On Tuesday evening I gave a talk to the Lincolnshire Bird Club. I set off on Tuesday afternoon from my home in east Northants and before the car had warmed up I’d seen a pair of tumbling lapwings in a place where I wouldn’t normally see them. It must be spring! A little further down…
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Budget Day
A little while ago the UK economy lost its triple-A rating credit rating. Would you say that the UK has a triple-A rating on its ecology? What are the striking gains and losses of wildlife that you have noticed in your life? Do you feel better off or worse off, from an ecological point…
Much-needed patronage
When Prince Charles is having an evening in with the Princess Royal, HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, I wonder whether they ever, as keen Patrons of most of the UK’s wildlife conservation organisations, discuss the state of nature and the state of nature conservation. Would they ever think of writing a letter…
Who is patronising your NGO?
If you put ‘Prince Charles’ into the search engine of the Wildlife Trusts it asks you whether you mean ‘price charge’ – you have to laugh don’t you? However, if you put ‘HRH The Prince of Wales’ into the search engine then you do find that Prince Charles is the Patron of the Wildlife Trusts….
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
Popes and penguins The new Pope is an Argentinian who has taken the name of Francis. The Falkland Islanders, but not the penguins or albatrosses, have voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. Does the Pope like penguins, I wonder? Kentucky bluebirds etc In two months time this blog will be going on tour…
Normal service will be resumed tomorrow…
So now we know… We know that Sprinter Sacre is as good as we thought he probably was, and that Hurricane Fly was good enough to win back the Champion Hurdle, but that Long Run (good though he is) was not good enough to win back the Gold Cup. Set against the inexorable rise of…
Cheltenham Day 4 – the last day
The last day – and it will soon be time to start counting down the days to the next Cheltenham Festival. The Big Race of the day is the Big Race of the meeting – the Gold Cup, run over 3.25 miles (and a bit) and with lots of fences to jump too. The Gold…
Cheltenham Day 3 – a day for winning money!
Day 3 – a day for winning money. This is most people’s least favourite day of the Festival but they are wrong – tomorrow is the worst day of the Festival with just the Gold Cup to look forward to with any real relish. Today the big race is the World Hurdle and that’s a…
Cheltenham Day 2 – the best day!
The Wednesday of Cheltenham is the best day – easily the best day. It’s partly the best day because it’s not the first day and it’s not the last day, and the first of the middle two days is bound to be better than the second of the middle two days so, it stands to…
Cheltenham Day 1 – the day of hope!
The first day of the Cheltenham Festival. The Day of Hope! You’ve lost no money at all and there is everything to play for with plenty of time to add to wins or recoup losses (or indeed to plunge further and further down a slippery losing hill to financial oblivion – but this is the…