No environmental content in this speech but that is understandable. I preferred to read the speech than listen to it. I’m happy with Mr Starmer so far – he’s sensible, he’s for fairness and he has some experience of doing a difficult job in the real world. I’m keen to hear what he will say…
BLOG POSTS
A newcomer…
…looks interesting. Feargal Sharkey, Richard Benyon, George Monbiot and Ben Goldsmith – a heady mixture… I’ll watch with interest. It’s good to see a member of the DEFRA board and an ex-DEFRA minister have so much faith in our environment department that they join a campaigning group.
Gordon Yates – Jack Snipe
Gordon Yates is a wildlife photographer and many of his superb images of Hen Harriers have graced these pages over the years. He sent me this image of a Jack Snipe in the snow and said that it was the first he’d ever managed to photograph. It’s rare to see the bird this well. Jack…
Power to which people?
This report was published earlier this week – it is about competition and red tape and how we’d all be better off with more of the former and less of the latter. It may be full of brilliant stuff but it irritates me a lot as it exemplifies what the Right of politics does so…
Tim Melling – Red Grouse in the snow
Tim writes: Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) usually defend a territory throughout winter, in which the pair will breed in spring. Birds that haven’t managed to find a territory form a nomadic flock and will take up any vacancies if any territory-holders die. But over the last few days I have noticed that all the usual…
RSPB press release – MacGillivray’s prion inches closer to extinction
Endangered seabird inches closer to extinction on UK Overseas Territory All but one of this year’s MacGillivray’s prion chicks at a monitoring site have died, reinforcing fears that this endangered species is edging closer to extinction. Invasive non-native mice are the cause of the deaths. Since monitoring began at this site in 2014 only 21…
Not really a ban is it?
Today 17 conservation and countryside organisations, coordinated by Wildlife and Countryside Link, wrote to DEFRA’s George Eustice to call for proper measures to limit burning on peat soils instead of the government’s weak proposals. The organisations comprise: RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, National Trust, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Plantlife, Butterfly Conservation, Rewilding Britain, Open Spaces Society,…
The Scottish Rewilding Alliance
Comments Off on The Scottish Rewilding Alliance
An online event, tomorrow Wednesday 17 February, 7pm-8pm – register here.
Guest blog – Cloak and dibber: the rare plant introduction controversy by Amanda Tuke
Amanda is a nature and environment writer and blogger based in the wilds of suburban south London. She writes mainly about suburban wildflowers, insects and birds on her blog. Her nature writing has appeared in anthologies, on the London Wildlife Trust blog and in Devon Life Magazine. She also blogs on www.freelancenaturewriter.com about her…
Sunday book review – Restoring the Wild by Roy Dennis
Roy Dennis is a ‘name’ in ornithology and nature conservation – he was the warden of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory from 1964-70 (following Ken Williamson and Peter Davis), the RSPB’s person in the Highlands (under various job titles) from 1970-90 and, ever since, an independent conservationist mostly involved with species reintroductions and habitat restoration….