Continued from last Saturday We saw plenty more wildlife during the rest of our stay but after those two days in the north of the island, the recce had served its purpose. I already knew I’d be coming back. I spent the rest of the time getting to know the place as thoroughly as I…
Category: BLOGS by guest authors
Guest blog series, A Break from Humanity (12) by Ian Carter.
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Continued from last Saturday A few days later I went back to the north-east of the island, this time with my fishing rod, threading it through the tall stems of Bracken as I walked, or even hoisting it over my head, above the dense canopy of fronds. I’d not managed to find anywhere else on…
Recent guest blogs
Guest blogs – don’t you just love them? I do, they save me some work and help create a diverse series of views on this blog (as do those who comment here). In the last 10 days I’ve been able to publish four varied and excellent guest blogs. I’d like to thank all four authors…
Guest blog – Greener UK by Shaun Spiers
Shaun Spiers joined Green Alliance as director in June 2017, after 13 years as chief executive of CPRE. From 1994-99 he was a Member of the European Parliament, serving on the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. Shaun is the author of How to build houses and save the countryside (reviewed here) and a trustee of…
Guest blog series, A Break from Humanity (11) by Ian Carter.
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Continued from last Saturday Down on a remote stretch of rocky coastline, away from the woodland I had walked through, the feel of the place was very different. The magic of the woodland on the slopes above was closed off from view by a shielding canopy of leaves, and the wood itself was dwarfed by…
Guest blog – Plastic shotgun cartridges by Caroline Bedell of BASC
BASC appointed Caroline Bedell as its executive director of conservation in October last year. Caroline has more than 25 years’ experience of the rural economy and environment. With a degree in rural land management, she qualified as a rural practice chartered surveyor. Caroline spent the first 10 years of her career advising and managing rural…
Guest blog – New Year, New Moon Bird by Kerri ni Dochartaigh
Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a writer who grew up during the Troubles that ravaged Ireland. She lives in a very northwesterly part of the island, where the sky is grey and unbearably beautiful. She writes about nature, literature, place, beauty, grieving and healing. She writes at her kitchen table with the back door open; even…
Guest blog series, A Break from Humanity (10) by Ian Carter.
Continued from last Saturday After a few days of getting to know the Colonsay, with lots of short drives and walks to the most accessible places, I thought it was time to venture out into one of the more remote and wilder parts of the island. A look at the Ordnance Survey map drew me…
Guest blog – Blanket bog burning: what’s planned? by Bob Berzins
Natural England has outlined proposals for the restriction of burning but what difference will we see in our uplands? A Freedom of Information request has revealed the following: There is a complicated series of consents which currently allow burning to take place on blanket bog. NE say “The consents will be individually modified or revoked….
Guest blog – Valuing conservation volunteers by Louise Bacon
Louise writes: I used to be a biochemist studying human immune system malfunction whilst being a part-time naturalist and conservationist. Then I converted to being an environmental data geek, which is what I do part of the time in a vague attempt to pay the bills I have been a birder since childhood, and am…