Waxwings - I actually went out looking for them in east Northants yesterday and failed completely despite many recent local records. Did see lots of rowan berries, industrial estates and redwings though! Will I ever see a waxwing this winter?
Farmland birds - a short blog of a week ago has attracted a large number of comments - mostly from a so-called 'Essex peasant' otherwise known as Essex farmer and NFU mouthpiece Guy Smith. The comments are mostly longer than the original blog! Guy has problems with Hope Farm, the Farmland Bird Index, and most things that the RSPB does. Makes for an interesting read if you are interested in that type of thing.
Dancing - now is the time to download Bird is the word to try to get it to be the Christmas Number 1.
Last date to order from the RSPB before Christmas - 15 December.
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
essex peasant - good try! Thank you! Barn owls are indeed a success story - their numbers tend to go up and down a bit but they are a good example of where farmers have made a big difference. I saw a barn owl as I drove to work one day last week and it made my day.
And you make a good point about barn owl being on the FBI. It is, after all, on the list in the Atlas. I think the reason that it isn't included in the FBI is that until we set up the Breeding Bird Survey there were no annual population figures for barn owl - it wasn't covered by the Common Birds Census nor by any other annual monitoring scheme. And since barn owl numbers have gone up, their inclusion would alter the FBI trend a bit.
I know that the RSPB's farm hasn't been called Grange Farm for all that long - I believe it was once called Dairy Farm or something similar.
mirlo - I would be interested in essex peasant's answer to your first question, too. As to your second question, to be fair, essex peasant does have his moments. But your first question goes to the heart of the matter.