My first blog of the day is posted at 6am, so when I started producing a second blog each day, 6pm seemed to have a certain symmetry about it. I definitely use this second blog of the day in a slightly different way – it’s usually less contentious, less hard-hitting and sometimes produces updates etc…
BLOG POSTS
Farmland wildlife and taxpayer short-changed
Yesterday Defra announced what it is going to do with £11bn of your money – the answer is ‘not much’ except give it to farmers. That is £11,000,000,000. If you earn £100k a year (I bet you don’t) then it is the whole of your salary for 110,000 years. This is what the RSPB said:…
Malta
I recently received this letter from the British High Commission in Malta after emailing them to ask them, what they were doing on my behalf to make my feelings about illegal spring hunting clear to the Maltese government. Dear Dr Avery, Thank you for your email about the hunting of wild birds in Malta….
Hen Harrier Day – 10 August in the Peak District
I was in the Peak District for a few days last week – after seeing a Hen Harrier in Snowdonia at 0643 on the 60th anniversary of the Protection of Birds Act becoming law. I celebrated with a big Welsh breakfast (see above)(and a whoop of joy,…
Open Farm Sunday
I did a turn for my favourite local farmer yesterday on Open Farm Sunday. Duncan Farrington, of the delicious Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil (and the even more delicious Mellow Yellow garlic mayonnaise) had an event just down the road. I spent the day, in the sunshine, talking to people about birds, as I have done…
Oscar Dewhurst – Fox
Oscar writes: I took this at the start of 2013 when we had snow in London. Luckily it fell on a weekend so I could spend all my time trying to find the foxes to photograph. On this morning it took me a couple of hours before I came across one, but after that it…
Sunday book review – Urban Peregrines by Ed Drewitt
I like this book – it’s clearly written, has lots of interesting facts and some cracking images. It took me a while to ‘get’ the cover – that road sign – you’re probably quicker than I am. This is a good book about a bird which represents a conservation success story. Peregrines are much commoner…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Please sign my e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting and make it your e-petition too
Arguments to make you pause before signing this e-petition
I’d like you to sign my e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting in England please. However, I’m not going to make out that all grouse moor owners, managers or gamekeepers are evil and hateful. I quite like quite a few of them, personally. I can’t understand what they get out of shooting Red Grouse but…
10 reasons not to sign my e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting
My e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting has attracted quite a few signatures – I don’t know exactly how many, by now, as this blog was written on Tuesday and I have been travelling in the north of England and Wales since then… How mysterious…. [actually even the north of England has wifi these days…