The Guardian

Sandy, Bedfordshire The migration of these winter thrushes may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our ears tell us

A flock of redwings were playing sky rounders in the park, flying from tree to tree, first base to second, second to third, not landing but pressing on, as if going for a home run. They came near enough that I heard their calls. But only two or three called out of a flock of 50 or more.

These winter thrushes seep into our consciousness all through the autumn. However, their migration may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our senses tell us. My mind flashed back to windless evenings over the previous few weeks, punctuated by the “seep” of a redwing, a voice from above that was so high, so clear and so bright that it might have been a star crying out. An answering note would ping out from another bird, a link between travellers in the blackness. And then, perhaps, another. It was thrilling to think that these few sounds in the dark were contact calls for a whole mute squadron.

Foreign policy paper says climate-related conflict and migration could put Australia’s economic interests under pressure

Climate change is creating a disaster on Australia’s doorstep, with environmental degradation and the demand for sustainable sources of food undermining stability in some countries, especially “fragile states”, according to the Australian government’s first foreign policy white paper in more than a decade.

The new white paper, released on Thursday, contains warnings over the disruptive effects of climate change in Australia’s immediate region, noting that many small island states will be “severely affected in the long term”, and the coming decade will see increased need for disaster relief.

Spread of light pollution is bad for the environment, animal life and humans, five-year study concludes

The world’s nights are getting alarmingly brighter – bad news for all sorts of creatures, humans included – as light pollution encroaches on darkness almost everywhere.

Satellite observations made by researchers during five consecutive Octobers show Earth’s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2% a year from 2012 to 2016. So did nighttime brightness.

Funds set aside for national charging network and tech research, but lack of scrappage scheme disappoints

Electric cars have received a funding boost with the government earmarking £340m for a national charging network and subsidies for vehicle purchases.

However, further budget backing for greener vehicles was limited to a small rise in vehicle excise duty for new diesel cars that fail to meet rigorous emissions standards – disappointing campaigners who had hoped for a rise in fuel duty or a diesel scrappage scheme.

Government accused of ‘turning their back on renewables’ after saying there will be no more money for new low-carbon levies

Companies hoping to build new windfarms, solar plants and tidal lagoons, have been dealt a blow after the government said there would be no new subsidies for clean power projects until 2025 at the earliest.

The Treasury said it had taken the decision to “protect” consumers, because households and businesses were facing an annual cost of about £9bn on their energy bills to pay for wind, solar and nuclear subsidies to which it had already committed.

Conservationists believe global warming could be partly responsible for the influx of species such as the scarlet darter that have been seen this year

Record numbers of rare migrant dragonflies have been spotted in the UK this year, according to an analysis by volunteers from the Migrant Dragonfly Project.

The study recorded the first confirmed UK sighting of the scarlet darter for 13 years, at Longham Lakes in Dorset. It is only the eighth time this species has been spotted in Britain.

UN report warns crimes such as logging and poaching are putting ‘high pressure’ on ecosystems in 15 countries in the Danube-Carpathian region

An environmental “looting” spree is threatening biodiversity and pristine forests across 15 countries in central and eastern Europe, the UN has warned.

Environmental crimes such as illegal logging, fishing, poaching and the caviar black market are putting “high pressure” on ecosystems in the Danube-Carpathian region, according to a report by the UN Environmental Programme (Unep) and WWF.

Innogy Renewables chief claims future reactors will not be competitive as offshore windfarms become even cheaper

New nuclear power stations in the UK can no longer compete with windfarms on price, according to the boss of a German energy company’s green power arm.

Hans Bunting, the chief operating officer of Innogy Renewables, part of the company that owns the UK energy supplier npower, said offshore windfarms had become mainstream and were destined to become even cheaper because of new, bigger turbines.

The Picture It competition organised by the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc) asked budding photographers to explore how they interacted with or were inspired by the environment in everyday life.

Visitors to Nerc’s UnEarthed showcase in Edinburgh last weekend were asked to pick the winners from nine shortlisted images and more than 1,000 entries. The winners from the three categories will be invited to the official naming of Nerc’s new polar research vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, next year

More than a thousand rangers have been killed while protecting elephants – and a corrupted legal market, operating for a few wealthy clients, exacerbates that risk

Related: Trump postpones decision on allowing import of elephant parts

The announcement that the Trump administration is considering overturning the US ban on elephant trophy imports from Zambia and Zimbabwe is one that directly threatens the lives of African park rangers who are tasked with protecting elephants and their ecosystems.

