Blogs

What do you get if you mix an enthusiastic and dedicated bunch of farmers, volunteers and RSPB staff and stick them in front of an international audience from across the agriculture sector for a day? Lots of interesting discussions, real insight to the value of our farmland conservation work and plenty...

If, like me, you’re not from round ‘ere, then maybe it’s cream teas, ice creams on the beach, the wilds of Dartmoor, or rolling green hills. If you are “south westerly” then you probably have a very different opinion! Actually, for me, and RSPB, the West Country is Cornwall...

By Derek Gruar, Senior Researcher, Hope Farm One of the core tasks here at Hope Farm is monitoring the numbers of birds that are actually using the farm. In summer this requires walking the farm boundaries and recording birds that are seen and heard onto maps. Compared to winter this is straight...

It’s been a busy few weeks for us here in Wales. The Royal Welsh Show kicked things off back in mid July, the biggest and best attended event of its kind in the UK, with four days of good weather and a huge number of visitors to the stand, so many in fact, we ran out of our increasingly popular...

Last V&FA Diary of the year: Surveyor – Marcus Nash – North Norfolk , 31st July 2011 I have cut this right to the wire, but I just manage to squeeze in a fourth survey on the farm in the village. Finally, we are getting some warm, dry weather. Sunrise is 5.22am, so the sun has just...

Blogger: Niki Williamson, Fenland Farmland Bird Adviser How do you enjoy your new potatoes? I like to keep it simple – get them as fresh as possible, boil them till they’re just cooked, and eat them piping hot, with British butter and mint from the garden – a perfect combination...

While everyone else is away at Cereals (my first year off for a while!) I’d like to take a sneaky moment to share some of my joys from last weekend’s bird surveying (and some doubts over next weekend’s surveys on the coast if this weather continues). I’ve been getting snappy...

Date: 28 April | Surveyor: Marcus Nash | Location: Hall Farm, Norfolk Sunrise Brings Surprises on the East Coast While the forecast doesn’t look great (overcast and a bit windy), it looks even worse for the following few days (wind gusting up to 40mph+!). That being the case, I figure...

Date: 21 April | Volunteer: Marcus Nash |Location: Moore’s Farm, Norfolk The children were up really early as well, so after giving them a quick breakfast, it is out to the farm in the village. It doesn’t take long to get there, so I make sure I am on site by 6.30am. It looks like being...