I’ve seen no new garden bird species for the year, or for life, in December so far but I have deployed the niger seed – a favoured food of the Redpoll which would be a good addition to the list before dusk on 31 December. Niger seed is expensive! Come on Redpolls!
Category: ME:
Roundabout thoughts
How much does a major redevelopment of an existing roundabout cost? And how long will it take? Read on for answers. The roundabout in question, in this question anyway, is at Chowns Mill where the A6 crosses the A45 (and there is a fifth road which is the road into Higham Ferrers which is the…
Racecourse diet
I went to Cheltenham racecourse on Saturday. There are several reasons for going to Cheltenham to the races. One, it’s a day out. Two, at this time of year, if lucky, then the drive that I take across the Cotswolds can be a spectacular scene of autumn colours. Third, I usually meet up with friends…
Waiting for the train home – inconsequential thoughts
I was waiting at St Pancras Station one morning this week for the train home. I was early. I’m almost always early. St Pancras station, though it is large, feels more like an open air station than most London stations. Now I know there has to be some sort of hole to let the trains…
Yummy vegetarian food
Yesterday evening I was at an event in London with the wonderful World Land Trust. The food was vegetarian and delicious. I’m not vegetarian, but I eat meat or fish only a couple of days a week. I started being more vegetarian, but not vegetarian, about 12 years ago when I made a New Year…
Shouty Blackbirds
The Blackbird is an incredibly familiar bird – have you seen one today? Or heard one? When I was doing fieldwork for my PhD I spent a lot of autumn and winter evenings, at dusk, hanging around in places. The characteristic sound of that time was the ‘Chink!!’ of Blackbirds as the light faded. In…
Westminster government failure on wildlife crime action
Today, Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Wildlife Crime Working Group launches its third annual report. the report is supported by a range of WCL member organisations including Wild Justice. Pete Charleston, Chair of the group and Wildlife Crime Officer at Bat Conservation Trust has written a blog to accompany the report. His blog highlights the Government’s…
A few thoughts – rather random ones
where is the Werritty report – it’s October! my car has passed the 250,000 miles barrier – that’s slightly more than the distance from Earth to our moon. I’m glad that wasn’t the journey I planned as I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t get me all the way back over the next dozen years or so!…
The streets of London
I’m in London for a few days. It’s been raining hard now and again. I never imagine the future with rain – my thoughts are always of sunny days. Does that make me an optimist? Do pessimists imagine rainy days? Or does it make me a fantasist? But walking along familiar pavements in or just…
When did you last go blackberrying?
I’ve gone to my favourite blackberry patch a couple of times this year (and we have blackberries growing in the garden too – which tells you something about our garden). Friday, all things being equal, is the best day of the week for this as it is furthest away from the previous weekend when the…