It has been a cold weekend, although mine has been warmed by a rather lucky profit at Cheltenham racecourse (my winning bet came as a result of the leader falling at the last hurdle – but there is just as little point in apologising for fortuitous wins as railing against ‘unlucky’ losses) and by the…
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A butterfly’s wing
December isn’t a great month for butterflies (but then November wasn’t a great month for nature as a whole), although, of course, they are all (apart from the painted ladies and red admirals) still out there as eggs or pupae or some other clever way of getting through the winter if you really want to…
Use them!
On one of the last day’s of my trip to the USA I watched a killdeer calling in alarm as a man, unwittingly I think, disturbed the bird from its chicks. The bird’s cries cut through the mist of the June Gloom on the California coast – I won’t forget the sound of them as…
Nature Directives – use them!
The nastiness of George Osborne came out when he mentioned ‘endless social and environmental goals‘ in his Autumn Statement yesterday. George is keener on economic goals – although not so good at reaching them, so perhaps we can see why he doesn’t want any other goals to miss. As predicted in this blog yesterday (just…
The blackest government ever…?
This blog has learned that the Chancellor, George Osborne, will announce in the autumn statement today that there will be a review of the Habitat’s Directive’s regulations. This, if true (and we will wait to hear the details today) is the latest sign that this government – including the hapless Liberal Democrats – is prepared…
Wood for the trees?
Yesterday Plantlife published a report on the future of British woodland. Rather than focus primarily on who owns ‘our’ woods Plantlife put a spotlight on woodland management. ‘More trees do not equal more wildlife‘ says Andy Byfield, Plantlife’s Landscape Conservation Manager. ‘From the point of view of our woodland wildlife, it is what we do…
Send a message to the Westminster government on raptor persecution please.
Please sign this e-petition and pass it on to others. It’s just over 1000 signatures as I post this.
A tonic for gin bush
As a kid in the mid 1960s, Sunday mornings would consist of going to church and then coming home to a roast lunch whose delicious smells filled the house while Desert Island Discs, with its originator Roy Plumley, played on the wireless before we sat down to eat. My father would have on his suit,…
Indulgence
I’ve been rushing about and don’t quite have time to write a proper blog today – plenty more coming in the next few days though! – and you did get two blogs on Tuesday, so please indulge me when I just post most of an email that a reader of this blog sent to me:…
Spoonies
The spoon-billed sandpiper is one of the most gorgeous birds on the planet – and also one of the most threatened. With probably only a few hundred pairs surviving and their numbers thought to be decreasing each year it is a bird destined for extinction in the wild – perhaps. ‘Perhaps’ because the Wildfowl and…