Category Archives: Media

On declining grasslands and the nature of conservation

Posted on July 13, 2020 by David C

Over the weekend I found myself in a quiet part of Yorkshire along the east coast, far from everyone else. Having seen the traffic heading for Scarborough, it was wonderful to be somewhere without another human soul.

Posted in Biology, Birds, Botany, conservation, Ethology, Green exercise, Invertebrates, Media, Phenology, Plants, Why watch wildlife? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vultures in the UK

Posted on June 29, 2020 by David C

Bit of a departure from my normal posts here, as this is more of an essay with less pictures. Hopefully it’ll be interesting though. Over the weekend, I found myself sucked into a question as to whether vultures could live … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and culture, Biology, Birds, conservation, England, Ethology, Fossils, Media, Scientific Terminology, Why watch wildlife?, Wildlife stories, Zoology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why Watch Wildlife – The quinquennial review

Posted on October 19, 2017 by David C

I was quite surprised to realise today is five years since my first post on this blog. It’s been an interesting journey.

Posted in About the blog, Birds, Botany, conservation, England, Green exercise, Invertebrates, Media, Plants, Why watch wildlife?, Wildlife stories | 3 Comments

The hidden meaning of Boris’ “nest of singing birds”

Posted on October 2, 2017 by David C

Recently the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, described the cabinet as “a nest of singing birds” over Brexit. This was dismissed as just a silly Boris phrase, but an understanding of nature perhaps unveils deeper meaning…

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Monday Bird of the Week No.62 – Pheasant

Posted on October 2, 2017 by David C

I debated whether or not to include this one, but it’s such a ubiquitous presence in the British countryside it seemed pointless avoiding it. It’s the pheasant.

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Wildlife crime – destroying the evidence

Posted on May 11, 2017 by David C

Back in June 2013 a gamekeeper shot and killed a Hen Harrier on a Scottish estate owned by a London financier. This week, the Crown Office dropped the prosecution just weeks before the scheduled trial. The reasoning is astonishing.

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Brexit, Henry VIII, and a real threat to our environment

Posted on April 5, 2017 by David C

I’ve largely stayed off politics on the blog the past few months but today, a week after the Article 50 notification and the ‘triggering’ of Brexit, it seems timely to raise an ongoing threat to our natural world this poses.

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Monday Bird of the Week No.32 – Black-headed gull

Posted on March 6, 2017 by David C

Earlier this year we featured corvids, birds that are not everybody’s cup of tea. This week we are back championing the underdog with the raucous and increasingly numerous Black-headed Gull.

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UN World Wildlife Day – Listen to the young voices – and get them to vote!

Posted on March 3, 2017 by David C

UN World Wildlife Day is a relatively new thing, only ratified in 2013, so only now in its fourth year. But as theme, 2017 has picked “Listen to the young voices”, which is something well worth supporting.

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Scottish National Heritage and reforesting the Highlands

Posted on February 23, 2017 by David C

Recently Scottish National Heritage (SNH) have revealed a strategy for managing climate change, and part of it involves increasing forestry cover from 17% to 25%. It’s an excellent idea, that has met with some opposition.

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