Sickening news.

REVEALED: 18 Tory MPs have written to Environment Secretary Steve Barclay urging him to gut Natural England’s powers to create nature reserves (SSSIs)

This latest #AttackOnNature must not succeed

(Thanks to Joe Marshall for obtaining the letter)

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Saturday April 13th 2pm-4pm Join us at The Rock Mill Centre #NewMills to discover more about #swifts . We'll be talking about how to safely give them a home #nestboxes .
Rock Mill Lane, New Mills, SK22 3BN
#HighPeak #Derbyshire #nature #RedListBirds #summerjoy

Spring had definitely sprung over Easter when i managed to see my first Wheatears, (albeit in ones & twos), either side of the Derbyshire/GM border near Ludworth Moor. This loud & proud male enjoyed posing on rocks & molehills in the occasional sunshine.

Greater Manchester/Derbyshire border - It is sleeting as i write, but heartening to see several daytime hunting barn owls catching voles in the last week or so, often hunting together. Looks like they will get through a wet winter,courtesy of vole rich, rewilded fields.

Out of the frost this morning ...a sign of spring...a small party of Golden Plover back on the moors near Chunal , Derbyshire. Good to see a supporting cast of at least 5 Stonechat too.

20.01.24 Hassop, Derbyshire. Good to renew acquaintances with the winter visitors along the trail. Many birds were perched high up, not offering great views in the poor light. Strategically placed rotting apple chunks soon had eagle eyed birds coming to lower levels to feed.

Stop the destruction of Danes Moss peatland for housing and retail
development - Sign the Petition! chng.it/zVqwtcjy via Change.org UK

The usual festive chores have prevented a Christmas trip to see the Waxwings at Hassop,(Derbyshire),but the garden Bullfinch flock of 4 males & 3 females have alleviated the cabin fever & added colour to the succession of rainy,grey days.

Belated post. A passage of Pink Footed Geese on Christmas day morning over both Buxton & New Mills (Derbyshire) . The micro window of settled weather must have encouraged them to be on the move! Nice to sample a slice of the Norfolk coast at Christmas.

🦉Please share this short video, which illustrates how poison in our countryside puts wildlife and companion animals at risk.
💚Raising awareness is the first step towards action.
🦊HIT's fight against bloodsports crime and cruelty continues - thanks for being with us!

Waxwings still present in Chisworth, Derbyshire yesterday. At least 12 were wallowing in a sea of Sorbus berries. You just have to admire their opportunism in eking out a living in the freezing temperatures after a trip across the north sea.

Soulless insanity with a selfish indulgence to tidy the landscape. Surely ancient hedgerows should be afforded more legal protection other than from cutting during the breeding season? Or am I missing something?

16 Waxwings on the A626 /Sandy lane junction, Chisworth, (Derbyshire) today. The gloomy, winter light was lifted by the splash of Scandinavian colour! The pink berry tree (possibly Sorbus species) still has berries left on it, so the flock could linger.

Channel 4 News reports two thirds of raptor persecution crimes in 2022 linked to shooting estates raptorpersecutionuk.org/2023/11/23/cha… via Raptor Persecution UK

Moved away from bird feeders this year to reduce the potential for avian disease . Sprinkling sunflower seeds & peanuts onto old logs & tree stumps around the whole garden instead. Rewarded with some nice autumn colour with 3 Nuthatches grabbing seeds from the stump crevices.

Did you know pumpkin is harmful to Hedgehogs? Don't leave your carved pumpkins outdoors on ground level, or in woodlands. Dispose of them responsibly in your food waste bin or, even better, get creative and make them into bird feeders! 🎃🦔🍂
📷 Ben Andrew

Oh,the irony. The Moorland Association show support to the NHS on their profile pic, whilst supporting moorland management practices to keep the NHS respiratory clinics busy...🙄

Just a reminder to Severn Trent and Staffs water of what the Severn should look like. This shot, from the nineties, shows the swathes of ranunculus streamer weed on the surface.
Ranunculus filters a lot of impurities from the river but it has not appeared in any quantity since…

This is the unspeakable face of driven grouse shooting saying ‘F**k the environment , public health , wildlife and you’ . Underpinned by the criminal persecution of raptors and a cause of poor water quality and flooding this despicable industry needs to end . End of .