A year in blogs

Here is my review of the year in blogs – the first four of which were written whilst I was still working at the RSPB and the last eight whilst ‘just me’. January Our forests- the small sell-off and big lease-off. One of the dangers of writing a daily blog is that you might shoot…

MP letters

I told you that I went to see my MP Louise Mensch a little while ago and she said that she would write to the Treasury asking for the evidence that the Habitats Regulations are a brake on the UK economy and to Defra asking about implementation of the Birds Directive (given the decline in…

Red kites

I see red kites quite often over my garden in east Northants now – practically every day if the weather is OK and I spend enough time looking.  I saw one as I was on my way to the Post Office on Tuesday, and on both Tuesday and Wednesday, on trips to London, I saw…

Sunday bits and pieces

I think I delivered some quite thoughtful blogs to you this week, even if I say it myself (which I just have), and all of them attracted great comments from you readers – for which many thanks.  I get a lot from your comments and I am certain that it is the mixture of blog…

Talking naturally

You might like to listen to this podcast of a chat between Charlie Moores, Tristan Reid, Nick Moran and myself.  It’s about 50 minutes long and it was great fun to record last Tuesday. How the CLA saved the bittern (Ha Ha!), what you should remember when out birdwatching, where you should put your casual…

Lots of stuff!

I was pleased to see that in Martin Harper’s blog yesterday (which is always worth reading after you’ve read this one) that Martin encouraged RSPB members to sign up to the epetition on vicarious liability.  I expect that the RSPB will give this a bigger push in the New Year and I will let you…

Four marks out of 320 for grouse moor managers

The RSPB report today that 2011 saw only four successful pairs of hen harriers in England. There should be around 320 pairs of hen harriers in the English uplands. This is a clear failure of the UK (predominantly English) government to implement the EU Birds Directive.  Article 1.1 of the Directive makes clear that it…

Use them!

On one of the last day’s of my trip to the USA I watched a killdeer calling in alarm as a man, unwittingly I think, disturbed the bird from its chicks.  The bird’s cries cut through the mist of the June Gloom on the California coast – I won’t forget the sound of them as…

Various

Tomorrow’s blog is a guest blog by the Chair of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Ian Coghill.  He is a character and it’s well worth a read. On Thursday this blog is part of a ‘blog tour’ by Simon Barnes’s new book – and there is a reader’s offer to be had. There is…