The March Birdwatch looks very fresh and clean and comes in its new potato starch wrapper – but what about the articles? Dominic Mitchell mentions the recent acceptance of a bird close to the heart of many Northants birders – the Falcated Duck of 1986-87 and 1987-88. This was the first British record. Although the…
Category: VERY BIRDY: birdwatching and birding nattering
Birdwatch wrapper good enough to eat?
The wrapper on my March Birdwatch magazine looked different… and it is. I’m glad to see that Birdwatch alongside many other magazines, but far from all of them, has switched away from plastic wrappers and, in this case, to potato starch. Good for them! And although I am sure that the managing editor, Dominic Mitchell…
Slightly odd ‘story’
In the Guardian there is a slightly odd story about how disadvantaged people are by not having access to National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From Exmoor to Northumberland, the country’s poorest people are being denied access to England’s most beautiful countryside and missing out on the mental and physical health benefits that…
USAF to deny airspace to UK birds in The Fens
I’d never heard of Quartz so I am indebted to a reader for sending me this link which describes the search for an outfit to scare birds away from RAF (ho! ho!) Mildenhall and Lakenheath. It reminded me of when the RSPB bought Lakenheath Fen (then a bunch of carrot fields) and wanted to turn…
I’ve done my BGBW and it was fun!
Long-tailed Tit. Photo: Tim Melling I looked out between 9am and 10am to record the birds I saw in my garden. It’s a good ritual which brings hundreds of thousands of people together in a common activity and thinking about nature for a while each year. My records were as follows; species seen in chronological…
I was robbed!
There has been a male Hen Harrier seen regularly at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes since well before Christmas. Quite a lot of people have seen it, quite a lot of us have not, and I’d really like to see it. I’d like to see it because it is always good to see a…
English Winter Bird Survey
I’ve done a couple of visits to my regular BBS squares in order to collect information on wintering farmland birds for a survey funded by Natural England and Defra. Here are some of the highs and lows so far. Doing a bird survey is a good way to start the new year and that’s what…
My little monthly project – and a challenge
Last year I kept an eye open for Red Kites – and saw them very often through the year – over 200 days in 2018. I enjoyed keeping that eye open and wondered what to do this year. So, I’ve decided that I will keep a monthly list of species I see from my home…
Red Kites in my 2018
This year, the departing 2018, I’ve kept a note of whether I see Red Kites each day. The December tally was 20 days out of 31. January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days out of 31. April: 20 days out of 30. May: 7 days out of…
Congratulations Ruth Tingay!
Ruth Tingay looking for a bacon sandwich Congratulations to Ruth Tingay – the highly deserving Birdwatch Birders’ Choice Conservation Hero of 2018. Ruth won by a mile – and that was richly deserved. The Raptor Persecution UK blog is a great example of how a niche interest (no offence – but it is a niche…