Have you noticed that Britain’s future in the EU has been in the news recently? David Cameron’s speech on the subject says that if he is Prime Minister after the next General Election then he’s going to ask us all whether we want to stay in the EU. I can tell him my answer now …
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My BGBW results
I’ve just finished my hour-long Big Garden Birdwatch count – I didn’t need a long piece of paper to keep count. The total was four house sparrows and that’s the lowest species total, bird total and house sparrow total ever for my garden. Oh well – that’s the point of it – to count what…
BGBW Sunday
I know what Ralph means – I’d like to add red kite to my BGBW list this year but how interested in my garden would one have to be to be ‘countable’? Will my honesty be tested today? I’ll let you know how I got on with BGBW with another blog today some time after…
What will you see?
Easy to be friendly
I went to a Greenpeace event on Wednesday evening – about their ‘Be a fisherman’s friend‘ campaign. There were some very nice inshore fishermen there too – people with whom it was easy to be friendly. These were fishermen from NUTFA and their website is well worth a look. It’s easy to be friendly with…
Get ready for BGBW
This weekend is the annual Big Garden Birdwatch. BGBW has become a national institution and I love it. I’ll be sitting down to stare out at my garden for an hour next Sunday. The feeders are filled already. Will the usual house sparrows, collared doves, blackbirds, robin and goldfinches flock to or shun my garden…
NWCU secure for one more year
The Home Office will provide specific funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit of £136,000 for 2013-14. This is good news. And some of the credit must go to all those who contacted their MPs on this issue. And some credit must go to those MPs who responded by signing EDM 603 and by raising…
Guest Blog – Good v Bad Science – Good v Bad Birdwatching by David Christian Rose
David is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Cambridge. His research looks into how the interpretation of climate science affects biodiversity conservation policy-making and practice in England. He is a keen birdwatcher and has a strong interest in British wildlife conservation. I have been very interested in recent weeks to read…
Half-cooked protection
Those Yorkshiremen get everywhere don’t they? Certainly Captain James Cook seems to have done. His journeys of discovery are generally regarded as being Pacific Ocean expeditions but to get to the Pacific you have to start in the Atlantic and either hang a right and go around Cape Horn or hang a left and go…
Guest Blog – What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding? by Colin Williams
Colin Williams is a writer who explores our relationship with the natural world. He is also a conservationist and for many years worked with cetacean conservation organisation ORCA surveying whales and dolphins in northern Europe. He’s also worked for Planet Whale as a whale watching guide and in 2012 was writer-in-residence at WhaleFest. The…