This year’s UK’s most wildlife friendly farmer has been named after a public poll organised by the RSPB. His name is Michael Calvert and he’s from Northern Ireland. He won thanks to his work on promoting wildlife on his farm, home to a vibrant range of birds, insects, mammals and plants including barn owls, bullfinches, smooth newts, Irish stoats and orchids. RSPB
Tag Archives: wildlife in the First World War
Birdwatching on the Western Front
The Times has this interesting compendium on the first cuckoo calls of the year from its extensive archive. This extract is from an article from 1917 sent from the Western Front during the Battle of Arras (above picture).
I heard the cuckoo first on April 22, calling amid bare woodlands in the occasional gleams of thin winter sunshine. A single chiffchaff – plucky little thruster that he is! – was singing impatiently not far behind the battle-line as long ago as on Easter Day, even while our guns thundered the overture of the Battle of Arra. Complete diary here: Spring at the front: nature amid desolation