Feed the Birds Day is almost upon us and I've charged my feeders and bought in some flowering bulbs, but it seems my autumn is more like a summer than the summer.
At the weekend I was out walking in woods near Enfield with my children and friends and we were all gobbling blackberries. I can't believe this season has gone on sooo long! I picked my first blackberry in June and had harvested a healthy crop from scrubland in Hackney before July was out.
Feed the Birds Day [Oct 25] has traditionally coincided with the clocks going back as a reminder that birds need extra support as the weather turns colder and the nights longer. Putting out food is great but growing it in your garden or an outdoor space is better. What could be more fancy than a goldfinch dropping in for a visit?
As part of this year's activities we're urging people to sign-up to Homes for Wildlife. All you have to do is register your details and tell us a little bit about your garden, balcony or outdoor space. We can then send through a personalised list of activities or ideas that will help you attract and support more wildlife. Imagine turning your garden in to a mini nature reserve!
The advice also helps address issues such as creating somewhere to park your car. This week [1 Oct] sees the introduction of new legislation which will make it illegal to concreate over your front garden. We've lost so many front gardens in London that it's had an impact on wildlife. We just don't have the same number of garden birds and insects that we used to get. The practise has also made flash flooding more likely and helped increase humid, hot conditions. I welcome the new laws and believe it's a huge step forward for London and the UK. You can still create a parking space, but you can't create a solid surface.
This sort of clever, thought through legislation is fantastic, everyone wins. We reduce flash flooding and the misery that brings, support wildlife, add colour and scent to our lives, retain a convenient parking space and help reduce uncomfortable humidity and air temperatures in a single stroke.
The change in the law follows careful investigation and analysis. The sort of careful investigation and analysis that was carried out into the feasibility of building a new airport on a man-made island in the Thames Estuary a couple of years ago. Sadly, it seems Mayor Boris Johnson has lost his copy of the report (although I'll gladly hand him a replacement should he ever accept any of our invitations to meet with the RSPB). The Mayor seems intent on pushing us towards another costly feasibility study on the same proposal. The last one, supported by the High Court and Boris' Dad, stated there was no economic, environmental nor commercial gain to be had; even the aviation industry agreed that the plan was not practical. Nothing has changed since then, except that oil prices have increased, airlines have gone bust and government targets on reducing emissions are not going as planned.
Mayor Johnson's calls for a new enquiry on the subject, suggest that he wants extra capacity for air travel but he's on record as opposing airport expansion within London, leaving him little option but to push airport expansion outside of London. The RSPB is opposed to airport expansion in the Capital and we oppose the creation of Boris' fantasy airport island in the Estuary. RSPB questions at the Labour and Conservative party conferences have failed to find any support for an estuary airport from party officials at any level. Boris is flying solo, but he's bought his ticket and is heading for passport control.