As winter draws to a close we're marking the occasion with a show of favourites from the Winterwatch photo group.
It's been a strange old winter. The coldest December on record followed by an unusually mild February. Here's to all you who braved the weather and got out there to capture these inspirational shots. We hope to see you all in the Springwatch Flickr group which has come out of hibernation today.
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Out bird watching last week I tweeted to ask if there is a good pub near WWT Slimbridge, and someone answered that there is one beyond "the slim bridge". After six years visiting this reserve I'd never made this connection, and it got me thinking about how important these links can be.
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River restoration is often held up to be one of the success stories of UK conservation. The newspapers report that there are increasing numbers of sea trout, otters and salmon in our rivers. But do these reports mask a different story? Have efforts to improve our waterways so far been a waste of money? Jeremy Biggs from Pond Conservation thinks so, and has been in touch to put his point across.
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Springwatch needs you! We know there are people up and down the country who are passionately committed to wildlife. Often it's one particular group of animals which has captured their imagination - is this you? Or do you know someone like this?
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Spring is coming early yells The Daily Mirror. Oh no it isn't, it's coming late say The Guardian, BBC and The Telegraph.
All these pieces report the results of surveys. The BBC, Guardian and The Telegraph report the Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar; the Mirror reports the National Trust's annual Valentine's Day count. So who's right? The answer is a bit of both.
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Great news just in from the Sussex Wildlife Trust. A species of beetle new to Britain has just been discovered. It's a species of rove beetle - the second largest family of beetles - called Quedius lucidulus. Not the punchiest of names perhaps, but when there's another 46,000-odd members of your family it's difficult to get creative.
But it's a real beauty nonetheless. (This photo is somewhat enlarged - in real life it's only about 6.5mm long.)
Quedius lucidulus courtesy of Mark Telfer
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A selection of the cute, the cuddly, the weird and the downright rude from our Winterwatch photo group members.
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Whisper it quietly, spring is on its way. Since I last blogged about spring sightings, the snowdrops are well and truly here, frogspawn is very slowly spreading from the west, the bluebells are beginning to awaken and song thrushes are starting to sing.
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The latest batch of stunners from the Winterwatch photo group. There's still another few weeks to go before we close the group until next winter, so if any of these have inspired you please get snapping and sharing your winter wildlife photos.
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Deer... can't live with them, can't live without them. Taken together, the findings of two separate, recently published scientific papers would seem to suggest just that.
On the one hand, says one, the closer we get to deer the more harm we cause them. On the other hand, says the other, if we leave them alone they cause us harm.
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Our woodland faces an uncertain future. Amidst the furore surrounding the government's plans about the future ownership and management of England's public forest comes an altogether different piece of news which could affect our trees just as much.
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|10:27 UK time, Monday, 28 February 2011
