I have found this book a difficult one to review because I like and admire the author but I dislike and don’t admire the book. What follows is a review of the book, not of the author. It’s a book about predators in the UK – so raptors, Red Foxes, Badgers, seals get lots of…
BLOG POSTS
In today’s Guardian magazine
Is that a fire beater or a white flag? Grouse moor management under fire in this long article in today’s Guardian. Simon the gamekeeper says; Without burning you wouldn’t have the grouse estates: you would have bogs, you’d have rushes and nothing else https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/01/its-become-them-and-us-battle-to-burn-englands-moorlands …in a way that almost makes it sound as though he…
Guest blog – The impact of moorland burning on air quality in the Hope Valley, by Mike Joseph
Michael Joseph lives and works in the Peak District. He moved there in 2014 from London and enjoys cycling and running in the area. He has been involved in several projects over the years including the Bradwell Hydro Project and the Hope Valley Air Quality project, both of which were funded by the Peak District National…
Guest blog – HS2, Natural England and Jones Hill Wood, by Dominic Woodfield
Dominic Woodfield is the Managing Director of Bioscan, a long established and well-respected consultancy specialising in applied ecology. He is a life-long birder, a specialist in botany, habitat restoration and creation and in protected fauna including bats, herpetofauna and other species. He is also a highly experienced practitioner in Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations…
Sunday book review – Much Ado About Mothing by James Lowen
I’m not much of a naturalist, just a half-decent birder and formerly a better than half-decent ornithologist, and so I walk around the natural world missing most things. Birds are easy, even if you don’t look at them they shout, beautifully, at you. Butterflies are great, partly because they are fairly manageable in numbers, but…
Press release – SCOTLAND the big picture
Chain of rewilding ‘stepping stones’ to tackle Scotland’s nature and climate crises A chain of nature-rich hotspots bringing together a diverse group of estates, farms, crofts and community-owned land is to be created across Scotland with a new rewilding network launched by charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. The Northwoods Rewilding Network will allow more of…
Slow Spring
It feels like a slow Spring. Not only is this apple tree about 10 days behind last year but so are many of our migrant birds. Although the ‘first records’ for arrival dates of spring migrant birds in the UK, or parts of it like my home county of Northants, are distinctly on the early…
Another petition to ban driven grouse shooting
Far be it from me to put people off any petition against driven grouse shooting but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to sign this one. I’m not sure its timing is wise, and as far as I know it has not had the benefit of any ground being prepared so that it might be…
RSPB press release – 2020 on RSPB nature reserves
2020: an amazing year for wildlife on RSPB reserves New report shows that despite Covid restrictions affecting vital conservation work many threatened species had a bumper year on RSPB reserves in 2020. Highlights included breeding spoonbills, egrets and rare plants, butterflies and spiders. More than 18,500 species have now been found living on RSPB reserves. Despite Covid-19 restrictions affecting access and conservation work in the…
This blog (10) – from here on
This blog, Standing up for Nature, is run by Mark Avery and has provided content for over a decade: 8,443 posts so far and 8.2m pageviews. From now on, 21 April 2021, this blog will post only at weekends with authored posts by Mark Avery, guest blogs and book reviews. All existing content will remain….