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By Andrew Taylor, Great Bustard LIFE+ Project Adviser Thanks to a reintroduction project on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, the great bustard can now be seen on farms in south west England for the first time since the early 19 th Century. Perhaps the UK’s rarest farmland bird, this spectacular...

Mention the word 'farmer' in a sentence and most people would understand that you that you were talking about someone who produces food of some description. That's a farmer's job, right? Hmmm. What if that same person was described as a 'multifunctional rural resource manager'...

Spotted on my way home from work – a 100-strong mixed flock of buntings and yellowhammers , with the odd tree sparrow thrown in for good measure. Tweeting, jangling hissing and popping away, they are restless, exuberant and full of spring energy, torn between winter flocking behaviour and breaking...

Come on an RSPB training course! Whether you're an arable farmer who wants to get the best from your agri-environment scheme , or an advisor looking to help clients to integrate conservation into their land management, we can offer you expert training at various locations around the country. Courses...

Well now you can! Visit Defra’s new Green Food Project discussion forum and let them know what you think on topics including waste, diet, the role of new technology and how we should manage our land to produce a healthy environment as well as food. In the Natural Environment White Paper , the...

Don’t you find that the world always seems better when you’re out in the fresh air, enjoying the steady arrival of spring? We outdoor types on the Eastern England farmland advisory team certainly think so. Looking at various winged things with RSPB and Buglife farmland bods ...

By Nick Tomalin, Stone-curlew Project Officer Who’s ever heard of the bull-nosed swollen-knee? No? How about Burhinus oedicnemus ? Still nothing? What if I said stone-curlew ? Now I hear a tiny groan of recognition, though I suspect that many of those who have heard of the species may already...

Did you hear Farming Today on Radio 4 this morning? EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş was interviewed at the NFU's Annual Conference. The opening interview question was " which is the most important role of farming - food production or environmental protection? ". It's a question...

I've been in celebratory mood since last week, and after a few computer-free days away am back on line and keen to share the good news with you. You may have seen that last week we reported a huge increase in reed buntings at Fowlmere , one of our reserves in Cambridgeshire. We estimate that over...