We, by which I mean the supporters of a ban on driven grouse shooting, are now 12,000+ signatures ahead of the forces of conservatism who wish this unsustainable hobby of shooting birds for fun and profit to continue. But it’s not quite as simple as that, as there are three e-petitions including Ed Hutchings’s e-petition,…
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Paul Leyland – Early Bumblebee
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Paul writes: at the start of the new year I get to thinking about spring and when the first hibernating insects will appear. Some of the most visible starters are bumblebees. Despite its name the Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is not necessarily the first to appear but it usually awakes from hibernation in early March,…
Wild food (27) – Sheathed Woodtuft by Ian Carter
I’ve taken a few calculated risks when eating wild fungi over the years but with this recent find I inadvertently pushed the limits well beyond my comfort zone. They were growing low down on a pile of cut logs at the edge of an old meadow. I initially thought they were Velvet Shanks, a common…
Sunday book review – A Shadow Above by Joe Shute
This book, by a Sheffield-based journalist, is about the Raven and its comeback. It’s a good read as the author travels around the country visiting places where Ravens live, many of them places where Ravens have recently returned. He interviews naturalists and land owners from Orkney to Kent, and has also done a good…
Tim Melling – Severtzov’s Tit-warbler
I first encountered this species in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kazakhstan about 15 years ago when I thought it was the most beautiful species I had ever seen. It reminded me of a Lilac-breasted Roller, but in miniature as it is even smaller than a Willow Warbler. It is in the same general family…