Wednesday 28 August 2013

Walkabouts

 Little Grebe family- one of three pairs with young on site at moment
 Chiffchaff- several calling birds scattered around the edges


 Hoveflies- I've bought the book now need to find the time to id them
Budgerigar- new addition to the escape list this year
Following the meeting with the lawyers yesterday and a full on few days of tours and exhibitions and meetings I couldn't take any more work today so bunked off and had a walkabout round the farmlands.
Still deciding what to do about the declining state of Beddington and the frightening realisation that despite all the protection, policies and legislation in place to protect it- the 'authorities' cannot enforce much of it.  On the legal front our only option is  to write to the Secretary of State encouraging refusal of the application and then if that doesn't work- call for a Judicial Review to highlight some of the perverse and irrational decisions that have been made in the process.
It is very time and energy consuming dealing with systemic problems and also very unrewarding, exhuasting and potentially completely futile.
Therefore following my walkabout this morning and seeing all the wildlife at Beddington getting on with things, raising young, migrating, busy feeding and basically hanging in there (just about) despite all the pressure they are under I thought I would take their lead, do the same thing and concentrate on injecting energy into building the support base for the nature reserve and the regional park and thinking of ways that we can contribute to the restoration and development of the nature reserve and do what we can to take the responsibility away from Viridor (who don't seem to want it) and basically do the whole bloody thing ourselves. I suppose it would have been a bit too simple if someone else made our own wishes for a premier nature reserve on our patch a reality.  
That Budgey reminded me of a song we recorded about the impossibility of just wanting a simple life:

Missed a Goshawk while at the Environmental Fair- occupational hazard!  : http://dodge007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/icing-on-cake.html


3 comments:

Mark James Pearson said...

Pete, for what it's worth, I'm sure I'm one of many who is following your efforts with enormous respect - keep it up mate, some things are worth fighting for, even if they're apparently doomed.

Peter Alfrey said...

Cheers Mark, Definitely agree- just hoping I get enough energy from somewhere!

Peter Alfrey said...

Some hoverfly id suggestions (thanks Martin)
Top: Scaeva pyrastri- a migrant from the continent
Middle: Eristalis (maybe tenax)
Bottom: Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade Hoverfly)