WETLANDS, oceans and forests are often rightly celebrated for the richness of their wildlife - but what about the 'humble' hedgerow? Whenever did it feature in a lavish David Attenborough TV spectacular? This manifest oversight has prompted author and naturalist Christopher Hart to put things right with his excellent new book, Hedgelands - A Wild Wander around Britain's Greatest Habitat. "Hedges are one of the happiest acciden ..read more

  You can run but you can't hide!  'Venison provides exciting opportunity to involve new audiences,' says wildlife charity WANTED by the RSPB! A 'venison project manager' to be based in one of the most beautiful parts of Britain - Lowther in Cumbria. It is a three-year contract with a salary of up to £34,377 per annum. Says the charity: "Deer are part of Cumbria’s natural ecosystem, but their numbers are high and in the absence of natural predators are preventing natural woodland expansion. "We are therefore looking for a pioneering individual to support professional, compa ..read more

                                              Getting up close to the birds - photographer and raconteur Steve Race A FRONTLINE British wildlife photographer has revealed a scary moment while snapping shoreline waders. Because he favours sharing the same eyeline as his subjects, the  strategy of Steve Race is to lie motionless on the sand and wait for the incoming tide to drive the birds up to him. Over the years, it has enabled him to secure fantastic close-up shot ..read more

  Is this amusing or upsetting - or both? Somehow it is impossible not to feel unsettled by this anthropomorphic stuffed fox carrying a fox-hunting bugle. It is up for sale at an auction to be conducted by auction house Tennants at their saleroom in Leyburn, North Yorkshire on Wednesday April 17. The guide price is £600-£800. Also in the sale are a range of stuffed birds, some Victorian and some contemporary. They include an unusual robin with white markings in its plumage. The pre-sale estimate is that the hammer price will come down at between £180 and £280.  ..read more

  Male and female house sparrow (photo: RSPB) JUST as last year, the House Sparrow is the bird most seen in British gardens - or it was in January this year. That was when the RSPB carried out its popular annual bird county across the nation. The Top Ten (with the number of individuals counted) are listed below:  1 House Sparrow (1,442,300) 2 Blue Tit  (1,094,401) 3 Starling (879,006) 4 Woodpigeon (835,408) 5 Blackbird (708,004) 6 Robin (539,820) 7 Great Tit (523,638) 8 Goldfinch (478,740) 9 Magpie (446,678) 10 Long-tailed Tit  (383,166) The charity says a total o ..read more

                                                              THE RSPB is the latest organisation intent on beefing up its approach to equality, anti-racism and diversity issues. It is offering a salary of up to the equivalent of £39,267 per annum  for a part-time 'Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist'. The charity says the role will be  "to support staff and volunteers by providing advice and guidance, and to de ..read more

  Let's learn to respect rats - so says Joe Shute in his new book  THE subject of the latest book by Sheffield-based birder-author Joe Shute is . . . the rat. To be published on Friday of this week, Stowaway provides a cultural and social history of Rattus norvegicus, examining how one creature achieved total world domination and has inspired such love and loathing. Rats are creatures which inspire fear and fascination in equal measure. Their lives are more closely entwined with humans than any other animal, but, according to Joe, they remain the most misunderstood of all ..read more

Good chance of seeing range of special Scottish species in the hills of the famous Royal estate                                                          BALMORAL Castle is definitely on to a winner with its two-hour nature safaris in the bird-rich grounds of the late Queen's favourite residence. The twice-a-day treks aboard a Land Rover  are sold out for the rest of this month and well into spring. Described as the Balmoral Expediti ..read more

  New Zealand species stars in annual report of British company IT is not often that photographs of wild birds feature in annual company reports, but perhaps Rentokil Initial have set a new trend. This New Zealand bird - a Tui - graces page 32 of the current report. It is one of the species that the New Zealand government is hoping to safeguard from the attention of introduced mammals such as stoats and rodents as part of its national Predator Free NZ campaign. Rentokil Initial, a UK-based company with operations worldwide, has recently acquired four New Zealand businesses whose ..read more

                                                        So near, yet so far. Lighthouse released this photograph last year to illustrate  how the £7.4-million project was progressing   CONFIRMATION has come that the firm tasked with building a new bird observatory on  Fair Isle has entered administration. Lighthouse/IDMH Ltd specialised in the  manufacture of modular buildings  from a factory in Sheffield. The units ..read more