A toast at the 'turning of the year'!

And a few more images of those last rays of 2017 seen across the Somerset countryside:

Concerning the whales - New Huffington Post Blog!

I have recently authored a new article on the Huffington Post building on comments made by Sir David Attenborough on Blue Planet II: 

"Blue Planet Praises Whaling Moratorium But The Whales Are Not Saved Yet."

Here is an excerpt: 

"Above all, it’s essential to understand that the ban on whaling is not set in stone for all time. At every meeting of the International Whaling Commission, the pro-whaling nations attack the commercial whaling ban.... The major part of the moratorium’s success is in its enduring maintenance in the face of such onslaught."

The full article is HERE.

And THIS LINK leads to all the Huffington Post articles that I have authored. 

Two sleeps 'til Christmas

Birds At Winter Nightfall 

Around the house the flakes fly faster,
And all the berries now are gone
From holly and cotoneaster
Around the house. The flakes fly!--faster
Shutting indoors that crumb-outcaster
We used to see upon the lawn
Around the house. The flakes fly faster,
And all the berries now are gone!

Thomas Hardy

Sunset on the canal on one of the shortest days.

Countdown to Christmas - Bradford on Avon

I took a little walk around Bradford on Avon this evening. The River Avon is flowing fast through this old market town and the Christmas lights were pretty, so here are some photos.

Holy Trinity Church

Church Street

Town Bridge and Lock Up

Bridge Street from the other side of the river.

Christmas is comimg!

"Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat;
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!"

Traditional Christmas poem.

Poor old geese.... and I am not sure you would get any thanks for a penny any more, and half pennies no longer exist. 

But Christmas goes on. Here are some images to help get you into the festive mood. 

Floodlit Bath Abbey complete with Christmas tree, a big moon and throngs attending the Christmas market.

Bath Abbey - north face with a fringe of Christmas market stalls

Abbey square in daylight, the Pump Rooms where you can take Bath waters to the right.

And also some views of the Limpley Valley as Autumn turns to Winter.

The Sky mirror of the Dunedas basin - the turning point just before the canal crosses the River Avon. 

The Avon from the aquaduct

Chaffinch and berries

And some birds in silhouette:

Kingfisher hidden in the winter willow

Train journey views.

A long train journey lit by low winter sun gives me the excuse to show some photos taken along the way.

First Temple Meads station in Bristol, with my train to Scotland arriving.

And at the other end of the journey Leuchars station - the closest to St Andrews.

And somewhere in between Haymarket Edinburgh

And some views of ancient St Mary's College, part of St Andrews University.

Entrance from South Street

A corner of the quad

Detail of the quadrangle

Bustling south street

Badgers meet pumpkin

So I could not resist hiding some snacks in my pumpkin heads.

At first the badgers were quite shy of them but after they had gobbled up all other treats they finally approached the hollow heads. As you will see one gets rolled out of shot. This may be just as well as that one lost its face! The other was more delicately sampled. 

Final scenes from Manila - CMS CoP 12

Another view of the great hall at the Philippines International Conference Centre during CMS CoP1

Speech by Erik Solheim, Executive Director of United Nations
Environment Programme in which, among other things he highlighted
concerns about marine debris

Alfred Apau Oteng-Yeboah the Conference-appointed councillor for African fauna
who chaired the working group looking at the African animal proposals

An intervention from Nicola Hodgins of
Whale and Dolphin Conservation

The Humane Society International Team and the troop of Filipino performers who are supporting the shark proposals 

Colin Limpus - the CoP-Appointed Councillor for Turtles.

New Zealand delegatres

South Africa's spokesman

Rod Hay the Chair of the Committee of the Whale (and the plenary session) listening to an NGO intervention.

Mark Jones of  Born Free

The hall during the first ever vote on a species listing proposal.

Fishy display in the reception area.

LPPCHEA - 'the last natural bastion' in Metro Manila

Little egret at LPPCHEA

I was fortunate enough to be able to join an early morning visit to the Las Pinas Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) hosted by the government of the Philippines. This is a bird sanctuary and an area of natural vegetation that includes a 36 hectare mangrove forest, coastal lagoon and shore area. LPPCHEA is on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Equally remarkable is that it is only about 15 minutes drive from the busy urban heart of Manila.

LPPCHEA provides a home for some 80 species of birds including three that are endangered. My visit coincided with that of Philippines senator Cynthia A. Villar one of the champions of this special area. She graciously joined the tour and chatted to me and other delegates from the CMS CoP.

An early morning view across the sea.

Collared kingfisher

Visiting delegates and media mingle outside the bird hide over-looking the lagoon.

View across the lagoon from the bird hide
(terns and other birds in view)

Large egrets across the sea

A small group of Black-Crowned Night Herons

A view of the mangrove swamp showing the aerial roots

A view across the bay looking back towards the city.

Momentos and map of LPPCHEA