www.bbc.co.uk
A species of ant has been found for the first time on the Isle of Man by a volunteer with a conservation group. Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) member Sue Harvey came across the insect, which is a known species elsewhere in the British Isles, at a disused quarry in the south of the island. Local conservationists said the finding “shows how former industrial sites can become thriving wildlife habitats when cared for properly”.
www.bbc.co.uk
A unique combination of factors makes an area of the Humber Estuary "like a motorway service station" for migrating birds, wildlife experts have said. The waterways and beaches around Grimsby and Cleethorpes see thousands of birds arrive each autumn as they make their way to Africa from the Artic. Parts of the Humber Estuary were designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1988 and are protected by law. Abi Sheridan, ecology officer at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "We’ve got mud flats and the salt marshes, lots of food resources, we’ve got lots of places for them to rest and recuperate on their journey."
www.theguardian.com
It is the second-best place for nightingales in the country, a sanctuary for rare barbastelle bats and home to nearly 1,500 invertebrate species, including a quarter of all Britain’s spider species. But Middlewick Ranges on the edge of Colchester is poised to be sold by the Ministry of Defence for 1,000 new homes. Conservation scientists have written to the UK defence secretary, John Healey, urging him to reverse the decision to sell the 76-hectare (187.8-acre) site for housing. Experts who have fought the proposals for eight years say the house-building is based on faulty and flawed environmental evidence and must be reversed. A freedom of information request by campaigners has revealed an ecological report that in 2017 identified large swaths of rare acid grassland at Middlewick, which has been untouched by a plough for at least 200 years and contains more than 10% of Essex’s remaining acid grassland.
www.theguardian.com
The dramatic sea cliffs, crags and stacks of Rathlin Island, county Antrim, rise more than 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean and host one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies, including hundreds of endangered puffins, attracting up to 20,000 birders and tourists a year. On a spectacularly sunny day in September, the cliff faces are devoid of birds, with the puffins already having made their annual migration to spend the winter months at sea. Instead, Rathlin’s cliffs are dotted with roped-up figures in harnesses and bulging rucksacks, directed from above by a Scottish mountaineer, via a walkie-talkie. They are part of a crack team of 40 scientists, researchers, conservationists and volunteers who this week will put the first poisoned food into the bait stations designed to kill the island’s rats. It is the final phase in a £4.5m project to eradicate the key predators believed to be affecting the island’s puffin colony. Ferrets were eradicated in the first phase and it has been a year since the last confirmed sighting. Puffin numbers declined here by 74% between 1991 and 2021, according to an EU study.
GreyShuck
2d ago
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Is there any peer reviewed published research that studied if this was effective and the best available option.
Recently, this study found that although culling does reduce cattle infection in the immediate area, it seems to increase infection in surrounding areas - due to displaced badgers spreading it - which is exactly what everyone opposing the culls predicted way back when they started.
www.bornfree.org.uk
The Labour government has published details of badger culling licenses that could result in the targeting of almost 40,000 additional badgers in 2024. These culls, across the High-Risk bovine TB area in England, will be in addition to the 230,000 that have been killed since licensed culling was introduced in 2013. The licenses cover 20 ‘intensive cull zones’, which are on their third or fourth year of intensive culling, plus 26 ‘supplementary licenses’ extending the culls in zones which have completed four years of intensive culling. Badger populations in some of these latter zones are now being targeted for the ninth consecutive year, while other zones have been issued supplementary licenses for the first time. The government has also published licenses for two new cull zones in the Low-Risk TB area in England, one in Lincolnshire and one in Cumbria, but has not released figures detailing how many badgers can be targeted.
