This Laburnum in the garden looks very pretty at the moment, don’t you think? If you stand back and look at it, it’s really lovely. And I can see it from several rooms in the house, so it’s brightening my days right now. But if you stand underneath it, as I did, it hums. It…
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National Trust – High Peak
At last week’s conference at Newton Rigg, the Director General of the National Trust (and former top-mandarin at Defra) Dame Helen Ghosh spoke. I know Helen just a little, having met her in her Defra role but the longest time I have ever spent in her company was when I showed her around the RSPB…
What the Wildlife Trusts are saying about tomorrow’s EU elections
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The following is taken from a Wildlife Trusts’ press release: The UK will elect 73 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) tomorrow who will have significant influence over a range of important EU policy decisions. For people who care about the future of nature in the UK, these decisions are crucial. During the next…
Natura 2000 Day – nature feeling the pinch
This is, apparently, the second ‘Natura 2000 Day‘. Natura 2000 sites are those designated under the Birds and Habitats Directives of the EU – how dull does that sound? But some of your best birding moments have been spent in such places – The New Forest, The Wash, The Coto Donana, the Camargue, the Danube…
Greens set to make a difference
I’ll be voting Green tomorrow morning in the EU elections. It seems I won’t be alone as the Green Party of England and Wales stands a good chance of coming fourth ahead of the Liberal Democrats (and behind UKIP, Labour and the Conservatives – perhaps in that order). I will vote Labour in the next…
Hen Harrier day in the Peak District – where shall we go?
Interest is certainly growing in Hen Harrier Day – 10 August 2014. This event, to protest (peacefully and legally) against the illegal killing of Hen Harriers will take place in Lancashire (though I don’t know much about that), Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. I have the challenge of organising the Derbyshire event. I have quite…
Plants
At the weekend I became a volunteer for Plantlife and took part in their Wildflowers Count survey I had to walk across an allocated 1km square and record which plants out of a list of 200 I saw. Luckily, the list has such challenging species as Holly, Hawthorn, Common Nettle, Ivy and Daisy so I…
Hen Harrier Day
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I was a bit nervous parking my car with its rear tyres overlapping the double yellow lines. Most of the car was OK but those rear tyres were on the double yellows. And I was parking outside the police station. I went into the cop shop, I won’t say which one (it’s good to keep…
Upland balance
Last week I spent two enjoyable days at Newton Rigg at a conference on the future of the uplands. The two days were quite enjoyable and very interesting. I may write a blog or two about the conference because it was so interesting. Hen Harriers were mentioned a few times even before my talk, the…
Oscar Dewhurst – Mistle Thrush
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Oscar writes: At the beginning of 2013 I spend a couple of days photographing an ear-full of Waxwings (yes that’s actually the collective noun for them!). One bird that wasn’t pleased to see them was this Mistle Thrush, which tried its best to shoo them away. It was to no avail though, as within four…