Is it just me, I bet it isn’t, that thinks the Earth Flight series is unmissable but also a bit tacky? I enjoyed Thursday’s programme, they were in Europe, and there were some very memorable sights: the polar bear eating barnacle goslings, the swallow catching a feather in flight, the cranes dancing, all those starlings…
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Breather
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Yesterday I spent the day finishing off the manuscript for my new book. So there is no blog today. But you could buy my old book, that would be heroic of you. There are some interesting comments about the NT as a conservation organisation still appearing on Monday’s blog. I did wonder whether to post…
City of perspiring dreams
I spent yesterday back in Cambridge – I say ‘back’ because this was where I was an undergraduate and I spent many of my relatively youthful years in Cambridge and it has been a great influence on my life. I was attending the annual symposium (sounds grand for something that was so much fun) of…
A bird of resolution
The recovery of the red kite is a great conservation success story and it’s good to see it celebrated in the regional press like here. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to see red kites, and spend at least a minute revelling in their beauty, on at least 200 days this year. They are…
Reindeer
Did St Nicholas visit your house on Christmas Eve and deliver presents? And was his sleigh powered by eight reindeer; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen (and then there’s Rudolph too)? Real-life reindeer, or caribou, are having a tough time of it, and not through sleigh-pulling exhaustion (see also here and here).
Hot or cold?
Did you have turkey at Christmas? Is it still hanging around – if so, have a look at this. If it’s driving you to drink have a look at this. This north American woodland species was once nearly extinct because of overhunting but now is a common sight in many US states. How many feathers…
Pandas strung up.
This shocking image of a gamekeeper’s gibbet was on view at Towcester racecourse yesterday. How awful to see so many globally threatened pandas displayed in this way. A spokesman for the Notional Gamekeepers’ Association said ‘Well, you know how it is, pandas are lovely animals but it’s a ‘balance of nature thing’ and you’ve just…
Nasty, brutish and short
I had a great aunt who believed that robins were unlucky and so when one arrived on a Christmas card the said card would be torn up and thrown on the fire. How many robins do you see on your Christmas cards? David Lack was a famous English ornithologist who did much to increase our…
Holly and Ivy
All the holly blue butterflies you will see next spring are sitting around as pupae at the moment. The spring generation – late April-end of May – feeds on holly and the summer generation – late June-early August – feeds on ivy. Spare a thought for butterflies this Christmas.
British Wildlife
You can find an article by me in the current edition of British Wildlife – it’s about farming and doesn’t mention Peter Kendall. It does mention farmer-bashing, Defra Ministers, the Farmland Bird Index and asking for our money back – but that’s enough clues, you will have to read the article to fill in the…