Roy Taylor is an ex-colleague of mine at the RSPB. He started working for the RSPB, on Song Thrushes, when I was Head of Research, so that must be around 20 years ago. I remember visiting Roy in his Sussex study area on a very hot day in summer where we ate ice-creams quite a…
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…a long time in politics
Although you may well know the results of the EU elections when you read this post, I am writing it before they are announced. I wonder what they will be? The council elections (there weren’t any where I live) show a surge of support for UKIP – which I find depressing. It looks as though…
The Laburnum is buzzing
This Laburnum in the garden looks very pretty at the moment, don’t you think? If you stand back and look at it, it’s really lovely. And I can see it from several rooms in the house, so it’s brightening my days right now. But if you stand underneath it, as I did, it hums. It…
Natura 2000 Day – nature feeling the pinch
This is, apparently, the second ‘Natura 2000 Day‘. Natura 2000 sites are those designated under the Birds and Habitats Directives of the EU – how dull does that sound? But some of your best birding moments have been spent in such places – The New Forest, The Wash, The Coto Donana, the Camargue, the Danube…
Greens set to make a difference
I’ll be voting Green tomorrow morning in the EU elections. It seems I won’t be alone as the Green Party of England and Wales stands a good chance of coming fourth ahead of the Liberal Democrats (and behind UKIP, Labour and the Conservatives – perhaps in that order). I will vote Labour in the next…
Plants
At the weekend I became a volunteer for Plantlife and took part in their Wildflowers Count survey I had to walk across an allocated 1km square and record which plants out of a list of 200 I saw. Luckily, the list has such challenging species as Holly, Hawthorn, Common Nettle, Ivy and Daisy so I…
Crex! Crex! Crex! Crex!
The Corncrake was easy, the chips were difficult. I didn’t ‘need’ a bag of chips but I did want a bag of chips. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and I’d spent quite a lot of it out in the sun enjoying nature. I was listening, unsuccessfully, for Turtle Doves at a local farm before…
Crex! Crex! Crex!
I am going out to listen for Corncrakes. There will not be a blog first thing tomorrow morning. I have heard Cuckoos in two places today. I’m pretty sure there are more of them around this spring/summer than there have been for several, many, years. Quite a few people seem to agree, as evidenced by…
Branching out
You know how keen I am on plants – I wouldn’t want to walk on anything else. And so, it may come as some surprise that I am quite excited about starting to do some plant monitoring. There – I’ve said it. I promised the nice people at Plantlife last autumn that I would give…
It’s May
The May is well and truly out in east Northamptonshire. This line of Hawthorn bushes really caught my eye. Isn’t it lovely? Although, in the Lake District on Tuesday I saw plenty of Primroses, and in Lancashire yesterday, and West Yorkshire today, I saw lots of Bluebells. Do enjoy spring, whatever stage it is…