Last week the biodiversity (and many other things) Minister, Richard Benyon, was quoted on the matter of the recovering bittern population. The Minister said “To see a species that was once extinct in the UK rise to a population of over one hundred is a real achievement. This is largely down to the work of the…
Tag: Natural England
Boomtime for bitterns
I’m delighted that the RSPB and Natural England have been able to announce that booming bitterns have passed the 100 mark – and reached 104 booming males in fact. Given that in 1997 (incidentally, the year before I became the RSPB’s Conservation Director) there were only 11 booming males this is a remarkable and very welcome recovery. And let’s…
Don’t bank on it, 2
Comments Off on Don’t bank on it, 2
And we pick up yesterday’s blog on a boat to the Isle of May with gannets fishing around us… The sun had gone and I was glad that I had opted for a combination of short-sleeved shirt and jacket as an each-way bet on the weather. You can’t bank on the weather over a five-hour…
Bit of a breather
After three days at the Bird Fair I could do with a rest but I am on a secret mission to Scotland this week – I’m sure I will be able to tell you about some of it some time, perhaps. Tomorrow’s blog will be about a book that I think that many of you…
3.6 million reds under the bed!
I’m sure we all share the sentiments of Bob Neill, the CLG Minister, who attacked the National Trust for being a den of lefties. It has long been a worry to me that the National Trust has been such an anarchic and, frankly, revolutionary body, always championing underdogs, speaking out loudly on environmental issues and…
Do let it grow under your feet
I am quite busy in my post-RSPB life but I do find I have more time to read things that I would have meant to read in the past, but around to which I would not have got. This report, Nature’s Tapestry, is a good example of something which I am glad that I can…
Red tape or sense?
Those at the Game Fair who were baying for the removal of government-imposed red tape may just pause for thought now that Eric Pickles’s Department aims to remove much of the red tape that protects the beauty of the countryside to allow development to proceed more easily and to put economic growth ahead of protecting…
Tosh
I do wonder about vets sometimes. In the Sunday Telegraph a ‘report’ (which has not yet been published) is featured under the sensational headline ‘The extinct species back from the brink and causing mayhem’. Crikey! Which species are these? Well, the article doesn’t give any actual examples of mayhem being caused unless you count the red kite which…
Bears, condors, kites and foxes – not for cuddling
The recent killing of a male hiker by a grizzly bear is the first such death in Yellowstone National Park for 25 years and seems to be a highly unfortunate case where walkers accidentally disturb a bear with young and the mother bear defends her cubs. A month ago I had my own close encounter…
A walk in our woods
Yesterday I paid a late morning visit to Fermyn Woods in east Northants. Mine was the 21st car parked on the grass verge on a small quiet road. Clearly others had the same idea, and a bit of time to spare. The stickers on the parked cars showed that there were plenty of birders there…