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Its fair to say I like my quail in the long grass giving it large with their ‘wet-my-lips’ call – I have actually seen quail only a few times in the wild, but heard them innumerable times. They are just so hard to see! So please for Christmas I’d really like to see a quail in...

My true love sent to me two turtle doves (are you singing it in your head yet?). I prefer my birdlife in the wild, but these are two turtle doves that I would accept in my hands with great pleasure! Cally Higginbotham, a fabulous chocolatier from Chesterfield, visited Malta, where she discovered...

I am really getting into the festive mood. Our Christmas tree is decorated, my desk is surrounded by tinsel, and in the evenings I’m busy planning my Christmas menu. We’ll be having free range duck from a local farm, with cherry sauce and all the trimmings on the big day, followed by my mother...

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...

Rob Kynaston, Nature of Farming Award finalist 2011, and committed wildlife-friendly farmer The collapse of the EU budget talks in Brussels last week was no real surprise – and hopefully (as some commenting on Martin Harper’s blog on Friday said), it will allow more time to develop a better...

The battle to save vital agrienvironment schemes continues - see Martin Harper's blog today to read what farmers are saying to David Cameron. And don't forget to sign the petition on www.rspb.org.uk/steppingup to help wildlife-friendly farmers if you haven't already - today is your last...

I have childhood memories of long hot journeys to summer holidays in Cornwall. Our small stuffy car was packed to the gunwales with my gran, 2 parents, us three kids and one dog. My Dad would groan and complain bitterly when we got stuck behind a caravan on the single carriageway roads. Our car was not...

From Kevin Rylands, Farmland Conservation Advisor (South West England) The South West Farmland Bird Initiative (SWFBI) is an exciting partnership project that was set up to specifically help reverse the decline of farmland birds across Wessex. The Initiative targets nationally important farmland bird...

Did you see the Daily Telegraph this morning? They reported some stark figures from the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI; a charity that provides support for farmers in need throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland). RABI have shown that many farmers are facing severe poverty...