guest blog – Birders Against Wildlife Crime by Charlie Moores
A little over two years ago I interviewed a certain Dr Mark Avery for a podcast. Mark had prepared a list of ’10 things we can all do to become activists’, and it had some inspiring sentences written into it. Perhaps not ‘Ask not what your country can do for you‘ inspiring, but practical, sensible,…
Natural England coming clean, at last, on Hen Harrier tracking data.
Natural England has just published some of its data (that I believe we paid for – as taxpayers) on satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. This is to be welcomed as what can possibly be gained by keeping secret data that in some cases are seven years old? It’s not exactly data of the quality of those published…
Guest blog by Robert Adams – Petition to oppose the planned expansion of Sandy Beaches Caravan Site
Folks who love Spurn – we are asking for your help. The Spurn peninsula is about to be cut across with caravans almost from the sea to the River Humber shore line. Local people, the Spurn Bird Observatory and many of our visitors are deeply concerned. We ask you to help us by taking action….
Guest Blog – Monitoring by Prof Tim Birkhead FRS
I am a professor of Zoology at the University of Sheffield and a life-longer birder. I study reproduction – mainly infidelity in birds – and have kept a study of guillemots on Skomer Island going since the 1970s. I’m passionate about research and teaching undergraduates; I also enjoy communicating science to the public and have…
Not about birds at all.
This blog is not about birds, nature conservation, politics or any of the usual subjects. The lady picture above died 96 years ago today and was named Lucy Jane Saint. She was my mum’s aunt – although she died eight years before my mother was born. My Great Aunt, known to her family as ‘Jinny’,…
Saturday
This is the first time for years and years the RSPB AGM has been held away from London (and it’s back in London next year). The ICC in Birmingham was a short walk from New Street station and a perfectly good venue. As I arrived I remembered that I had been here before – for…
Guest Blog – There is nothing Green about these Country ‘Sports’ by Caroline Allen of the Green Party
Caroline Allen is a practising vet and the Green Party Spokesperson on Animals as well as Co-Chair of London Green Party. Caroline has worked on many animal-protection issues, most recently campaigning against the badger cull, expansion of factory farming and the overuse of antibiotics in animal farming. Shooting birds such as grouse and pheasants is…