Exclusive: Frontier Economics’ modelling commissioned by government says 6,000MW of renewable capacity entering market will reduce prices in 2018-20

Modelling commissioned by the Turnbull government as part of its efforts to back in the national energy guarantee says renewables will drive the first wave of price reductions under the policy. It also floats substantial regulatory intervention to stop the electricity market becoming even more concentrated.

The work by Frontier Economics, obtained by Guardian Australia, says a steep decline in wholesale electricity prices forecast between 2018 and 2022 is due to the entry of 6,000MW of renewable capacity which has already been incentivised by the existing renewable energy target.

Despite a national hunting ban, the attitude to bears has become increasingly hostile, with some remote villagers taking matters into their own hands

High up in the Carpathian mountains, a forest guard named Csaba Demeter was leaving the woods one evening early this summer when a brown bear attacked him from behind. It pinned him to the ground, sunk its teeth into his limbs and tore deep lacerations into his back with its claws. Demeter pulled his coat over his head and played dead, holding his breath and stiffening his limbs as the bear dug into his flesh. It was five minutes before the animal gave up and moved slowly back into the forest, leaving Demeter barely alive on the mountainside.

Study finds ‘strong association’ between high levels of fine particulate matter and abnormal sperm shape - but impact on wider fertility remains unclear

High levels of air pollution are associated with poor sperm quality and could be partly responsible for the sharp drop in male fertility, according to a new study.

A team of scientists, led by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studied the sperm of nearly 6,500 men and found a “strong association” between high levels of fine particulate air pollution and “abnormal sperm shape.”

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire It couldn’t be the power-station chimney, it was in the wrong place. And it was too late in the year to be a stack of hay

As the match-flare of a November afternoon dimmed in the trees, I caught a glimpse of a tower. Peering through hazel branches I could make out a tall structure that looked like the power-station chimney – except that was north and this was west. It could have been a stack of hay bales, but harvest was over long ago.

Curious to discover what I had seen, I wandered down the wooded bank, losing the long view, crossed the road and went through the gate on to a green lane, now used only by dog-walkers, sheep and an occasional tractor, but once the thoroughfare over the Edge to a hamlet on common land below.

Bill Shorten gives emu a leg up, Malcolm Turnbull takes flight and Scott Ludlam offers shock support for ibis

• Vote now for your favourite Australian bird

Forget Bennelong or New England, the battle for Australia’s favourite bird is on.

As the inaugural bird of the year poll launched on Monday, the nation’s celebrities, political leaders and media outlets immediately began their campaigns.

Google Earth reveals a property on which hundreds of hectares of previously untouched forest have been cleared

The tree-clearing explosion occurring in Queensland, usually reported in seemingly impossibly large numbers of hectares or square kilometres, is now being documented using publicly available satellite and aerial photography, revealing the graphic disfigurement of the remaining untouched bushland there.

Related: For the love of Queensland, this land clearing has got to stop | Lyndon Schneiders

Figures show more than 2.5m cups were purchased in the past five years despite pledges by the environment secretary to tackle growing plastic waste

More than 2.5m disposable cups have been purchased by the UK’s environment department for use in its restaurants and cafes over the past five years – equivalent to nearly 1,400 a day.

The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesman, Tim Farron, said the revelation, obtained through a freedom of information request, showed Michael Gove “needs to get his own house in order” in light of his public pledges to tackle the growing scourge of plastic pollution.

Poland is given two weeks to end its destruction of the Unesco-protected forest in a landmark ruling by the European court of justice

Poland has been given two weeks to stop illegal deforestation in the Unesco-protected Białowieża forest or face fines of at least €100,000 a day.

In a precedent-setting ruling that will echo across the EU, the European court of justice ordered Poland to show it was acting lawfully in the ancient woodland, or face a €36.5m (£32m) annual penalty.

Humpback dolphins in Western Australia have been observed gifting sea sponges to potential mates in a courtship behaviour that researchers say is very rare.  'It highlights that there's another species out there that's quite socially complex, more than we previously recognised,' says Dr Simon Allen, lead researcher from the University of Western Australia. 'They are thinking animals'

Holme, Norfolk Myths and misconceptions surround this diminutive bird, which can hide in plain sight despite its dazzling plumage

It’s funny how kingfishers, the boldest-coloured birds in Britain, have inspired so much confusion. The commonest example concerns their size. Many people seeing one for the first time are flabbergasted at its smallness.

A recent encounter reminded me just how sparrow-like they are. For 20 minutes, I’d sat before a pool scanning the middle distance for harriers and winter geese, before noticing a kingfisher had been perched there all the time. It was only when it made its silvery piping notes that I fixed its location on a reed mace head.