This week, Feargal Sharkey, the former Undertones frontman and influential environmental campaigner, travelled to Swinton in South Yorkshire to test the River Don, a 70-mile stretch of water running through cities such as Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster, which became a pillar for transporting goods such as steel during the Industrial Revolution. There, he tested for a litany of bugs and pollutants, once again placing the Environment Agency and the regional water company, Yorkshire Water, under the microscope. And the findings make for truly grim reading. The most concerning result Mr Sharkey uncovered was when testing for phosphates in the river. If a river contains elevated levels of phosphates, it can result in the development of blue-green algae, a highly toxic constellation of microscopic organisms, which can cause illness in humans and be fatal for wildlife.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
A year on from the completion of a three-year project on the National Trust’s Holnicote Estate in Somerset to reconnect a section of a river to its floodplain – the innovative ‘Stage 0’ river restoration technique, first pioneered in Oregon, USA – has been heralded a success. The ‘ctrl alt delete’ of the river was the first large-scale attempt to reset a UK river to fully reconnect its waters with the surrounding floodplain by filling in a 1.2km managed, straightened and deepened section of the River Aller to transform the area and dramatically create seven hectares of waterscapes and wetlands (equivalent to more than ten football pitches). A priority habitat for nature, wetlands are extremely important to not only slow the flow of water and to hold it during times of drought, but they are also significant for their ability to store carbon and act as homes for wildlife. However, sadly over 90 per cent[3] of wetland habitat in the UK has been lost in the last 100 years, and over 10 per cent of our freshwater and wetland species are threatened with extinction.
butterfly-conservation.org
Butterfly Conservation has been awarded £727,000 for a project to help farmers improve their land for wildlife and make their business more financially viable at the same time. The Scotland team will trial a host of experimental techniques at farms in the south of Scotland over the next six years. The funding has been given as part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal - an agreement between English and Scottish governments to invest £452 million to boost the economy around the border.
New woodland is growing once more in the historic Royal Forest of Knaresborough, thanks to the support of local community groups in the Harrogate area. Spanning 45 square miles, the equivalent of approximately 18,000 football pitches, the Royal Forest of Knaresborough was a popular royal retreat in the 12th Century. This diverse landscape, stretching from Thrushcross Reservoir to the west, to Knaresborough, enjoyed a special protected status as a royal hunting ground, allowing a rich mosaic of habitats and wildlife to thrive. Today only fragments of the original landscape remain, including pockets of important ancient woodland. Local community groups are now leading the way in protecting and expanding the woodland and biodiversity in the Royal Forest of Knaresborough area, with support from White Rose Forest, the Community Forest for North and West Yorkshire. The White Rose Forest team works with landowners, local government, businesses and communities across North and West Yorkshire to plan, fund and plant trees and hedgerows. Thanks to collaborative efforts between the White Rose Forest team and local community groups, such as Long Lands Common and the Friends of Nidd Gorge Country Park, several projects are now underway to protect and expand new and existing woodland.
www.bbc.co.uk
A wildlife trust has hit its fundraising target to secure a mountain and its slopes to create England's highest nature reserve. Cumbria Wildlife Trust said it was "overwhelmed" to have received £1.25m in public donations on top of £5m in funding to buy more than 3,000 acres of Skiddaw Forest, including its summit at 931m (3,054 ft). It is part of a scheme to restore what is known as Atlantic Rainforest, a mixture of native woodland and peat-rich soils which trap carbon.
www.bbc.co.uk
Wildlife conservationists and campaigners on the Isle of Man have joined together to form a new lobby group in a bid to create a "stronger voice for Manx nature". The Manx Nature Alliance comprises local wildlife charities and organisations as well as a number of independent professional ecologists. The group said its goal was the conservation and restoration of the island's wildlife and habitats and ensuring the topic remains high on the island's agenda.
www.theguardian.com
It is considered one of the most majestic waterfalls in north Wales, a mist-shrouded torrent that has inspired storytellers and artists for centuries. But a fierce row has broken out over a scheme to harness the force of Rhaeadr y Cwm to generate electricity, with one of Wales’s foremost naturalists, Iolo Williams, the latest to step into a growing row over the project. Williams, also a popular broadcaster, has added his voice to 1,000 protesters who have expressed fears that if the scheme goes ahead it will damage one of the most wonderful sights in Eryri (Snowdonia) and harm an important habitat for precious ferns and mosses.
