England’s wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’
Excellent report by @wildjustice.bsky.social on how Natural England has frozen its SSSI designation programme - covered by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Larva under water, it has a orange head with dark red pincers, and brown caterpillar like body, which is wrapped around a brown spire shell of a water snail which has little blobs of green algae on. All resting on a few strands of green pond weed
One thing on my list to film is this behaviour I witnessed a few years ago now.
Its a Great Silver Water Beetle larva eating a snail. It grabs the water snail with its asymmetrical mouthparts, wraps its body around it and uses brute force to crunch through the shell and get the soft chewy centre!
Ring Ouzel seen just north of Benacre Sluice at 9.30 am today
Interesting. I also had a Scorched Carpet and a Nut-tree Tussock in my trap in north-east Suffolk this morning.
The ringing group caught the first Minsmere Nightingale of the year yesterday - a bird that was ringed as a young male in April 2025, now back on his territory for the second year. Join us again next Thursday for our ringing demonstration in North Bushes. Thanks to Viking Optical for the support.
Just what we don't need. Already, our rivers are overloaded with both human and livestock waste, leading in many cases to #rivercide. Now the government, responding as always to lobbyists, wants to make it worse. Then it wonders why it loses public support. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Brilliant news, Our breeding female Osprey ‘CJ7’ has just landed at 18:29. Blimey, she must have had a tough days migrating today!!! One down, one to go, just need male 022 to arrive tomorrow and alls well.
Watch our live Osprey Webcam here:
www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/osprey-news/...
VICTORY! Government to open up the Land Registry - bringing to an end a thousand years of secrecy shrouding who owns England.
I’ve been campaigning for this for ten years: the new Land Use Framework, published later today, makes it government policy. 1/
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Brilliant news: Wild Justice wins High Court ruling that Dartmoor commons have been mismanaged
Dartmoor Commoners Council has failed in its statutory duty to assess the number of livestock grazing on Dartmoor & take action to prevent overgrazing. Now it must do so wildjustice.org.uk/dartmoor/wil...
About 1970 John Gooders wrote that the 4 pits at Benacre were a place not to be missed in winter having divers, grebes, Goldeneye and Scoter. This is all that remains today - barely enough space for a pond skater!
US bombers loading up on UK airstrips before raining down bombs on Iran.
Parliament wasn't consulted - and polling shows huge numbers oppose it.
When do MPs get a say over our involvement in this war?
www.forbes.com/sites/peters...
Does Ed Davey not realise how iconic the Animals of Farthing Wood were to a generation?
And Redwall. And Watership Down. Now, if you want military leaders on a banknote - put General Woundwort on a Fiver (see what I did there?)
bsky.app/profile/edda...
Help!
Can someone please tell me which Red Kite tagging project uses white tags with 2 black letters?
Saw this one (FD) over Westleton Heath, Suffolk on Friday
#bird #birds #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #ukwildlife #nature
@btobirds.bsky.social
@rspb.bsky.social
It’s #NationalCareersWeek 💼🎉
🌳 We’ve launched a new resource to help KS3 and GCSE students explore geographical careers in conservation, with activities, career profiles of real geographers, and teacher support packs.
🔗 Check it out on our website: bit.ly/402JAeN
Perched upright on a weathered stump, a small brown Wren tilts its head back mid-call against a soft golden backdrop, alert and vocal.
Many MPs claim to care about nature.
Tomorrow afternoon will be the test.
On Tuesday 3rd March there will be a debate in Parliament on red lines for nature.
We’ll be watching to see who shows up. Empty seats will say a lot.
Tell us who you expect to see there tomorrow. 👇
Rapid UK coastal erosion throws spotlight on £40bn #nuclear plant
Story by @attractamooney.bsky.social and Rachel Millard
HT @carbonbrief.org
www.ft.com/content/7f09...
In case you missed this news, the Floreana giant tortoise is back. Heartening, fascinating story from the Galapagos. (And I always love writing stories I know I'll see in my kids' copy of The Week the following week!) www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
BREAKING: ‘No child should lose their plan'
Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has told #BBCBreakfast the Government should publicly confirm children will not lose their education, health and care plan under its overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities in England
British fruit and veg treated with ‘toxic’ #pesticides
- Ten substances linked to medical issues including infertility are no longer allowed in the EU, but continue to be sprayed on UK crops
Story by @adamvaughan.bsky.social and @unearthednews.bsky.social
(£)
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
A new study warns UK winters are becoming significantly wetter — with rainfall rising 7% for every degree of warming.
Yet Reform dismiss the scientific consensus and want scrap action to stop the climate crisis.
BREAKING: The government has abandoned its plan to delay elections to 30 councils across the country, after being warned by lawyers that the move would be illegal
It is understood that the legal advice was related to the Reform UK challenge
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Today a chap from NFU spouted guff on R4 about complex rivers being dire for wildlife.
Yet here a willow is creating a natural, oxygenated riffle.
1) Scouring rivers only benefits those who farm flood plains.
2) How do they think wildlife coped before we dredged rivers?
Answer: marvellously.
BREAKING: Statement from government
“Following legal advice, the Government has withdrawn its original decision to postpone 30 local elections in May. Providing certainty to councils about their local elections is now the most crucial thing and all local elections will now go ahead in May 2026”
If you ever wonder why the pond looks so empty at this time of year I've just posted a new video on what happens to all the pond life in winter
youtu.be/apEfQNrmqvE
RSPB has good news on Capercaillie numbers at Abernethy and this great footage ⬇️
More information: markavery.info/2026/02/13/r...
Reform UK have rejected ‘policies involving the rewilding of productive farmland or the destocking of upland farms’, stating they “are not aligned with its principles or objectives”.’
Lest we be in any doubt about how disastrous Farage would be for nature…
www.fwi.co.uk/news/reform-...
Maria, Willi and Shakira! Great place to visit.
Nigel Farage has just called for an end to working from home and the focus on work-life balance
They’ll be suggesting we send kids up chimneys next
Whatever you do JUST DON’T VOTE REFORM
MORE commentary on the sentencing of Yorkshire Dales gamekeeper Racster Dingwall ⚖️
Pertinent points made by the Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF), representing raptor fieldworkers.
#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍
raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/02/10/m...
