Swallows!

While this picture may not look like much, it shows a group of young swallows, perched in a row , waiting to be fed by the parents who are busy hunting for insects. 

taken a few weeks ago, we have really enjoyed the spectacle of the parents coming in and feeding them ,while still on the wing.

As the young birds must learn to hunt while flying, occasionally a returning adult would try to coax the youngsters to fly up to meet it to take the insect in the air, while you can see the more advanced students flying freely, and occasionally meeting up with an adult to be fed while flying.

All the while the youngsters have a super view of their parents in action, showing them how its meant to be done!

Fast forward today, I have just returned from walking the dogs, and the swallows and house martins were out in large numbers performing aerial acrobatics over the field.

Looks like the students learnt well!

A Good News Story!

I love a bit of good news , especially theses days.

Yesterday I came across an inspiring story of a project in Austria to reintroduce northern bald iris chicks to the wild. The news report stated that their are only 200 of these birds remaining in the wild.

Once a common site throughout Europe and North Africa, these enchanting(but not particularly good looking!) birds have previously been decimated  by hunting, and a project at Schonbrunn zoo in Austria, is going to great lengths to re introduce them.

An excellent article on this project can be found at  (www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2016/raising-northern-bald-iris-chicks-requires-lot.)

In Essence the chicks are hand raised by two team members for 6 months, so that eventually they can be led by microlight aircraft  over the old migration routes that their forefathers would have taken.

This is a truly inspiring story, and a good example of the sort of work that I label World Renovation Work.More information on it can be found at  (www.waldrapp.eu/index.php/en/project/project-info).

Land of the Weeds

Yesterday I decided with a heavy heart to cut off the tops of some seeding scott thistles. I find this difficult because I know at lot of insects like them, but uncontrolled they can run riot.

The task became all the more difficult when I discovered that the remaining flowers(which are really quite beautiful), where covered in a variety of bees, moths, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

I see this project here as an opportunity to stimulate biodiversity, and the avilable plants, and the insects they support ,is a vital foundation stone in that success.

I spend a lot of time looking out for new sorts of flowers and trees to introduce, to help boost that biodiversity, and yet , time and again, nature reminds me that good old fashioned weeds are often the best.

What exactly is "a weed'' anyway? Who gets to say ultimately what flowering plant is a flowering plant and which is a weed?

Where possible, i have been leaving room for weeds, and that in itself has helped boost the biodiversity here.

Garden flowers often have relatively big flowers, while weeds often have small delicate flowers that appeal to a host of other insect sorts, sorts that often need our help.

For example I am finding tiny bee sorts, that would be easy to overlook, and that I have never  before seen.

The field is currently covered in a sea of bright yellow flower , which resemble dandelions, and suppert a wide range of insects. Look closely and you will see clover and buttercups and a host of smaller flowers. A natural meadow.

The grass in the field is usually cut one time a year, and certainly some people may find it untidy, but when I see it I see LIFE.

The contrast to the intensively farmed  sorrounding land is enormous. and  Sunny and Big Boy certainly enjoy it a lot more just the way it is.

Flaming June

Its another hot day, as we rapidly approach the summer solstice and yesterday in winshoten  I was treated to one of my favourite sights, a flight of swifts circling overhead.

The old buildings there have plenty of suitable nooks and crannies for nesting, and the birds return each summer to breed.

For me the sound of swifts screaming overhead, is one of the most evocative sounds of summer, but it too is becoming rarer.

As for the swallows, and martins, they are busy flying around the renovation project, and even checking out the open shed in the back garden. I walked in the other day to be surprised by a swallow flying around inside.

I am not sure who was more startled.

The summer visits from these birds bring a lot of joy. All part of the priceless beauty of our natural world

Hedgehog Heaven

Good News for Hedgehog lovers. They seem to be thriving here...

Last autumn we saw two smaller hedgehogs, one after the other, wandering through the back garden, and yesterday we saw another.

Or I should say that Big Boy helped our survey by leaving one by the back door. I promptly picked him up (with thick gardening gloves!) and placed him in a safe , quiet corner of the garden.

Unharmed, but a little puzzled by its experience, it disappeared back into the bushes.

On the international front, there is naturally much news over an alleged decision to attempt to renege on the Paris Climate accord.

