The long story of protecting the West Pennine Moors as an SSSI has come to its administrative climax with the publication of the legal documents following an NE Board meeting in July. Because new SSSIs aren’t that common, and new upland ones certainly aren’t, I actually glanced through the document with some interest, when my…
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Not really a book review – Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham
Chris Packham is a great guy – I admire his toughness and his persistence. But he gets an awful lot of very nasty flak from the shooters. Remember the Countryside Alliance called for the BBC to drop their best wildlife presenter a couple of years ago – well, don’t think that has gone away,…
Bird Fair books – some books already reviewed here
The authors’ forum at the Bird Fair is packed with good talks by authors of good books on each of the three days. Here are examples of talks by authors of books that have been reviewed here: Friday 1315-1400, Ian Newton, Farming and Birds Saturday 1415-1500,…
Bird Fair books – review – RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife (2nd edition)
Reviewed by Ian Carter This is clearly a book that has stood the test of time, deemed worthy of a new edition almost ten years on from its initial publication. After a few pages of introduction, the bulk of the book is taken up by the species accounts, roughly equally split into vertebrates, invertebrates…
Bird Fair books – review – Farming and Birds by Ian Newton
I sometimes wonder how many New Naturalists are read rather than collected as an investment – well this one should be read. Ian Newton has never produced a duff book – his works are characterised by clarity and suffused by a deep knowledge of the biology of the subjects on which he writes. This one…