www.fwi.co.uk
It will come as little surprise to many to learn that a long-running study into insect populations in cereal crops – the Sussex Study – has shown a decline, linked to the intensification of agriculture over many decades. What is startling, however, is the extent of that loss. A recent assessment of the study, which dates back to 1968, by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), shows that insect abundance had declined by 37% in the 50 years up to 2019. Numbers of ground beetles and ladybirds have fallen by 80% and 78% respectively, both classed as beneficial predators, while a 90% reduction was recorded in numbers of aphids, a food source for invertebrates.
www.bbc.co.uk
Rescuers say they are hopeful a humpback whale found stranded on the south of Scotland coastline will make a full recovery after it was refloated. British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was alerted to the situation at Southerness at about 15:30 on Tuesday. It said the 9m (30ft) long whal was lucky that it did not have to wait long for the returning tide to wash over the area to refloat it. Checks the following day found no sign of the whale and medics will monitor the coastline over the coming days to ensure it has not got stranded again.
www.bbc.co.uk
A scrutiny panel has said the environment minister needs to make two "key amendments" to a plan to protect Jersey's marine environment amid concern it could destroy important habitats. The Environment Minister Deputy Steve Luce published a revised version of the Marine Spatial Plan, external (MSP) in July that reduced the amount of protected marine area from 27% to 23% of island waters. He said he was trying to balance the needs of "the fishing fleet and the environmentalists".
www.bbc.co.uk
A water company repeatedly dumped millions of litres of raw sewage illegally into one of England's most famous lakes over a three-year period, the BBC can reveal. More than 140 million litres of waste were pumped into Windermere between 2021 and 2023 at times when it was not permitted, our analysis shows, and United Utilities failed to report most of it. It means the company's illegal dumping of sewage into the lake went on for far longer, and was far more extensive, than was previously known.
www.bbc.co.uk
Bats have turned a collection of abandoned coal mines into a prime mating spot, experts say. Conservationists found eight species of bat using the mineshafts and surrounding moorland near Barnsley as an "autumn swarming" location. Following a year-long study, the 28-hecatare site, which sits above a Yorkshire Water reservoir, has been granted Local Wildlife Status by Barnsley Council.
nationalparksengland.org.uk
Everyone should be able to feel immersed in wild nature and spend time in beautiful landscapes as a child. But far from everyone gets this opportunity. That’s why England’s National Parks are are proud to be playing a leading role in a project which is helping more than 25,000 young people living in the country’s most socially disadvantaged areas connect with nature and rural life. By the end of the project next spring, Generation Green 2 will have delivered more than 41,500 experiences focused on nature connection and outdoor learning to young people who would otherwise be the least likely demographic in the country to spend time in the nation’s most beautiful landscapes.
www.independent.co.uk
Bison introduced to an ancient British woodland to help tackle the nature and climate crises have welcomed two new calves to their herd, conservationists said. The two female calves have been born at Blean Woods, Canterbury, where a small herd of three females and a bull were introduced into a fenced enclosure in 2022 to naturally manage the woodland habitat. Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust, who run the project, said the latest arrivals were born four days apart to the two younger females who arrived in 2022, and bring the wild bison herd population to eight.
www.wildlifetrusts.org
Ahead of the 2024 General Election, The Wildlife Trusts laid out five critical priorities for an incoming government. These five asks are nature’s challenge to government to meet the true scale of the climate and nature crises. But what did Labour promise to do for nature and, 100 days in, how have they been doing so far? In June 2024 Environment Secretary Steve Reed unveiled Labour’s pre-election manifesto pledge called the ‘Countryside Protection Plan’ aimed at preserving Britain’s natural beauty and reversing environmental degradation. The plan includes: * Creating nine new National River Walks, * Planting three National Forests, * Ensuring new housing developments incorporate green spaces. * A new Community ‘Right to Buy’ for green spaces * Accelerating tree planting with a dedicated taskforce * Banning harmful pesticides to protect vital pollinators. Labour’s environmental manifesto promises extend to promote regenerative farming, establishing a land-use framework for food security and nature recovery, and enhancing nature-rich habitats like wetlands and peat bogs. They also plan to set up a Flood Resilience Taskforce to build flood defenses and plant trees to mitigate storm damage.