Many people might conclude that when someone, (especially a representative for a nation), effectively seems to fail to honour an agreement of any kind, that represents a breach of trust.

How can you do business with them in the future? The basis of trust, the goodwill, is eroded, and it is difficult to restore.

It raises the question of lack of judgement. Short term thinking.

In England an election is looming. Full of promises for change. Choose wisely with an eye on the future health of the natural world in which we live in.

The Joy of Woodland

Watching Springwatch yesterday, a couple of statistics quoted stood out for me.

England is almost bottom of the league in Europe for the  % of land that is currently Forested.. The Netherlands is at the bottom.

As I have a connection to both these countries , that's a concern.

If you are a citizen of either, it would be easy to conclude that environmental problems lie elsewhere, in far flung places, when the reality is that we have enormous challenges to our own wildlife and environment.

We need to address these, before we can hope to see a change elsewhere. We need to be the example that the rest of the world follows.

How wonderful could it be if two of the countries with currently the poorest track recordwere to transform and become the axis for a new beginning in Europe. The regeneration of the natural world.

They could go on to inspire the world.

Hope is one commodity worth exporting.

The Garden of England

My home county in England (kent) is known as the garden of England. There is still much natural beauty there.

Unfortunately it is in danger of dissapearing under tarmac and construction. A modern version of the Garden of Eden.

On my last stay there I was shocked  at the level of ""Enviromental vandalism "'being conducted around my hometown of Folkestone.

Condoned by ill thought out national and local political institutions, the beauty of the local area is being lost in a mad rush of developement.

Of particular concern is the loss of vital woodland habitat, on the steep hillsides running along the coastal strip around shorncliffe and Sandgate. I will be persuing this story further in the following weeks.

This habitat, has been a natural oasis for Wildlife, and supports many species which have been struggling to maintain a foothold elsewhere. It also enhances the quality of life of all local residents in the sorrounding area.

Throughout the UK woodland has been lost at an astonishing rate ( a process occurring around the World). That is why it is important to support any initiatives that try to help this situation.

One such initiative now comes to mind. It is by the woodland trust, who are trying to buy a parcel of neighbouring land to expand the woodland project called hucking wood. This would provide a valuable boost to the wildlife of the garden of England, at a time they need it most.

They have an urgernt appeal out to raise funds to purchase this , and the opportunity to do so expires at the end of the month.

If anyone comes upon this article and wishes to help, then this is a sure way to help a tangible need, and leave a lasting legacy. Every small donation plays an important role in the realisation of something truly worthwhile..

Details of the appeal can be found at  www.woodlandtrust.org.uk . its found on the home page titled ''bring nature back to a corner of Kent.

David Susuki appeal for Monarchs

Look closely and you will see an orange tip butterfly photographed yesterday. One of many butterflies enjoying the garden yesterday.

Unfortunately it seems the Monarch Butterflies of Canada and the USA are having a difficult time , with a 90% reduction of numbers reported. The Article can be found atwww.davidsuzuki.org/monarchs

Worryingly the organisation states that "after a couple of years of modest improvement, the Monarch population dropped by 25 % last year."

Such drastic drops in wildlife populations, over a short period of time are likely to occur much more frequently, unless we as a society, take measures now, to protect our natural treasures.

Sadly , wherever you are in the World , you will find stories such as this, so why not resolve to personally make your bit of the world a friendlier place for our wonderful natural world.

100 years to abandon ship!

I have just been in England, and that trip has also provided further insights to the challenges we face, which I shall explore over the following weeks. However I just had to comment on the latest doom laden prediction attributed to Stephen Hawking.

I have to stress that I have only seen an abbreviated account of this via yahoo news, but nonetheless when one of our great thinkers comes out with something so devastating, it gives food for thought.

Is his stark analysis of the situation, actually wise words of warning? Is there something we can do to change this unchartered course we now seem to have embarked upon?

Certainly the wide list of man made problems just keeps on growing.  We have created a monster of a society and culture that is taking on a life of its own, and we as a species are proving not capable of evolving to keep pace with this new form of life that we are creating.

The sum of this monster is infinitely greater than its parts, and the growth rate of this monster is beginning to increase exponentially. This is in- natural. It is dangerous.

