I’ve praised this series of books before (see here), and I have to do so again. They are beautifully produced with lots of wonderful photographs and other images that are superbly reproduced and laid out on the pages. When you pick up one of this series you are struck by its weight and, as you…
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Sunday book review – Wild Green Wonders by Patrick Barkham
These are collected writings from the pen and keyboard of Patrick Barkham, one of our best nature writers and foremost environmental journalists. They are taken from his Guardian pieces over the last 20 years, and they make a delightful book. Patrick writes so well and sees things that others would miss. I must have read…
Sunday book review – Fergus the Silent by Michael McCarthy
This is a novel about nature, nature conservation and nature conservationists. It is a cracking tale and I read the book’s 440 pages pretty quickly in order to find out what happened in the lives of the main protagonists and in the natural world around them. We move from behavioural ecologists in Oxford to seabird…
Were you listening?
This blog is slightly about last week’s ‘announcement’ on new farming schemes in England that was made at the Oxford Farming Conference, but actually it is rather more about what people said about it. It’s more a listeners’ guide to what was said, than about what’s actually happening. The reason for that is partly because…
Sunday book review – Wild Waters by Susanne Masters
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This is a book for those who like swimming in the sea, lakes and rivers and might be interested in the wildlife that they come across, rather than a guide to aquatic life for the naturalist. On that basis I think it does a good job and works well. For those who plunge literally headlong…
Guest blog – Natural England and Hen Harriers by ‘One who knows’
A lot is written about Hen Harriers and upland issues. It is nice to talk about the positives, but the article that Patrick Barkham wrote for the Guardian on the 4 December 2021 was a strange piece indeed. I would have been less surprised had the article been written by the cheerleaders for grouse shooting,…
Dear Mr Pursglove
I’ve written to my MP, Tom Pursglove, a few times about the donations he received from Alexander Termerko (see here, here, here). And so I was very interested to see this video about Termerko, Aquind and donations to the Conservative Party – apparently my MP is simply one of 34 Conservative MPs to have received…
Guest blog – Gull rescue as a non-lethal solution to conflicts, an update by Kevin Newell
I am Kevin Newell owner and founder of Humane Wildlife Solutions we are Europe’s only non-lethal, ethical, environmentally-friendly alternative to pest control. We help businesses and individuals all over Europe find solutions to wildlife conflicts without causing harm to the wildlife or the environment in the process. In November 2020 I told you of a…
Press release – New UK Red List for birds: more than one in four species in serious trouble
New UK Red List for birds: more than one in four species in serious trouble The UK Red List for birds now stands at 70 species, a net increase of three from the last update in 2015. Swift, House Martin, Greenfinch and Bewick’s Swan added to the UK Red List, a growing list of birds…
This blog’s Books of the Year, 2021
Since my last Books of the Year review I have reviewed a further 50 books – it’s a record! Since these Books of the Year reviews are timed to come out to inform your Christmas book buying there are a few books which were published in 2020 that appear in this list but let’s still…