My American friend who visited recently would have quite liked to have been shown a little owl, and I would have quite liked to have shown him one, but they are dropping out of my life. And if you can’t see a little owl in Northamptonshire then where can you see them, I ask? The…
BLOG POSTS
DC, Stanwick and London
Last week I met up with an American birder whom I’d last seen in Rock Creek Park back in May, and took him for a walk in the drizzle around Stanwick Lakes. He had a list of species that he would quite like to see, and many of them were possible on a visit at…
Guest blog – Peter Watson, the Deer Initiative
Just before Christmas I was sat in the Head Office of the Deer Initiative when I was made aware of a deer vehicle collision involving James “Arg” Argent, star of The Only Way is Essex, just outside of Dundee. In doing so Arg and his companions joined a group of between 42000 and 74000 vehicles…
Many bits and pieces
Last week this blog passed its 2000th comment – which seems pretty good going. I am pleased to see that regular commenter Dennis Ames provided that 2000th comment alongside 137 others over the months. I do enjoy seeing all your comments- whether I agree with them or not – do keep them coming please. I…
NGOs need to hunt in packs
This is an excellent opinion piece from the RSPB’s Conservation Director, Martin Harper. And, this is the time when all conservation organisations will be tested – we need a very strong and concerted approach from the wildlife NGOs otherwise their individual efforts may not be strong enough to achieve what is necessary.
Is this what the Lib Dems are for….?
The news that the government is to consult on the possibility of a major hub airport in the Thames Estuary comes as no surprise following the Chancellor’s autumn statement but does open up a new environmental battle. I’m still waiting to hear from The Treasury, via my MP Louise Mensch, on why they think that…
Better than games
Tuesday was the centenary of Robert Falcon Scott‘s expedition reaching the South Pole – five weeks after the Norwegians had got there first. But Amundsen did get there first, and he has a claim for having got to the North Pole first too, before dying in a plane crash in the Arctic in 1928 when…
Still in denial
Guy Smith, just an ordinary farmer (not!), was doing his usual thing of trying to undermine the Farmland Bird Index on Farming Today yesterday. He has been making the same points for years and he knows perfectly well what the answers to them are. But this time he seemed to have quite a lot of…
What the eye doesn’t see….
If local farmers were killing hundreds of birds every year then there would be uproar, but if you can’t see those deaths then it’s easier to ignore them. I was pleased to hear that the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority closed some areas of a local fishery after news of the deaths of hundreds…
Trusting in nature?
Last week I wrote a blog, mildly questioning the NT’s own claim to be one of Europe’s leading nature conservation organisations. That blog ruffled a few feathers but also seemed to strike a chord with quite a few readers of this blog. I was very grateful to David Bullock for his reply which was…