A plate of cooked songbirds?

A plate of cooked songbirds?

The British military base on Cyprus is a safe haven for wildlife criminals as documented in this excellent article on RBA where they state that "Over 800,000 songbirds, such as blackcaps and robins, are estimated to have been illegally killed on a British military base in Cyprus last autumn, where illegal trapping activity remains around its highest ever levels, according to a new report."

 

 

Ambelopoulia - the 'delicacy' driving the illegal killing. (© RSPB)

Forests are treasures, focus on Bialowieza

On this International Day of Forests 2017 I read that Poland is to report on the impacts of felling in Bialowieża Forest in 2017, as advised by IUCN. This is after Białowieża Forest, a place of great wonder, complex biological relationships and marvellous biological richness, faced a great threat in the form of gouvernment sanctioned logging! (see previous blog here) Let us hope that this great treasure can be fully recognized and fully protected again.

 

 Summer & winter predator-prey foodwebs in Poland's Białowieża Forest.

With kind permission of Serguei Saavedra.

Predators
PERMANENT: wolf, lynx, red fox, raccoon dog, otter, polecat, and northern goshawk.
SUMMER: badger, lesser-spotted eagle.

Prey
PERMANENT: red deer, boar, hare, squirrel, mice, voles, shrews, passerines, fish and amphibians.
SUMMER: small passerines, reptiles, and insect.
WINTER: European bison.

International Day of Forests 2017!

Today is International Day of Forests 2017: to all those who found themselves walking in woods, what did you notice? Did you hear the sweet chiff chaff song of a tiny bird fresh from an African migration? Did you notice the first leaves bursting out of the sycamore buds? Did you feel the all too brief warmth of the Spring sun on your face in between rain showers and a wind with still a bite to it?

And to those who spent time indoors or only glanced at the woods and forests around us, go visit them soon!

Here are a handful of photos from my great Canadian adventures with Mark and Melissa in the woods of Algonquin last Fall, and what amazing vast expanses of forest they still have, for now.

The great White Pines

And a plethora of Big-toothed Apsen leaves

The superb London Planes of Bedford Square!

The superb London Planes of Bedford Square are definitely worth a look. I wandered around the (sadly locked) perimeter of the garden railings and gazed up at the great limbs, and down at the oozing cambium, caught in the act of imperceptibly slow swallowing up the rails.

 

 

 

 

Sequoias in trouble?

As the planet warms, some species are able to change their ranges. Some plants are however so vast and slow growing, and so restricted in their needs that the future is a little bleak. Check out these thoughts on the future for the redwoods of North America on the BBC 4's Shared Planet programme, origionally broadcast 2013. Also check out James up a fine redwood giant in James and the Giant tree!

General Sherman Tree

see here for full size image!

In the heart of Thorncombe Wood

In the heart of Thorncombe Wood are amazing big pines, ancient sweet chestnuts and and great beeches. The woods are now alive to the sounds of bird song with woodpeckers pecking at wood, and yaffling, the strident call of the nuthatch pealing from afar and those siskins really going for it in the oak above me. Here are a few photos of an awesome sweet chestnut, stacks of hazel rods in the hazel coppice, a line of sweet chestnut fencing, a glimpse of a wild beast of the forest, and an ancient fallen tree.

My latest great read!

Ever hear do the woodwide web? Well, read on! Peter Peter Wohlleben, who calls towering beeches his friends, is full of intriguing and fascinating facts and info. I have just started this and am looking forward to learning to see more when I enter the forest.