Late bits

Apologies, to the two three people who might notice, that this blog is ‘late’ this morning – I went out to listen for corncrakes at the Nene  Washes yesterday evening and so was home late – no corncrakes. In a week when the government made a welcome U-turn on buzzard control (which was even mentioned…

New poll – new Elizabethans

You may have noticed that the BBC has compiled a list of new Elizabethans as a celebration of the Diamond Jubilee.  60 men or women who have lived during the Queen’s reign were selected for their contributions to the new Elizabethan age.  One of the selected 60 is naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough. If you…

Gone twitching – not really

At the weekend I went on a twitch, looking for a rare bird – except it is just a rarer bird rather than a really rare one. I realised that I didn’t see a spotted flycatcher last year, partly because I was looking at mountain bluebirds instead, and I hadn’t seen one yet this year…

Buzzards – where next?

Yesterday Defra did a U-turn on their proposals to investigate buzzard control for the benefit of pheasants.  It’s not easy for governments to do U-turns, although this one is getting the hang of it, and we should thank Defra Minister, Richard Benyon for his re-think.  Thank you! The RSPB did a good job, after being…

Catfield – jewel in the crown, for how much longer?

Nature conservation needs systems and processes and, yes, bureaucracy, and forms and meetings and all the paraphernalia of decision making and due diligence.  But, as we all know, sometimes the means can take over from the ends, and sometimes people can lose sight of what the processes are there to deliver. I recently visited Catfield…