Well done to the RSPB, and the Wildlife Trusts, for launching an impressive e-action over the weekend to persuade the Prime Minister to back his Secretary of State and go ahead with a 15% transfer of funds from one part of the CAP (the rather useless part) to another part of the CAP (the rather…
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Charles Clover’s £398
I like Charles Clover but I don’t (by any means) always agree with him. His column in today’s Sunday Times is entitled ‘Greedy farmers a-milking it, no turtle doves and no partridges either‘ and describes Peter Kendall as ‘the cocky ambassador of agri-business‘. Wow! Even I am more polite about PK than that! Charles Clover,…
More on that 15%
Although the NFU says that it has written to every MP on the subject of CAP reform they don’t put that letter (or those letters) on their website as far as I can see. What they do say on their website is that they are ‘increasingly infuriated‘ with the government position. Only the farming industry…
Where will your £400 go?
As I was driving home from Cheltenham races yesterday I was switching through the radio channels and heard the Deputy President of the NFU and my former colleague Gareth Morgan on PM (click here – after 20 mins). Meurig Raymond clearly hasn’t been paying much attention to the silver-tongued Peter Kendall as his answers weren’t…
The week in birding – Jonnie Fisk
Saturday Cartoons from Ralph Underhill – two of them
Give as You Live
I have been using Give as You Live for over a year. After the usual amount of clicking and filling in fields you can open an account which allows you automatically to donate some of what you spend to a charity of your choice – and there is a big choice! Now I know that…
Announcing another artist for this blog – Jonnie Fisk
From Saturday lunchtime I will be featuring, every week, the artwork of Jonnie Fisk. Jonnie says “I’m a 18 year old birder, insect-enthusiast and frustrated artist from North Yorkshire, having been held in rapture by nature for most of my life. My birding is split between the moors around my house, Beaver Dyke Reservoir and…
Red Kites are normal now
Yesterday I took the train into London to meet the publishers of ‘A Message from Martha‘ for a chat. I added Great Spotted Woodpecker to my Wellingborough Station list but looked in vain for Red Kites. It was a dull day but they are usually mooching around the valley in which Wellingborough Station and the…
Return to Swanwick
I’ve been attending BTO Conferences at Swanwick in Derbyshire, off and on, for about 35 years. Over the years some things have changed and others haven’t. Hardly changed at all: there are always some inspiring talks – Ellie Owen’s was a highlight for me this year there is always a feeling of comradeship amongst…