The crow family, corvidae, includes some unmistakable characters. It’s hard to confuse a magpie with anything else. The same goes for a jay. But for every colourful corvid, there are many others whose wardrobes are uniformly funereal. Distinguishing the predominantly black corvids of Britain and Ireland – carrion crow, rook, raven, chough and jackdaw – usually requires looking beyond the […]
Tag: Chough
Conservationist Hail Recovery of 150 Struggling Species Thanks to Projects by Natural England
Two years ago, the UK government gave roughly $15 million to its own conservation organ called Natural England for the purpose of preventing species decline. Now, its report card has arrived, and its A+ work has seen the recovery of 150 struggling or declining species. Natural England used the money to fund 63 projects involving […]
6 Fascinating Facts About the Misunderstood Magpie
Magpies are often maligned as pests, but they’re actually quite interesting birds that are usually overlooked for both their beauty and their intelligence. Here are six interesting facts about magpies. 1. Magpies Don’t Like Shiny Things — They’re Scared of Them Magpies have a reputation as thieves out to steal your shiny jewelry or take […]
A week in the forest of Dean
Just back from a week away in the Forest of Dean with my grandson with limited birding opportunities as the week was geared around ensuring he had a good time. I added a few year ticks with Ravens in the garden of our cottage and I twitched the Yellow-browed Warbler a couple of miles from […]
Green Heron Llan-mill Pembrokeshire
After leaving home at 4am this morning we found ourselves walking down the lane to the old mill in the village of Llan-mill in Pembrokeshire by 7.30am. As we approached the MP Simon Harts home we were greeted by another birder who directed us into the back garden which overlooks the large flooded pond where […]
Skomer Island – 14th July
Sarah, Tobias and I last visited Skomer on 6th July 2014 and so after a couple of years with no visit we were looking forward to getting back and Tobias was very excited about seeing Puffin. So after a good drive to Pembrokeshire on Thursday afternoon we had time for a short stop at Laugharne […]
Mongolia – 17th May (Day 10) – Kholboolj Lakes and Barig Mountain
We had a very peaceful nights sleep in our tents beside Kholboolj Lake (45°20’12” N 100°49’36” E) and awoke to the sounds of Pallas’s Sandgrouse commuting to the lake for their morning watering. After breakfast beside the lake watching Pallas’s Sandgrouse come and go plus two Pallas’s Gull fly-by we packed the Land Cruiser’s and […]
Conservation ecologists know no boundaries
Sorry for the recent slow rate of new posts. I am very busy with fieldwork and have little time to blog. Anyway, in recent days we worked both in Alentejo and in an adjacent section of Extremadura, near Olivenza. It is interesting to witness conservation issues in different colours and flavours. I can’t wait to […]