Once upon a time, canaries used to save coal miners by giving an early warning of gas. When the bird fell from its perch, the miners dropped tools and ran for their lives.
Oh, how times have changed! Coal-fired power stations are pumping out greenhouse gases and bird populations are changing and moving. The natural world is reacting to climate change. In response to this early warning, what do we do? Government and Industry move inexorably towards more coal-fired power stations.
Help us give nature a louder voice by signing our e-petition, which we'll hand in to Ed Milliband. Hopefully the response will be so high that he'll need to wear earplugs, cover his head in cushions and lock himself into a soundproofed room in order to block-out the din.
Which reminds me of the tap, tap, tapping noise that had me puzzled for a good few minutes this morning, until I noticed a cold and hungry song thrush bashing a snail on the ground. It had found an old plant pot that had somehow tipped over. Inside were dozens of the pesky critters. This time of year is always great for de-snailing your garden. They're slow, reluctant to move and easy to find. Make a game of it with the kids. A sort of snail easter-egg hunt. You then have four choices:
I know what you're thinking. That's why I have so many snails in my garden. I'm a soft touch and can only just bring myself to commit to option one. The snails mostly all slip away, back to where I'd found them.
You see, we all revert to type. Snails will eat my plants. I'm too soft to kill snails. Government and Industry will back the safe option or the most income/least expenditure. Birds and other wildlife will react to changes in their environment and we humans will consider ourselves separate from nature, leaving it to cry out in anguished silence.
Go on, join us and make some green-noise!