BLOG POSTS
Wuthering Moors 47
Walshaw Moor Estate has had its planning application refused. The reasons are quite interesting given the history of the site. I see that the Bronte Society and the RSPB objected – clearly successfully – good for them in my opinion! in fact there were 41 objections and one letter of support. Where were Natural England…
Government response to e-petition 65627
Our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting passed the 10,000 signature mark on 31 July and received a response after nearly five weeks of brow-wrinkling thought on behalf of Defra on 1 September (maybe they thought I’d be touched by it appearing on the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon). The sections in…
Last butterflies?
My late-flowering buddleia bush is still attracting a few butterflies – mostly Red Admirals. We’ve reached the time of year when the Swifts have gone, the butterflies are going and if I wake and it’s still dark I cannot be sure whether it is time to get up or not (rather than in the summer…
Let joy be unconfined!
Tomorrow I will address the pathetically evasive response from Defra to our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting (that gives you a hint as to what I think about it) but you may have noticed that it mentions that there are four pairs of Hen Harrier in England this year. The existence of the fourth…
Nothing controversial here
On Tuesday evening the World Land Trust organised a second evening of Controversial Conservation. This time it involved Chris Packham, Bill Oddie, Andrew Gilruth (from GWCT), John Burton (CEO of the World Land Trust and Garry Marvin – and me. Andrew was a bit outnumbered but he did really well – considering the sticky wicket…
Shade-grown coffee
I’m enjoying the shade-grown, organic, Fairtrade coffee that I bought from the RSPB. As New World warblers, confusing fall warblers (as the plate in Peterson described them) head south to the forests of Central and South America, I’m glad that my choice of coffee might be helping to protect their wintering habitat. And the bird-friendly…
Guest Blog – It’s bee-hind you! by Teresa Verney-Brookes
I have spent many years in the conservation field and have worked for various national organisations including The Wildlife Trust and more recently as Education Officer for the RSPB. I now run my own Outdoor Education /Forest School business called Green-Trees. I feel passionately about the need connect children with the wonders of the wildlife…
Passenger Pigeon day
Yesterday was a really nice day. I did a radio interview early in the morning on the fact that it was the exact centenary of the death of Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon on Earth, and then had breakfast in the garden before taking my ‘new’ son-in-law and daughter to the airport to set off…
A response, of a kind, from Defra
Our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting passed 16,800 signatures yesterday. Thank you to all who have signed. Yesterday also saw Defra’s response to the e-petition – earned when the 10,000th person signed the e-petition (but it has taken a while). I’m not much impressed by the response. Are you? I’ll tell you why not…