Festival of Debate – the Peak District

Last Monday evening I was part of a chat with Natalie Bennett and Alex Lees which discussed driven grouse shooting. It felt quite fun at the time, and was streamed live, but you can catch up with it here too.

House Sparrows

There’s a House Sparrow nest in the roof above my head as I write. But next door has a House Sparrow nest too, and theirs is easier to watch from our garden, and that’s what I have been doing for over a week. The frequent visits to the nest have become quite addictive and I’ve…

Sunday book review – A Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Britain and Ireland by David Chandler

This book was published last year but I missed it. It’s a beginner’s guide – like it says in its title. By that it means that although it covers all the damselflies and dragonflies of the British Isles it concentrates on those species that are most common and widespread – just to get you started….

Good things and bad things

If you are subscribed to my free monthly newsletter then last week you would have received my thoughts on George Eustice’s environment speech – there were good bits and less good bits. The most worrying looking bit was the announcement that DEFRA was going to fiddle about with the Habitats Regulations now that we are…