This book has a series of contributions by people who have been involved in rewilding, agriculture, naturalists, etc., who give their views on rewilding, a much-debated subject.  It is interesting that there is a range of opinions from the contributors ..read more

In his latest book, Of the Trees and the Birds, Ian Parsons explains the close – and often symbiotic – relationship between trees and birds. We all know that many birds use trees for shelter, food and roosting but what ..read more

This is a book that needs concentration. When the area around Lake Mburu in Uganda was first designated as a National Park in 1982 Farmers were excluded from the park. By 1985 most of the people in the park had ..read more

‘Tom Joad and Me’ was a birthday present from my publisher, especially welcome since I know the author. It is set around the 1970s, with the main character, teenager Emmet McCrudden, fed up with his life in Carricktown, Co Tyrone. The antics of his drunken father has resulted in his mother leaving with no forwarding address. To make matters worse Emmet’s best friend has joined the IRA. Emmet, now calling himself Tom Joad as he wants free of all the shackles of his Carricktown home, moves to London where he finds a job as a bricklayer and a writer of reviews of London rock bands for a magazine ..read more

Bruce Kendrick travels down through the Western Isles, visiting Lewis, Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra, Vatersay plus some of the smaller islands. Indeed, for good measure, he throws in visits to St Kilda. The author has intimate knowledge of these islands in the Atlantic as he has been a regular visitor for over 50 years. Since I have also visited most of these islands (regrettably not St Kilda) I could see that this was going to be a very interesting read. My initial thoughts were that the nature aspect would be very interesting but I wasn’t quite so sure about the ..read more

I have just read of a conviction by Hampshire Police of five men involved in hare coursing. The conviction was under new legislation, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which has created the new offences in England and Wales of trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, and being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs. While in Scotland the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 was far from easy to enforce due to its complexity, at least it had a sensible and workable definition of the term ‘hunt,’ which is to ‘search for or course ..read more

The author, Hans Breuer, is a committed enthusiast in carnivorous tropical pitcher plants. His love of these plants is such that he and his family moved from their home in Taiwan to Borneo where there is an incredible diversity of these plants. Hans, often along with his family, has many exciting adventures seeking out the natural wonders in Borneo’s forests but is aware of the serious risks to wildlife through logging and the capture of many animal species either for eating or for the pet trade. He specifically writes of the threat to pangolins. The author has an encounter with an orang utan ..read more

For reasons similar to those put forward by Police Scotland I have never been an advocate of giving more powers to the SSPCA to investigate wildlife crime. Their staff already have powers that relate to animals being cruelly treated or to live injured or trapped animals but their powers stop short of dealing with suspected offences when the victim is already dead. If powers similar to those of Police Scotland were extended to SSPCA staff there would be confusion for the public in relation to whether to report a suspected wildlife crime to the police or to the SSPCA; there could be interferenc ..read more

I’ve put this post on my blog twice before but I think, in view of the astonishing comments by two board members of the Yorkshire Dale National Park Authority, as published in the latest blog of Raptor Persecution UK   https://raptorpersecutionuk.org/2022/12/17/yorkshire-dales-national-park-not-natural-country-for-hen-harriers-red-kites-according-to-national-park-authority-board-member/ it’s worth another airing. (By the way if anyone can tell me how to minimise these long links I’d be obliged) Photo courtesy of the former Strathclyde Police  In 2013, while visiting a local farm ..read more

I’ll start off this review as I’ll end it: I loved this book. As the title suggests, the author looks in depth at wildlife and habitat during the four seasons of the year. The format is almost in the manner of a diary, the author visiting farmland, woodland, moor, coastline and his garden, on his own or in the company of others, throughout the course of a year. The detail given of what he sees demonstrates his extensive knowledge of the flora and fauna in his home area, which is Devon. I particularly enjoyed the way in which he brought to life many of the species he watched on his sojourns. H ..read more