I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the October tally was an impressive 24 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…
Category: VERY BIRDY: birdwatching and birding nattering
Your choices
The annual Birdwatch Birders’ Choice shortlists are available online for you to choose in a wide variety of categories. Here are my thoughts on some of the categories: Conservation Hero shortlist: me, Ruth Tingay, Katrin Jacobsdottir, Tim Mackrill, Boyan Slat. It’s not that I’m not competitive, but I’d ask you to vote for someone other…
Bits and pieces of news
Michael Gove has not, as far as I have heard, got back to Chris Packham to suggest a chat about the Manifesto for Wildlife – I think we’ll soon have to take that as very strong evidence that the Conservative government is not in listening mode as far as wildlife conservation is concerned, although of…
Birding is good for you?
Waves on beach Photo: Karen MacKelvie RSPB press release: GPs in Shetland are now able to prescribe nature to their patients thanks to a pioneering partnership project A partnership project between NHS Shetland and RSPB Scotland, which is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, has been extended following a successful…
Red Kites in September
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the September tally was a very low 12 days out of 30. that’s partly because I was in Iceland for a week at the beginning of the month, and I’ve spent time in London too. But it looks…
Red Kites in August
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the August tally was a rather low 16 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:…
Guest blog: pesticides and farmland birds by Gerald Collini
Gerald Collini was an arable agronomist for 43 years. For the latter 33 years he worked independently. The declining numbers of some farm land birds and a possible contributing factor? Several recent European and home studies suggest that insecticides may be implicated? The 1970s and the start of intensive arable farming appears to…
Red Kites in July
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the July tally was a rather low 15 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….
Angus Glens – they should have gone to Specsavers
The Angus Glens Moorland Group provide this useful checklist for visitors – there won’t be too many genuine ticks on the left hand side of the page and anyone ticking Redshank here ought to provide a photo of the bird to their local county bird recorder for verification. 103 bird species were not just recorded…
Birdwatch August issue
Comments Off on Birdwatch August issue
The latest Birdwatch landed on my doormat today and will be available in the shops soon. It’s what we could think of as the Hen Harrier Day issue! There’s a useful leaflet with details of Hen Harrier Day events but much more. Rob Sheldon writes about HHDays past and present and the Guest Blog by…