It’s two weeks until the EU elections take place in the UK (and in the rest of the EU over the next few days). Will you vote Lib Dem, Labour, Conservative, UKIP or the Greens? The EU manifestos are a bit of a laugh – clearly none of the political parties is taking us, the…
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A new video on vultures and diclofenac
I’ve touched on the vulture/diclofenac story here before – and asked you to express your opinion that this veterinary drug needs to be banned from use in the EU anywhere it might kill vultures. Here is a new video from the Vulture Conservation Foundation and BirdLife International. Once you get past the very irritating American…
The call of the other BBS
I inherited my ‘other’ BBS square a couple of years ago. I hope that choice of word wasn’t in bad taste as I don’t know whether the previous observer died, moved or gave up. But this is the third year I have counted birds here. It doesn’t feel like ‘my’ square – it feels like…
Failed twitch
You won’t catch me chasing after rare birds very often. I got that out of my system years ago. For me to leap in the car to see a bird it has to meet some strict criteria: not too far away, a bird I really want to see, and a bird I will enjoy seeing…
The call of the BBS
I survey two squares for the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, and for my own interest, and for you. I made the first visit to each of them for 2014 over the weekend. The first of ‘my’ squares is one that I have surveyed for the past nine years. It’s a one-kilometre square of farmland near…
Casualties of Spring hunting on Malta
These images are all of birds shot, illegally, on Malta this spring.
Hen Harrier Day – 10 August 2014
I’ve been really impressed by the number of emails I’ve received by people who are keen – eager even! – to participate in a peaceful protest against Hen Harrier persecution. Over 200 people have contacted me, some promising cars full of supporters, and emails still arrive every day. There is clearly real enthusiasm for expressing…
Oscar Dewhurst – Dusky Titi
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Oscar writes: One of the primates I’ve seen most often here in Peru is the Dusky Titi monkey; in fact on several mornings they wake me up! They are seen fairly regularly in the buildings around the stations where photography is a little easier in the forest due to more light and fewer obstructions!…
Sunday book review – A Field Guide to Monitoring nests by Ferguson-Lees, Castell & Leech
I’m rubbish at nests and eggs. I have little experience in finding them and am usually pretty clueless at identifying them when I do stumble across them. This, then, is a book for me. The book is a handy size to take into the field. Each of 146 British breeding species gets its own account…
What did politicians offer?
I have a column in the current British Wildlife magazine about the relevance of the EU elections on 22 May, the Scottish independence vote in September and the next UK general election (just over a year away) to our wildlife. In it I also set out 20 policies that might get my vote in the…