The latest in the ‘You Forgot the Facts, Sir Ian’ campaign is reaching out to the farming community. Farmers are being asked to sign up to an error-riddled anti-RSPB letter, and when 100 of them do, then their names will be published. I’ve always wanted a list of the 100 most ecologically illiterate and rabid…
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I do like Mondays
I like every day. This Saturday I was talking at Martin Mere at the North West Birdwatching Fair – that was fun – and I’ll write about it. And yesterday I was having a look at a few grouse moors in the North of England – and I’ll write about that too (though not necessarily…
Oscar Dewhurst – Common Tern
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Oscar writes: This bird was repeatedly fishing from in front of the hide I was sitting it. The usual problem with birds is that they’re too far away, but it certainly didn’t apply here! Instead the bird often plunged into the water so close to the hide that it was too close to focus…
Sunday book review – My Year with Hares by Martin Hayward Smith
This book is lovely. There are lots of photographs, very good photographs, the author is a professional cameraman and photographer, and some pretty good words. It’s the story of a year spent looking at Brown Hares in North Norfolk, in the part of the world that birders and people with boats, both drive through quickly,…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Round up
Just a few things that might interest you: the photo above shows an ancient god and goddess – it’s nice to see Athena joining in on behalf of Hen Harriers and thank you to Ron Kinrade for the photo from the Naples Archeological Museum. Athena was (and still is, I guess), of course, quite keen…
GWCT at half-cock, shooting from the hip and mistaking its target
We all make mistakes but it would normally be expected that, when made, a more gracious acknowledgement of them might follow than that of the GWCT here. It is completely untrue to suggest that an earlier draft of the letter went as follows: Dear Sir William Langley’s comment piece on the RSPB had us rolling…
A few quiet moments
I wouldn’t have gone to Oundle just to look for a Black Redstart but since I had a reason for going anyway (getting a Robert Gillmor print (the cover of the 2013 Bird Fair programme in fact) framed) then I did go. And I needed a break. I’m writing two books at the moment, and…
Join the online rally for nature
On 9 December, the day before the close of the grouse shooting season, some of us are going to gather together at a rally to ask politicians to do more for nature. One of the things that I will be asking my MP is ‘What will the Labour Party do, if it forms part of…
Vote – for your national bird
We are getting close to the end of the first round of voting in this poll for the National Bird– organised by David Lindo (The Urban Birder). There have been over 60,000 votes so far – but things are quite tight at the top. You’ve got until the end of the month to influence the…