In Sussex, UK, a nice bit of successful bird conservation is taking place. It concerns the butcher bird (or butcherbird) – the red-backed shrike – which was abundant across England and Wales in the 19th century. Pressure from egg collectors and intensified agricultural practices caused …
The Times reports on Saudi Arabia’s revolutionary mega city which is being heavily promoted online. It is a spectacular concept which captures the imagination. It is currently being built. A lot of people thought it wouldn’t get this far. It’s going to be 500 m …
This is a great story all about the best in humankind. The northern bald ibis was hunted to extinction in Europe in the Middle Ages. The bird habitually migrates south from northern Europe, as I understand it. A project concerning the conservation of this bird …
NEWS AND COMMENT: The Times today reports that one in six British species face extinction with some bright spots amid the gloom in respect of the Eurasian Beaver, Red Kite and Cartilage lichen. The environmental editor of the newspaper tells us that one in five …
It is mysteriously called ‘ambergris’. It is very rare hence its value. It is also called ‘ambergrease’ or ‘grey amber’. It is solid, waxy and flammable and it resides in 1-5% of the digestive tracts of sperm whales. It is formed by the secretion of …
NEW AND VIEWS – UNITED STATES: What is a cyanide bomb? It sounds obnoxious and it is. It’s spring-loaded device filled with sodium cyanide used to kill predatory animals and ‘pest species’. The Center for Biological Diversity tells me that cyanide bombs are used under …
Cuckoos travelling to the UK are out of sync with their victims’ nesting clocks due to global warming which is bringing spring earlier. Scientific American reported last year that spring in the UK arrived a month earlier than in the 1980s and that the trend …
As far as I know King Charles III wore a genuine bearskin hat at trooping the colour today (17th June 2023) as he led the way on his black horse (Canadian steed ‘Noble’). If so, he is doing his role as the monarch a disservice. …
The title tell us this: we are discovering for the first time ever new species of plants and animals but at the same time we’ve decided that these new species (to humans) are going extinct because of human behavior. It is a bit sick that. …
