The scale of burning of English blanket bogs revealed by the latest RSPB work is scary. There are 127 separate consents (mostly through HLS agreements – ie we taxpayers are paying for it too) for burning on blanket bogs. These affect these seven Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)(Border Mires, Kielder-Butterburn; Ingleborough Complex; Moor House –…
Tag: GWCT
Arise Sir John
The recently knighted Sir John Randall MP is a birder. Having stepped down from being Deputy Chief Whip he is now enjoying the freedom of the backbenches and the freedom to speak up for nature (note this speech he made in the Christmas adjournment debate from 1:40pm onwards where he touches on various subjects including…
The Minox Challenge(s)
When I wrote about my 37-year-old binoculars being repaired I didn’t expect this to happen. I didn’t expect an email from Zeiss thanking me for my loyalty – and I didn’t get one, so that’s OK. And I didn’t expect an email from Minox saying: At MINOX GB we keep an eye on the media…
M&S, the grouse, the lead and the hen harriers
I am a fan of Marks and Spencer (M&S) – but maybe that is going to change. I am signed up to their email newsletter (which only yesterday was telling me about offers on champagne and lingerie – how sadly they misread my lifestyle!), I tend to seek out their stores in London to buy…
Partridges up a tree
I’m pretty sure that most readers of this blog won’t be looking in pear trees for their partridges but even looking around the edges of arable fields you may struggle to see many of them. Despite all the excellent work that has been done to study the grey partridge (much of which is summarised in…