Pheasants whose chicks are destined to be shot in the UK are having their septums pierced in order to attach plastic masks to their beaks, according to an undercover film released by activists this week. The method of restraint is illegal in the UK. The video, shot on a farm in Poland, also appears to […]
Tag: Partridge
Global Big Day
Yesterday I teamed up with Jonathan and Re’a to take part in Global Big Day. Our plan was to record as many species as possible, and also to connect with some specialties that are less likely to get recorded elsewhere. We did not plan our route too carefully, as this was not a competition but […]
North Norfolk – 7th to 10th February
Sarah had brought for me, at Christmas, a photography course with David Tipling and so we all headed up to North Norfolk for the weekend. David is a recent convert from Nikon to Olympus and is now an ambassador for Olympus. The main aim for me was to glean some of his knowledge in using […]
Ground-feeding birds in Southeast Asia may be going extinct outside protected areas
Nature reserves in large parts of Southeast Asia may be the last strongholds for charismatic ground-feeding birds such as quails, partridges and pheasants, together called galliforms, according to a recent study in Conservation Letters. Researchers estimate that five species of galliforms no longer survive outside protected areas in Sundaland, a region comprising the Malay Peninsula […]
POLL: Should the slaughter of grouse on the “Glorious Twelfth” be banned?
With a the start of the grouse-shooting season on the “Glorious Twelfth”, animal rights groups have a new target in their sights – the Ministry of Defence. The government department is one of many public bodies that are coming under pressure to ban the shooting of birds for sport on their land. The League Against […]
Out Of Action
It is a month now since my last posting. I am presently recovering from hip surgery and it may be many weeks before I am able to get out and about again with the camera. To keep the blog alive I am therefore publishing a few images taken before I went into hospital Apart from […]
South-east China – 27th April (Day 6)
Today was our only scheduled attempt for Chinese Crested Tern on Shanyutan Island to the north or Changle. Chinese Crested Tern is thought to have a total population of fewer than 100 birds. For many years it was only known from a few specimens collected prior to 1937, and a small number of, mainly unconfirmed, […]
Europe faces ‘biodiversity oblivion’ after collapse in French birds, experts warn
The “catastrophic” decline in French farmland birds signals a wider biodiversity crisis in Europe which ultimately imperils all humans, leading scientists have told the Guardian. A dramatic fall in farmland birds such as skylarks, whitethroats and ortolan bunting in France was revealed by two studies this week, with the spread of neonicotinoid pesticides – and […]
