I've said it before but here it comes again, in the impact hierarchy of rebellious acts that anyone can do agaisnt excessive consumerism, over-civilisation and the decline of the environment- birding is at the top. For me the hierarchy goes.
1. Personal Behaviour/Activity and Consumer Choice
2. Engagement with the Political System- e.g. Voting and Consultations etc
3. Demonstrations and Protests
Interestingly the order is probably inverse to the noise given in society to each tier. Nonetheless each tier is essential as noise and impact although inversely related require each other to grow.
So I was on the rampage this bank holiday weekend in Oxfordshire. On Saturday I was at Staines Res on the way up - 48 Little Gull, 4 Black Tern, 8 Common Tern, 1 adult Med Gull, 1 male Scaup, 1 Common Sandpiper, and 1 Little Ringed Plover. Yesterday we went to Aston Rowant on a family walk enjoying the Red Kites and also had a Green Hairstreak, I had my first Whitethroat of the year at Bernwood Meadows and then this morning I've been at Otmoor- had an Otmoor tick, a Spotted Redshank on Greenaways and also 4 Grasshopper Warblers, 3 Cuckoo, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, Bittern, Marsh Harriers, 3 Curlew, 1 Little Ringed Plover and stacks of Reed and Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and a couple of Willow Warblers. Very few hirundines at all the sites I've visited.
While birding was keeping up with the goings on in London and helping out in making plans - the communication networks for XR are pretty complex with various Whatsapp and Signal groups co-ordinating national and regional plans and responding to minute by minute developments. Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has described the protests as unprecedented, having never seen anything like this in London or the UK before. Nearly 800 people have now been arrested in mass civil disobedience and there are climate strikes and Extinction Rebellions spreading across the world. It certainly looks like this is the beginning of the brakes being put on the destruction of our natural world . I'm back in London on Tuesday for an XR planning meeting.
Male Scaup and Male Tufted Duck
Common Tern
Green Hairstreak at Aston Rowant
Red Kites over Aston Rowant
Spotted Redshank on Greenaways, Otmoor. Otmoor Ebird list HERE
Spending a lot of time on the phone at the moment!
From Financial Times
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