GreyShuck
6d ago
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These are a very different type of drone, but I have worked on a site with a large colony of seabirds that also attracted a lot of recreational drone usage due to historical features on the site. These smaller, hovering drones would very obviously disturb the breeding birds in the short term - we would notice the disturbance before spotting the drone quite often - and there was a good deal of discussion about their growing use and possible consequences. The organisation currently has a ban on drones over their properties for this and various other reasons - but of course it is practically impossible to enforce, since you usually can't find the operator when they not present on site.
I have not seen any formal study of the effect of drones on seabirds until this though.
GreyShuck
7d ago
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My childhood imaginary friend(s) were a flock of flying bunnies of various colours. It is not often that you get to see them represented.
GreyShuck
2w ago
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Woos-ter-shuh, like the sauce.
GreyShuck
3w ago
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By that age, I was into my third long-term job (> 5 years) and had had upwards of 16 short term ones - multiple part time ones at once, or some just for a few weeks or a couple of months here and there between the long-term ones etc.
48 doesn't seem that unlikely - nor even an indicator that they will not be staying put for any length of time unless your job is a shitty one with a high turnover anyway.
GreyShuck
3w ago
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Not quite a scrotum pole, but there is certainly an interpretation of this statue of Cybele where what we are looking at are not multiple breasts, but actually the scrota of her eunuch priesthood.
GreyShuck
3w ago
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It's my turn to cook tonight. I'm doing a shakshuka.
GreyShuck
4w ago
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I think that the closest that I had at school was the library. Even decades later I am still happy when surrounded by books.
Otherwise, somewhere green: walking in woodland or sitting by a stream always improves things.
GreyShuck
4w ago
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I'd not encountered Bloody Knuckles before, but we did have the card variant when I was at school - the trick being to get a new pack, flex it a little and push the card so that all the edges are available to strike the knuckles in rapid succession. I was extremely good at it, as i recall, both in inflicting and (particularly) withstanding the pain.
We knew this game as Scabby Queen. Evidently there is an actual card game called that, it seems, with the knuckle skinning merely the end result. We did not bother with the game part (or even know about it) - just the knuckle skinning.
GreyShuck
4w ago
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- Kaos - I've only seen the first ep so far, but it looks to have promise.
- Le Bureau de Legendes - this French spy series has a slow and meandering start but picks up over a couple of episodes and the initial time with the characters pays off.
- Pine Gap - After the first couple of episodes, I'm struggling to care about the characters - and am caring a LOT about the absurd lack of a Faraday cage around the main building which would have prevented the main plot point in the first place. It is only miniseries, but I doubt that we'll finish it unless it picks up a lot and gives me a reason to get my disbelief suspended again.
- Slow Horses - the third of the spy tales that we are following at the moment and by far the most fun and engaging. Season 4 is as good as ever, and Oldman's Lamb is wonderful.
- Carol and the End of the World - a low key, introspective little exploration of self-discovery and where you find value and it's really quite charming.
GreyShuck
1mo ago
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GreyShuck
1mo ago
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GreyShuck
1mo ago
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1mo ago
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1mo ago
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1mo ago
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Thanks for this one - an atmospheric landscape!
GreyShuck
1mo ago
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Thanks for these. Very autumnal!
GreyShuck
1mo ago
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You'll have take it up with the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project then.
GreyShuck
1mo ago
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I've had the same number for 24 years now. I have only ever had a handful of spam calls in total over that time.
I probably get one a month or so on my work number.
GreyShuck
1mo ago
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Basically all of them.
A quick skim shows me that the only people who have called me this so far this year are:
- Doctor
- Dentist
- Sister
- Wife
- Close friend
I expect that this would be much the same for last year too.
I have no reason not to speak to any of these.