The Corncrake was easy, the chips were difficult. I didn’t ‘need’ a bag of chips but I did want a bag of chips. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and I’d spent quite a lot of it out in the sun enjoying nature. I was listening, unsuccessfully, for Turtle Doves at a local farm before…
BLOG POSTS
Crex! Crex! Crex!
I am going out to listen for Corncrakes. There will not be a blog first thing tomorrow morning. I have heard Cuckoos in two places today. I’m pretty sure there are more of them around this spring/summer than there have been for several, many, years. Quite a few people seem to agree, as evidenced by…
The week in birding by Jonnie Fisk
Don’t you think that birds are amazing? And don’t you think that Jonnie is very talented?
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Branching out
You know how keen I am on plants – I wouldn’t want to walk on anything else. And so, it may come as some surprise that I am quite excited about starting to do some plant monitoring. There – I’ve said it. I promised the nice people at Plantlife last autumn that I would give…
A good year for Cuckoos?
I’ve heard lots of Cuckoos this year. It seems like a good year for them – what do you think? Last year, around now, I headed off to the USA to research my book on Passenger Pigeons and I had had two records of Cuckoo up until this date (I know, because Birdtrack lets me…
It’s May
The May is well and truly out in east Northamptonshire. This line of Hawthorn bushes really caught my eye. Isn’t it lovely? Although, in the Lake District on Tuesday I saw plenty of Primroses, and in Lancashire yesterday, and West Yorkshire today, I saw lots of Bluebells. Do enjoy spring, whatever stage it is…
JNCC nonsense
JNCC easily slip under my radar but they aren’t irrelevant. Here is a paper which claims to advance the thinking on protected areas but shows signs that it might take thinking backwards instead. Here is a most unpleasant quote: “It seems that for protected areas to be more effective in the future, becoming a flexible…
Guest Blog – A Poem for Swifts by Steve Halton
SKY-WORDS: A POEM FOR SWIFTS I’m not interested in being the first to see them, Or seeing them on the earliest date; That’s not important… And I’m happy with that… I could go chasing them (I know where they are) But I won’t, I’ll wait Until They judge it’s time To show themselves To me…
The curse of this blog…aaaarrrrghhh!
Have you noticed that this blog can cast its spell quite widely? Cambridge haven’t won the Boat Race since they attracted our attention last year (here, here, here, here, here, here and here, here). This year’s performance was particularly dire, wasn’t it. Whereas as soon as Derby City Council renounced their daft ideas to wreck…