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The Arctic skua, an aerial highway robber: Country diary 100 years ago
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 28 July 1916
The ragwort is out on the sandhills, masses of handsome flowers above dense, dark green leaves, except where a colony of black and orange cinnabar caterpillars is defoliating the strong plants. Brighter even than the ragwort is the yellow-wort, each flower facing the sun above its stem-pierced leaves. Acres are plentifully sprinkled with yellow-worts, pink centauries, marsh helleborines with nodding mauve or purple white-lipped flowers, and grass of Parnassus with elegant white flowers delicately veined with grey. On the level stretches are considerable areas of solid pink, paler but more dainty than that of the centaury, for the small, short-stalked flowers of the bog pimpernel grow so close together as to hide their creeping leaves.
Over this floral wilderness a few terns still call harshly, for belated pairs, their earlier efforts having failed, yet hope to hatch their two or three mottled eggs. When, one day this week, we left the sandhills, we found scores of adult birds resting on the sands, and others offering small shining fish to the young they had tempted towards the sea; over the water beyond were many more beating up and down, hovering and diving. Suddenly, from the dunes behind, came a wild, angry clamour, and an Arctic skua, big and brown beside the dainty terns, came skimming towards the beach. Two or three irate terns followed it, and the resting birds on the shore got up in a flurried cloud. Heedless of this noisy multitude and their mobbing cries it singled out one with food in its coral bill and, twisting and dodging from side to side, chased it until the quarry was dropped. Had we been near enough we might have seen the skua stoop try catch the dropped fish before it reached the water, for that is the constant habit of this fierce aerial highway robber.
Continue reading...Grey triggerfish – new to British waters, and to the fishmonger's slab
A fish familiar to Mediterranean fishermen can now be caught around Britain, from the south-west to the Hebrides
A favourite haunt of a newcomer to British shores, the grey triggerfish Balistes capriscus, is the seaside pier. For the holiday angler it could be quite a shock landing such an unfamiliar fish, and it will need caution. Triggerfish have small mouths but eight sharp teeth and strong jaws, useful for crushing the shells of mussels and other prey.
The increase in sea temperatures of around 1C in the last 30 years, caused by climate change, has attracted this and other newcomers more familiar to fishermen in Mediterranean countries. Unlike the octopus, which still seems confined to the southern half of Britain and Ireland, the grey triggerfish is moving north quite fast.
Continue reading...Campaigners seek to reintroduce Eurasian lynx to parts of Britain
Charity begins local consultation on plan to introduce 10 Eurasian lynxes back into wild in north of England and southern Scotland
Lynx could soon be reintroduced to the north of England and southern Scotland as the charity campaigning for the return of the wild mammal, which was last seen across Britain around 700AD, launches its final stage of a consultation.
The project to introduce 10 Eurasian lynxes back into the wild, which has also considered sites in Aberdeenshire, will this week begin discussions with farmers and tourist operators around Kielder Forest in Northumberland.
Continue reading...Tigers maul two women at Beijing wildlife park
‘World can’t afford to silence us’: black church leaders address climate change
One of the largest and oldest black churches in the US warns that black people are disproportionally harmed by global warming and fossil fuel pollution
African American religious leaders have added their weight to calls for action on climate change, with one of the largest and oldest black churches in the US warning that black people are disproportionally harmed by global warming and fossil fuel pollution.
The African Methodist Episcopal church has passed its first resolution in its 200-year history devoted to climate change, calling for a swift transition to renewable energy.
Continue reading...AEMO chief executive Matt Zema dies
The eco guide to cotton towels
Buy organic cotton and you’ll help transform lives, communities, the environment, the world…
The textiles industry is revolting. It causes 10% of the planet’s carbon footprint, while the dyeing and treatment of textiles is responsible for 17% of all industrial water pollution. Cotton uses 3% of global water, and the damage from cotton farming is $83bn. This eco cost is partially offset by longevity: a bath sheet should be in service for 10 years. I’m serious. So I was distressed to hear that 4,000 Wimbledon towels had been nicked as souvenirs by players. I make an appeal to Djokovic, Williams, Murray et al: please keep them towels in service.
Every time you make a purchasing decision, you’re also making a production decision, so when you come to replace towels and bed linen, go for organic. Currently, just 1% of the world’s cotton is organic. Let’s get that higher. Growing organic cotton is a far more responsible use of farmable land and fresh water, than conventional. The Textile Exchange surveyed 82,000 hectares of land in 2014 and found reduced global-warming potential, lower soil erosion, less water use and less energy demand from organic, as opposed to conventional, cotton growers.
Continue reading...Solar Impulse: Zero-fuel plane begins final flight
Kenya jails ivory kingpin for 20 years
Paula Kahumbu: The conviction and sentencing of Feisal Mohammed Ali sends a message to poachers and traffickers that the net is closing around them
On Friday, a Mombasa law court sentenced Feisal Mohammed Ali to 20 years in jail after finding him guilty of ivory illegal possession of ivory worth 44 million shillings (US $440,000). The court also imposed a fine of 20 million shillings.
This landmark ruling by the Kenyan court is the end of a long story that began with the seizure of 2 tonnes of ivory at Fuji Motors car yard in Mombasa in June 2014.
Continue reading...A roe deer doe transforms the scene
Achvaneran, Highlands The only recourse was to do a ‘wildlife watch’, ignoring everything else and concentrating solely on what was around in nature
Walking down the garden to my study I could hear a single male curlew calling from the field. They had bred down below the house, but his partner and their offspring had already gone to the coast.
I eased open the curtains in front of my desk and knew that with the warm sunshine it would be difficult to concentrate on writing. The only recourse was to do what I call a “wildlife watch”, concentrating solely on what was around in nature. Out came the telephone link to the house, the binoculars, camera and notebook, and I was set.
Continue reading...Soil microbes burp carbon dioxide after drought-breaking rain
Expectation influences reporting of adverse health effects from wind farms
E-waste a rich source of rare metals
Rare bog butterfly flutters back from brink
In want of water
Self-drive cars, a safer option or accident waiting to happen?
Week in wildlife - in pictures
A greater roadrunner and a pair of snub-nosed monkeys are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...If the government cuts farmers’ subsidies, what will the rest of the UK lose?
There are certain environmental benefits only farmers can provide; a weakened subsidy system will dissuade their efforts
It was perhaps the most significant pre-Brexit tie between Britain and the European Union: for decades, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has provided supportive subsidies to EU farmers, consuming 40% of the EU’s annual budget in the process, almost £3bn of which went to the United Kingdom each year.
CAP’s system of subsidies works to incentivise farmers to produce more food, so the EU can remain food secure, and also funds those who set aside land for environmental protection instead of cultivation. But CAP’s inability to fully deliver on its ambitious goals has made it a controversial policy, one that both bolstered and undermined Britain’s relations with the EU.
Continue reading...Trump resumes fight against windfarm near Scottish golf course
US presidential candidate said planning conditions associated with Aberdeenshire project had not been satisfied
Donald Trump has vowed to continue fighting the windfarm development off the coast from his Aberdeenshire golf course, branding the project an act of “public vandalism”.
The US presidential candidate returned to the fray after Swedish energy company Vattenfall confirmed on Thursday that it is going ahead with its £300m investment, despite last month’s EU referendum vote.
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