The last time I was in Malmesbury there was a Fieldfare looking over the building site; this time there was a Chiffchaff. Whether the Chiffchaff’s song was celebrating the activity on the site of what will be a new Waitrose store is difficult to know, but there was certainly a lot going on with around…
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FoI request to Defra
Dear Defra Did a Minister see and approve the Defra response to John Armitage’s e-petition on the licensing of grouse moors? If so, which Minister?
Why isn’t this even bigger news?
The poisoning of 12 Red Kites and four buzzards in Ross-shire is shocking. See here, here, here, here and here. How long do we have to put up with this type of carnage? Red Kites by Don Macauley via wikimedia commons Buzzard by Andreas Trepte via wikimedia commons
Arctic Tern by Oscar Dewhurst
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Oscar writes: This was taken on the Isle of May last Summer. I’d never seen or photographed these birds before, so spent most of the day with them. Nikon D300s, Nikon 200-400mm f4 VR. Mark writes: Quite by chance, I saw an Arctic Tern yesterday evening at Stanwick Lakes. Although it’s often a bit of…
Sunday book review – The Art of Conservation by Gillmor, Davies and Appleton
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This is an attractive book which tells some of the story of the 25 years of Bird Fairs at Rutland Water. The story is told through the artwork of the posters of the different fairs. The first Bird Fair was in 1989 and raised £3000 for the ICBP ‘Stop the Massacre campaign (let us note…
The week in birding by Jonnie Fisk
Mark writes: The reward for information about the deaths of 12 Red Kites and four Buzzards in Ross-shire keeps increasing; £5k from the RSPB, £5k from an anonymous donor and over £1k from the public so far. To contribute, visit this Just Giving page. Do Wood Ducks cross the Atlantic sometimes? And did the…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Mark writes: Ralph’s cartoon reminds me of a speech by Robert Kennedy as follows: University of Kansas, March 18, 1968 ‘Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product – if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air…
That makes a lot of sense
The pilot badger cull was inhumane and ineffective. The NFU says that farmers are ‘bitterly disappointed’ that it won’t be rolled out further.
Guest Blog – Where is the UK’s Youth Nature Conservation Movement? by Danny Heptinstall
Danny Heptinstall is a 24 year old birder, naturalist and aspiring conservationist currently researching red kites at the University of Aberdeen. Here he presents a shortened version of an article that asks “Where is the UK’s Youth Conservation Movement, and what can be done to find it?” I’m a young conservationist, and I get annoyed…
Guest blog – Let’s not let our wildlife-rich grasslands fade away by Colin Raven
I can trace my interest in nature back to childhood walks in the 1960s with my grandparents and their whippet Rip, to West Meadow and Lord’s Ground near the fenland village of Willingham in Cambridgeshire. With their tall hedgerow elms and a kaleidoscope of wildflowers, these ancient pastures, teeming with rabbits for Rip to chase,…