A Focus On Nature

A Focus On Nature

A Focus On Nature, Books and Reviews

Book Review: Autumn – an anthology for the seasons

When the package containing this book landed on my doorstep, it was a timely arrival, and was destined to be my “holiday” reading on a ringing trip to Arctic Norway. As with previous editions of this seasonal series, Melissa Harrison has created a perfect match of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, modern and historic writing.

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A Focus On Nature, Issues in conservation, Nature Reserves

Rewilding at Knepp – Sophie Trice

I joined my first AFON meeting when we went to the wonderful Knepp, located in West Sussex. This is a site that used to be farmland, but field-by-field has been given over to a rewilding project. We were all staying in tents in the summery meadow though didn’t get much sleep as there was too much to do!

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A Focus On Nature

We’re recruiting!

As you may be aware, Lucy McRobert, our Creative Director, is stepping down from the role after five years of leading A Focus On Nature.We are therefore advertising the position.

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A Focus On Nature, Books and Reviews

Book Review: Nightingales in November

This book is beautifully summed up by the subtitle, ‘A Year in the Lives of Twelve British Birds’. In twelve chapters beginning with January and finishing with December, Nightingales in November by Mike Dilger follows the dramatic stories of a cohort of well-loved resident and visiting British birds, the Bewick’s Swan, Peregrine, Lapwing, Puffin, Cuckoo, Tawny Owl, Kingfisher, Swallow, Robin, Nightingale, Waxwing and Blue tit.

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A Focus On Nature

Young Darwin Scholarship – Sorrel Lyall & Georgia Locock

On Saturday 20th August, fifteen 16 and 17-year-old naturalists began a five-day residential at the Field Studies Council’s Preston Montford Field Centre, near Shrewsbury. This was as part of the Young Darwin Scholarship awarded to them by the FSC.

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A Focus On Nature, Books and Reviews

Book Review: Fingers In The Sparkle Jar

Before I started reading this book, I honestly didn’t know quite what to expect from it. Having seen many TV programmes that Chris has presented, I didn’t expect an overly fluffy, soft book about tales of cute wildlife, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be as gritty, as brutally honest, yet beautifully poetic.

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A Focus On Nature

AFON goes to BirdFair – Max Hellicar

The British Birdwatching Fair – ‘the birdwatcher’s Glastonbury’ – is an annual event held at Rutland Water, where ornithologists and nature enthusiasts travel from all over the world to attend. Birdfair 2016 was the 28th annual event to be held, after starting in 1989, and was only the second time I had attended the event.

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A Focus On Nature, Books and Reviews

Book Review: Rain

Rain: Four Walks in English Weather by Melissa Harrison comes across as much more expansive than just its 104 pages. Set out as a tetralogy; each section describes the author’s experience of walking in a different area of England in a different season, with the common theme being wet weather.

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A Focus On Nature, Issues in conservation

Post EU ref roundup – what’s next? – Charlie Hewitt

With everything that has been going on in politics recently and with so many sources of information, sometimes it is difficult to get a comprehensive and concise understanding of what is actually going on. This blog post will hopefully clarify recent events and how we, nature and conservation will be affected by the upcoming changes and most importantly, what we can do to help protect our natural resources, habitats and biodiversity.

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A Focus On Nature

Staying Wild – Sarah Hookway

Lingering in a forest against an increasingly darkening night, listening to the paranormal churring of nightjars, watching their angular silhouettes carve through the dusky sky. This is how I spent one evening in June, part of ’30 Days Wild’. An incredible experience and a life ‘tick’ for me, it was a wildlife spectacle I’d been longing to see. But that’s not all I discovered when making the most of those 30 days.

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