You are going to participate in Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend aren't you?
Fisheries and almost-everything-else Minister, Richard Benyon, is coming under pressure from fellow fishermen to allow culling of cormorants in their breeding season. We work closely with fishermen on a range of issues such as the Severn Barrage, river pollution and the Water Framework Directive but some of them are a bit bonkers. No you don't need extra powers to cull cormorants - you have plenty of unnecessary scope already. We hope that in his busy job, Mr Benyon has time to be sensible on this issue.
Forests - we'll hear soon of the government's actual plans on this subject. We will be scrutinising the consultation paper carefully and then making our views known. The timing of this article in the Independent cannot be accidental.
Waxwings - look out for colour-ringed birds. I see that some of the local Northamptonshire birds are carrying colour-rings clamped onto them by the Grampian Ringing Group earlier in the winter.
I'm looking forward to talking at the Sussex Ornithological Society Conference this weekend - but the other speakers on the programme are excellent so I'm looking forward to listening too.
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
Bonkers Mark? No. But of course the answer is not to shoot more cormorants. As redkite says the issue is the biodiversity and natural balance in the seas. What goes around comes around - do defra understand that? Have the RSPB been saying that to defra at the top of their voices? Sort that out and hey presto.
Stopping all commercial fishing isn''t going to happen - but it doesn't need to. Just having some sensible fishery polices will help.