This summer, a pair of Glossy Ibises built a nest at the RSPB nature reserve at Frampton Marsh – the first recorded nesting attempt by this species in the UK. The pair did not go on to raise young but this is a sign of things to come. RSPB Senior Sites Manager John Badley said:…
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Only 362 days until the next Bird Fair.
Well, that’s another Bird Fair of sun, rain, ice-creams, beer, books, binoculars, holidays, talks, friends, colleagues, queues and friendship. But it’s also the first one where Hen Harrier Day t-shirts were almost everywhere except on a very scantily clad lady who strolled through the food area. What are things coming to? Sunday was a quieter…
Oscar Dewhurst – Red-bellied Macaws
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Oscar writes: Red-bellied Macaws were also common at Los Amigos Biological Research Station. These flew past the canopy tower at about head height every evening, sometimes very close to the tower! Nikon D300s, Nikon 600mm f4 AFS-II
Bird Fair Day 2
The winner of the Fair to Nature farming award was unveiled at breakfast at the Bird Fair today and it was…drumroll….Graham Birch. Congratulations to him and to the two Highly Commended farmers (Ian Crabtree and Charles Porter)(click here for details). Thank you to Fair to Nature (formerly known as Conservation Grade) for a free breakfast,…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Ralph writes: if we are going to succeed at tackling big problems like climate change and raptor persecution we need to understand that people are influenced by their emotions and values. Humans as a species are not fact-processing machines and we need to adapt our approaches with this in mind – for more information see…
Bird Fair Day 1
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Well, that just shot past. I missed the opening ceremony. I gave half a talk and Tristan Reid gave the other half – it seemed to add up to a proper talk in the end. A lady was emotional about the fact that Turtle Doves had not turned up in her village this year –…
The book to buy at the Bird Fair
This morning I am talking about Passenger Pigeons in a double act with Tristan Reid in the Main Event Marquee at 1100 (until 1145). Come and listen to the tale of the Passenger Pigeon and what it signifies for us today in a countryside which is losing its farmland birds – and another pigeon, the…
Right arguments – northern, rocky maths
If there were any doubt about the fact that the establishment is mobilising to defend the indefensible – driven grouse shooting – then you only have to pick up the right wing press to have your doubts dismissed. In the run-up to Hen Harrier Day and the Inglorious 12th the defenders of driven grouse shooting…
Guest poem – The Blood and the Purple (to mark Hen Harrier Day) by John Smart
I and a colleague, who does much work for the Essex Wildlife Trust, attended the ‘Hen Harrier Day’ protest event on Sunday, at Derwent Water in the Peak District. It was heartening to mingle with so many like-minded folk who are appalled at the persecution of raptors across the grouse moors. And even more dismayed…
20 things you must do at the Bird Fair
Buy a copy of A Message from Martha Miss the opening ceremony (it’s not exactly Danny Boyle) but if you find yourself waking up at the end of it then do stay for an interesting talk by Tristan Reid about running for Turtles Doves and some other bloke about a bird that’s been extinct…