wildlife

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World Book Day | Some great nature books

As its World Book Day – here are some books that I would recommend for your reading pleasure, for the nature lover …. including Diary of a Young Naturalist Best nature books    Wild Child by Patrick Barkham review – why children need nature From blackberry picking to digging a pond … a perfect lockdown reminder of how having fun outdoors is essential for children, in cities as well as the countryside Alice O’Keeffe There is a certain grim irony...

Helping children to identify wildlife – UK

( image – The Wildlife Trusts ) Ever came across an insect, birdsong, or a rock which…. you just could not identify? Here are some great groups resources about ‘kids nature ID activities’ – mainly downloads. United Kingdom   wildlife in general Wildlife Watch – the junior branch of The Wildlife Trusts – has ‘dozens’ of worksheets to give you ideas and actual activities, which you can then adapt for your local use.  Click here  Countryside Classroom similarly has ‘dozens’...

Bushfires | Natural and devastating as people, wildlife all suffer

    https://youtu.be/3AWp7ULODJ4 Bushfires – especially in Perth – making headlines again for being both “devastating as well as foreseeable “ – are, painfully, part of the ‘normal Australia’ .  Yet, it begs the question- are they becoming more voracious, or more reported? From Geoscience Australia: “Bushfires and grassfires are common throughout Australia. Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia’s environment. Natural ecosystems have evolved (with fire, and the landscape, along with its biological diversity, has been shaped by both...

Are plants really important? What about illegal trade?

Animals are exciting because they move, come with a sense of danger ( some can eat you etc ) ,  some make great pets, and so on. Plants are, well, not as exciting? even boring? Certainly overlooked. Question: What was last animal you saw? Can you remember its colour, size and shape? Could you ID it? What about the last plant? A phenomenon called ‘plant blindness’ means we tend to underappreciate the flora around us. That , suggests research including...

Birdwatching | some resources

In the UK, it’s Big Garden Birdwatch… so here is a collection of great websites   The event, which was held over the weekend of 25-27 January, revealed that House Sparrow retained its number one spot in 2020 – 64% of partaking gardens recorded the species, a slight rise of 2% on 2019. Although registering a slight decrease on 2019, Common Starling was again in second place. Bird guides Discover Wildlife- the website behind BBC Wildlife magazine   RSPB –...

Great wetlands resources

(Photo by WWT ) Wetlands are a vital ecosystem – many too often forgotten benefits including improving water quality, flood control, providing wildlife habitats, recreation and education opportunities. They are also places where families can often access during times of lockdown. In this vein, The Wetlands & Wildfowl Trust UK has refreshed their online education resources…   WWT home learning hub “With another lockdown in full swing, we know how hard teachers are working to provide high-quality remote learning whilst...

Nature for new Ladybird readers

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, four slim volumes about the natural world, aimed at children, hit the bookshops. They bore the title What to Look for in… followed by each of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The books were an instant success and inspired a whole generation of naturalists. ( I still recall the delightful little books, as a staple of any young child’s library ). Now, more than 60 years later, Ladybird Books is publishing a new series under the same...

2020 review : people, Nature, coronavirus

The earth from space – above – might give the impression of ‘life as usual’ … this year of 2020 has been anything but! The truth, I would argue, is hidden in plain sight. We know of the completely tragic human consequences; let’s remind ourselves of what happened in Nature – arguably some ‘good news’ ? Here’s my review of some key news items… The Guardian reported how diseases spread more rapidly , when Nature is damaged : The human...

Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’

Wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years, according to a major report by the conservation group WWF. The report says this “catastrophic decline” shows no sign of slowing. And it warns that nature is being destroyed by humans at a rate never seen before. Wildlife is “in freefall” as we burn forests, over-fish our seas and destroy wild areas, says Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF. “We are wrecking our world – the one...

COVID-19 impact on the animal kingdom

While the human tally of COVID-19 cases has risen, animal cases have remained novelties. As of this moment, you can count the affected species on one hand: lions, tigers, domestic cats, dogs, mink. The pets contracted the virus from their owners; the big cats, likely from an asymptomatic caregiver; and the mink, likely from fur farm workers or possibly other infected animals.Beyond that conclusion is a sea of unknowns. There’s no evidence that domesticated animals can pass the virus to humans, but there’s...

Learn about … badgers

Video by my friend Alex Collins – wildlife scientist SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL FOR MORE VIDEOS – https://www.youtube.com/alexcollinswa… ————————————————————————————————————————————————————— FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER – https://twitter.com/AlexcollinsWaC...

Culling one creature to save another?

There’s a very fine balancing act to be had…. culling – killing using humane methods – one species, to ensure the survival of another Large mice are devastating rare birds on a tiny island, now moves are afoot to exterminate the rodents. But should conservation ever be about killing? Patrick Barkham explains Gough Island is about as remote a fragment of land as it is possible to find on a map. Its 91 square kilometres of uninhabited volcanic rock rise...

Animals benefit from lockdown

Roadkill rates fall dramatically as lockdown keeps drivers at home, reports National Geographic As Americans stayed home in March and April, vehicle deaths declined up to 58 percent among large species like mountain lions, a new report says. During the peak of the lockdowns in March and April, traffic on U.S. roads fell by as much as 73 percent. During that same period, fatal collisions with deer, elk, moose, bears, mountain lions, and other large wild animals fell by as...