I visited the RSPB Dungeness reserve yesterday.  Our bit forms part of the Dungeness to Pett Levels Special Protection Area which is, in turn, part of the otherworldly landscape of Romney Marsh - a sort of Russian doll of special places.  The RSPB has been active here for over 100 years firstly employing watchers to protect rare nesting birds then, later, owning land.  The heart of the current RSPB reserve is our oldest…

Planning to dual the critical section of the A11 from Thetford to the Fiveways roundabout is entering its final, and critical, phase.  Tomorrow, the inspector appointed to hear the Public Inquiry will conduct the pre-inquiry meeting.  This will deal with the nuts and bolts of the inquiry - we will be there.

The story so far is that we have long ago agreed that this is a road proposal that will bring significant benefits…

The latest edition of the RSPB's regular award winning podcast 'Nature's Voice' has just been released - you can find it here, and this is the blurb to tempt you to listen:

The Severn and the Tana are two of the world's great rivers. This episode of Nature's Voice looks at the RSPB's work to save special places like these. We visit the Tana Delta on the coast of Kenya which is teeming with wildlife and…

I spent yesterday evening surrounded by the best of the latest crop of wildlife art at the Mall Galleries - but just as stimulating was the company.  The reception at the Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibition was an enjoyable chance to catch up with friends.  I met Joan and Gill, as I often do at RSPB events, and we chatted about the Thames.  I first met them at the height of the campaign to prevent a four-runway…

Irreparable damage to a Site of Special Scientific Interest is bad enough but when the proposal involves constructing a coal-fired power station, then its clear that a major battle is looming.

On the Outer Clyde, Southannan sands is the largest remaining area of intertidal habitat left.  It’s important for wading birds such as oystercatchers and redshanks as well as wildfowl.

The RSPB is completely opposed to plans…

Here's some encouraging news from Nature Conservation Egypt (the BirdLife International Partner in Egypt).  Lake Qarun is important for waterbirds and a local Site Support Group has been establshed to enhance wildlife conservation and increase the opportunities for local people to share in the benefits.

It’s always good to encounter enthusiasm, and recently I did at a Technical Advisory Group, no less! The focus of our attention was Nature After Minerals – an initiative involving the RSPB, the minerals industry, local authorities, Natural England and the Environment Agency. The website is well worth a look; afterminerals.

One of my earliest best places for finding birds was a small gravel pit in the Stour…

When I told my little boy that there was somewhere called the Idle Valley, he was very excited because he thought it must be somewhere near Lazy Town (if you have children of a certain age you’ll know what I’m talking about).  For conservationists of a certain age the name has altogether different connotations.

The washlands of the river Idle in Nottinghamshire have been substantially altered over centuries…

This blog features stories about our very best wildlife sites, places dripping with designations and international recognition.  There's a reason for that, my colleagues across the UK are kept more than fully occupied by threats, issues and occasionally opportunities faced by the best of the best.  But in that focus there is a risk - that by default the rest of nature is overlooked.  You sometimes hear the term 'second…

The Brecks is one of the landscapes of my childhood.  The first night I stayed in a hotel was on a family holiday based in Attleborough. To be honest, I can't remember much about the holiday beyond being a bit anxious as we helped my Mum down a vertiginous ladder into one of Grimes Graves.  But in later years the birds came to the fore - in the late 1980s I took my Dad to see the last regular nesting pair of red-backed…

One reason that our casework (the work we do to prevent damage to our best wildlife sites) lends itself to blogging is that it goes on so long - the story can develop over years before a final resolution.  But we thought as far as Lydd airport's expansion plans were concerned we were nearing the end.  The story so far, Lydd airport is a small operation set on the Dungeness peninsula in Kent.  It lies cheek by jowl with…

I gave a talk to an audience of RSPB members and started by asking them to close their eyes and imagine they could be transported to one of their favourite places.  Now, asking your audience to shut their eyes is a risk - especially after lunch on a warm afternoon, but most appeared to open them again.  So, to where had they transported themselves?  Calls of Minsmere and Leighton Moss came as a relief - 'my local shopping centre…