If this monster has a life force , it would seem to be capitalism, as it is currently practised in its current form. Unchecked , unregulated, AND WITHOUT A SOCIAL CONSCIENCE, it is devouring our world at an alarming pace.

In a way it will also become a victim of its own success, for we are all on a journey, and the good times are rolling, so we don't really care. But at some point, the tank will be empty. Its already dangerously low, so we are hoping for a new tank station.

You would hope that our politicians and leaders would have a grip on the situation, but our political institutions throughout the world have been compromised by lobbying groups and propaganda. No one is riding to the rescue.

Electorates are becoming disillusioned, and extreme candidates are having a hay day, as they appear to offer simple solutions, sticking plasters, to put over the wounds of society.

Make no mistake, OUR Society, is wounded. It has been weakened by the general adoption of values that are anti society. The celebration of ME, of individual ego in place altruism and social justice.

The dragon has to be slayed, but what then will take its place? 

Communism apparently did not work, as all to often, it has been contorted by individuals for their own ends just as Democracy does not work, when it is contorted and manipulated by lobbying and propaganda..

In the end whatever system we have, some form of capitalism throws out its tentacles and overwhelms it .

Maybe we must start by looking at the basic nature of capitalism. What do we expect from it, how can it better serve us, and most importantly how can it better serve our world.

There are many examples of caring capitalism over the years. It is only a shame that left unchecked, most people just take advantage of the benefits, while giving very little back.

The point of capitalism should be to ensure the greater good of our society , and our world.  Otherwise, there is no point in it.

How can we achieve that? ...By individually taking our obligations as consumers and voters seriously. By taking rouge companies and politicians to account by boycotting them. By insisting that the people we support and do business with have as a core value the betterment of society and our world.

If Stephen Hawking is right, then you may well consider it worthwhile in becoming a whole lot more active in ensuring that the necessary change happens.

I believe that the old form of capitalism, so as is currently widely practised throughout the world, should become as socially unacceptable as wearing a fur coat. Such companies should be punished by consumers turning off the oxygen of support.

What do you think?

A thought for Easter

The first leaves from the latest additions to our Renovation Prject

Happy Easter. A time when the Christian world celebrates resurrection from the dead, miracles, wonders.

spring has its own natural processes of awakening, renewal, birth. It is a life affirming time when we can wonder in the power of nature and its timeless processes.

Often despite our negligence, stupidity, and our best efforts to destroy it, nature has shown a capacity to resurrect itself, to come back from the brink, to re-establish itself. We push it to its limits, but it faithfully tries to hold on.

But how far are those limits really? Are we pushing too far , too fast, like I think we are? Are we coming to a point where we push large sections of it over the edge, to a place of damage from which it can no longer come back?

Would this not be a desolate place, .... where we lived in a world that was no longer strong enough to heal itself. A world which had lost its ability to regulate its essential functions, its living breathing biosphere, ... the place upon which we are wholly dependant for our own survival?

When I look out on the desolate fields around here, where so much destruction has occurred, in such a short space of time, I wonder if we are fast approaching the tipping point I fear. The point where a domino effect of extictions occurs.

I started this site because I believe that if we act now, with purpose and intention, it is not too late to help our natural world resurrect itself. It is I believe still possible to perform miracles, and wonder upon wonder, you too can play a part. You can become a co- creator.

Many religions have at their heart, their centre, the notion of an omnipotent creator. Whatever your religion,... if you believe in a creator.... then he/she/it has created the world that we live in... If so, then how do you think it would judge the way we  treat its creations?

How would it judge the trail of extictions we are leaving in our wake, our callous disregard of the beauty, the perfect nature, the priceless nature, that we recklessly consume and destroy?

What would your God think of the world that we are now busy creating?

Anyone can consciously choose to buck the trend, chart their own course, follow their heart, their faith, what they feel is right. if you care to look, their is so much that could be done better, for their is simply so much that is so wrong.

Choose to start creating your own miracles. choose for life. choose for harmony.

Turn your back on all that is destructive.  Create life supporting enviroments. Help create life.

Celebrate the concept of resurrection. Embrace the idea of you, the creator.

Most importantly have faith that a better , fairer way is possible.