Category: Uncategorized

Vulcan – another missing Hen Harrier, presumed dead. A young male hen harrier has disappeared in suspicious circumstances in Wiltshire and is believed most likely to be dead. The harrier, named Vulcan, was one of five chicks to fledge from a nest in Northumberland last summer. He was fitted with a satellite tag as part…

I spoke to an audience of 160 folk in a church in Preston on Monday evening. I enjoyed it. There were some familiar faces in the audience (some raptor workers, some RSPB staff, some birders, some regular readers of and commenters on this blog and some BASC staff). It made the evening more interesting to…

An open access paper in Biodiversity and Conservation looks at the burning of blanket bogs. Its Abstract ends with these words, More frequent burning will result in a greater proportion of land in the early post-burning stages, potentially resulting in a thinner moss layer, more bare peat and less healthy Sphagnum, with potential consequences for…

It must be difficult going in front of a Parliamentary Committee to justify why you should get a job, but that is what the Chair-designate of Natural England has to do. And that’s what birder, fisherman, environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast Tony Juniper did very well yesterday. It’s difficult because you are talking to a small…

It is worth watching the piece on moorland burning that went out on Countryfile last night. (Click here from 14mins – 25mins in) There are claims that the system designed to protect [blanket bog] is not fit for purpose https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0002tww/countryfile-gloucestershire Well done to Guy Shrubsole and Friends of the Earth! That dossier of burning on…