BBC Wildlife is running a poll for Britain’s national species. The species that makes most sense to me is the bluebell (championed by Plantlife). The bluebell is found just about everywhere in the UK and we hold a larger share of the world’s bluebells than any other country (it’s also found in Ireland, the Netherlands,…
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I will miss…
I set off for the USA on Thursday. I will miss: bluebells, orchids, black hairstreaks, Duke of Burgundy butterflies (again), spotted flycatchers, May blossom, cricket, decent beer, the Today programme, Desert Island Discs, the NGO State of Nature launch and the Derby. I will not miss: Defra, George Osborne, cutting the grass, rain stopping play…
I hope they sink (VII)
Yesterday East Cambridgeshire District Councillors voted by eight votes to three to approve a boathouse complex at Ely (although subject to addressing ecological conditions via conditions and with the approval delegated to the Head of Planning). It is exceptionally unusual for a planning decision to go ahead in this way when the statutory advisor on…
I hope they sink (VI)
Today is the day when the planning committee will decide on the proposal to damage an important wildlife site on the edge of Ely (see previous blogs). Very surprisingly, the Planning Officer has recommended that the plan should be approved despite the weight of local objection and informed nature conservation objection. Maybe it’s because the…
Where was I?
Yesterday I saw 75 species of birds at an RSPB nature reserve. But the species which will stick in my mind for longer were the harbour porpoises, adder and weasel. Q Where was I? A Yes, well done Doug, Bob, Stella and I guess Filbert! I’ve never seen harbour porpoise there before and there were…
The rise of Newt-Kip
Nigel Farrage (or Smooth Newt-Kip as he is known to his follower) will be supping an extra pint of Old Peculiar after Newt-Kip’s astounding poll success. Instead of controlling Ramsey council and having no MPs Newt-Kip now controls Ramsey council and has no MPs. But you can’t get away from the fact that the coalition…
I hope they sink (V)
This is the fifth blog on the subject of Cambridge University Boat Club’s plans for a new boathouse (here, for new readers, are links to its forerunners; Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3, Blog 4). At the time of my previous blogs I had not seen the objections to the proposed development (which is much…
Read me
The April edition of Wild Travel (with a cute tree frog on the cover) will soon be replaced by the May one (with the rhinos (one of which is quite cute) on the cover). I really enjoy writing for Wild Travel as I get to write about biology without any politics in it, and, I…
Neonicotinoids – temporary ban
Owen Paterson must have been really hacked off by the vote in Europe yesterday to enforce a temporary ban on neonicotinoids. But at least it explains why some in his party think that we are going to be flooded with Romanians looking for jobs and benefits any time soon – we have a…
So what is Defra for, exactly…?
Owen Paterson is keen on showing people photographs of himself with dead squirrels and Richard Benyon is the richest MP in Parliament, but David Heath is completely invisible. That’s Defra for you. The last Labour government came to ‘power’ in 1997, and by autumn 2000 it had enacted the CROW Act which widened the right…