Thinking about next week’s Game Fair at Blenheim, I remember a few years ago sitting next to the Telegraph columnist Charlie Brooks at lunch on the Friday. Mr Brooks had just recently written a piece slagging off the RSPB so we had a few things to chat about and the conversation roamed over the usual…
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Thinking about ponds
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I spent Wednesday mostly thinking about ponds. This wasn’t just a reverie – I am a trustee of the excellent small conservation charity ‘Pond Conservation’. They certainly didn’t choose me because of my great knowledge of ponds, but I said ‘yes’ to Pond Conservation because I admire what they are doing, and at their AGM…
Fair point
I recently received in the post my tickets for the CLA Game Fair. This year it is at Blenheim at the end of next week. The last time the Game Fair was at Blenheim the queues into the car park were horrendous so if you come next week, my advice is to set off early –…
I’d like to be ‘rurban’ please
The furthest you can get away from the sea in the UK is about 70 miles and it is up a hill in Derbyshire. I wonder what is the furthest place away from the countryside? I am guessing that it will be some point in central London – maybe the House of Commons itself? –…
Badgers
Let’s be clear about one thing right from the start – badgers play an important role in spreading bovine tuberculosis (bTB) to cattle herds. But we’ll come back to that. This week should see an English government announcement on badger culling. The announcement must come very soon if it is to happen before the Parliamentary…
Bears, condors, kites and foxes – not for cuddling
The recent killing of a male hiker by a grizzly bear is the first such death in Yellowstone National Park for 25 years and seems to be a highly unfortunate case where walkers accidentally disturb a bear with young and the mother bear defends her cubs. A month ago I had my own close encounter…
The raptor haters – Simon Jenkins
The raptor haters is an occasional series of articles on people who slag off birds of prey. Sir Simon Jenkins is an amazingly gifted writer and obviously a very clever man. I love the way he writes and I read his articles for pleasure as well as for education. Back in May 2008, when the…
East Africa drought – two things we can all do
The worst drought in East Africa for 60 years is causing famine in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Heart-rending images cross our TV screens as they have in previous years – do we react with action or by switching channels? The easier, but important, way to react is to send money to cope with the current…
This blog…
…will aim to cover a variety of subjects as time goes on – including peat, marine protected areas, raptor persecution, habitat recreation, politics, government agencies, valuing nature, forestry …will treat sensitively any information sent to it …would benefit from some decent photographs – does anyone have any suggestions? …will occasionally have guest blogs from invited…
Mellow farming
Yesterday I visited one of my favourite local farmers. Duncan Farrington has pulled off an amazing trick – he has made a commodity into a luxury. And he has got Nigella Lawson to back him. I first met Duncan a good few years ago when I volunteered to do some bird surveys for the RSPB…