I've been away on my hols, a sort of busman's holiday in that I visited some RSPB sites and talked to people about birds and conservation.
One of the highlights was Symonds Yat on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border. The view's breathtaking but the sight of the peregrines nesting on the cliff while tits and finches bob around you blows your mind. I was dead jealous of the RSPB staff perched on their viewing platform high above the ox-bow bend in the Wye. After a good chat it transpired they're as much in awe of the peregrines at the Tate as I was of their falcons.
Our converstion was cut-short as a visitor, as impressed as I was, wanted to sign-up to both support and be kept informed of our work. His actions were prompted not just by the viewpoint at Symonds Yat. He wanted to make a financial commitment because of the conservation and education work we do. Our Date with Nature events showcase the amazing natural world around us, but keeping it that way costs money and an awful lot of know-how. Our policies are created from a rich mix of practical experience, scientific study, specialist knowledge and common sense.
One of the things that amazed me most in my wanderings around the Welsh borders was the huge amount of mistletoe in the trees. It looks like a bumper crop this year, but sadly, most of the mistletoe appears to be male; so won't have any berries. In the second half of the Easter break I was back in the comfy surroundings of East London. I've still not yet seen any swifts, but I've seen swallows and sand martins. The latter were swooping over the old filter beds at the Lee Valley Regional Park's Waterworks nature reserve off the Lee Bridge Road. They've built an artificial sand martin bank there and the birds zoom straight in to the tiny holes at great speed and with amazing accuracy. The smallest miscalcultation would kill them in the ensuing collision. There's a Wildlife weekend coming up there in mid-May where you can also find out more about our new London house sparrow research project.
Where ever you're going in London, make sure you have a camera to hand because you can enter our Mind the Bird photo competition until 31 May. All you need do is capture an image of a bird within a five minute walk of a tube station and upload it to our Flickr site for others to see. There are some brilliant shots but we want more. London's got an amazing range of wild birds, just get out there to discover them.