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Sinah Common, Hayling Island, Hampshire: Despite years of dedicated gorse-scanning this was the first time I’d seen one of these secretive little birds on my patch

The gorse thicket was ablaze with flower, but the heady coconut-suncream scent of the golden blossom was at odds with the biting wind and overcast sky. As a shower began to fall like a haze of iron filings, I decided to take shelter behind one of the well-preserved anti-aircraft gun emplacements – a relic from the second world war, when decoy fires were set on Hayling Island to draw the Luftwaffe away from the important military targets on nearby Portsea Island.

As I hunkered down against the concrete wall, I noticed a small, dark-coloured bird flitting through the furze like a restless sprite. I followed at a discreet distance as it crept through the low branches, gleaning insects from the needle-like leaves with quick, jerky movements. At first glance I thought it was a wren, but as I raised my binoculars it turned and cocked a disproportionately long, slender tail – not the short, stubby appendage I was expecting to see. I realised that I was looking at a Dartford warbler, Sylvia undata.

While the species has recovered from the 1960s population crash, continuing to increase in numbers and expand its range in recent years, Dartford warblers are largely sedentary birds. They breed exclusively on lowland heath and rarely travel far from their natal habitat. When food is scarce they will range more widely and can occasionally be spotted in coastal scrub during the winter months, but despite years of dedicated gorse-scanning this was the first time I’d encountered one on my local patch.

I wasn’t content with this fleeting glimpse, but “Darties” are secretive, skulking birds. My fingers reddened with cold as I waited in the hope that this one would emerge from the dense, dark undergrowth. As the rain eased off, my patience was finally rewarded. The bird – a male – perched up on the crown of a bush and I was able to admire his slate-grey upper parts, ruddy breast and vermilion eye-rings.

The instant he caught sight of me, the feathers on his domed-shaped head began to rise in the suggestion of a crest. Tail wagging, he scolded me with a harsh nasal “dzurr”, before vanishing back into cover.

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It's been a year since the last South Australia blackout and when the Coalition brandished a lump of coal in parliament. And the progress since then has been remarkable – on the cost front, on storage, and the emergence of dispatchable renewables.

Aurizon withdraws application for NAIF funding to build Gallilee rail line, in fresh vote of no confidence in the Adani-led mega coal project.

The CEFC has made a $25 million cornerstone investment in the first ever green tranche of an Australian residential mortgage backed bond.

Republican Congressman, a libertarian and a climate denier, lives off-grid with solar and storage, and even owns a Tesla Model S electric vehicle.

German household power bills are badly exaggerated, and the Energiewende is not causing energy poverty.

Groundwater is out of sight, but it shouldn't be out of mind. As cities struggle to cope with drought, we should remember that our largest stocks of water are hidden deep underground. Emma Kathryn White, PhD Candidate, Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Households taking part in a CSIRO designed Virtual Power Station trial have used solar, battery storage, energy monitoring to save up to 60% on electricity bills.

Orders roll in for Norwegian made all-electric car ferry, after prototype cuts carbon emissions by 95% and operating cost by 80% compared to fuel-powered counterparts.

An updated study from US and Danish academics says we can electrify the world through using mainly solar, wind and hydro – and for a quarter of the cost of fossil fuels, if you factor in savings from avoided damage to the environment and health.

Wind and solar energy are expected to account for more than half of Tamil Nadu's power by 2027.

The 70ft-long (21m) dinosaur replica only just squeezed into its new home in Dorset.

Better recycling and compostable materials could be an answer to our plastic pollution problem.

Poultry group which sold out-of-date meat to supermarkets may close three factories

Nine hundred jobs are under threat at three poultry plants belonging to 2 Sisters Food Group, the UK’s largest supplier of supermarket chicken, which has been dogged by a controversy over food standards.

The potential closure of two of the firm’s West Midlands factories in Smethwick and Wolverhampton, plus a third in Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, follow a nightmare year for the company, which has included the closing of a further site in Smethwick as well as a Guardian and ITV undercover investigation that prompted production to be suspended for five weeks last autumn at the group’s West Bromwich plant.

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CSIRO researchers use world-first genetic analysis to estimate population, but believe numbers could be as high as 12,800

About 5,500 great white sharks are cruising in the waters off Australia’s east coast, new research has revealed.

For the first time, the CSIRO has been able to put a number on the size of the white shark population using world-first genetic analysis.

It estimates there are about 750 adults living in waters east of Victoria’s southern coast, up to central Queensland and across to New Zealand.

Taking juvenile sharks into account, researchers believe the total east coast population sits at 5,460 – but could be as high as 12,800.

Related: Shark attacks in Australia: how common are they really?

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Scientists may finally understand the mechanism behind solar flares., which can play havoc with technology on Earth.

Australians import millions of flowers for Valentine's Day. Let's consider some ways to be eco-friendly. Jennifer Lavers, Research Scientist, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Fiona Kerslake, Research Fellow in viticulture and fermentation, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

From sweet oranges to bitter lemons, all citrus fruit came from the Himalayas millions of years ago, say scientists.

Plastic waste is building up in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Norwegian Arctic, scientists say.

Plastic waste is increasing in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Arctic.