HISTORICAL FACTS: 3 - The Untold Story

Country diary: An impromptu birding trip with a total stranger – and it was magical

Slimbridge, Gloucestershire: A chance meeting led me and my partner into an afternoon of discovery and generosity that is nothing like a certain YouTube documentary on birding

The Guardian - UK · Oct 31

Pureora Tree Sitting Protest: Activists occupy tōtara canopy to block logging; action secures 1982 halt

The Pureora forest in New Zealand, home to unique podocarp trees and diverse native bird species, faced serious threats from logging during the 20th century. Conservationists took a stand in 1978, initiating the first tree-sitting protest to block logging efforts. Their persistence paid off, leading to a permanent cessation of…

The Times of India · Oct 31

What Forests Lose When Hornbills and Civets Disappear

A great hornbill can swallow a fruit the size of a golf ball, fly three kilometres, and deposit the seed in a gap of light where it has a genuine chance of germinating. The civet does something different but equally precise: digestive acids thin the seed coat, cutting the time…

Times Life · Oct 31

Spiders Don’t Just Sit Still At Night: Scientists Show They Fall Into Genuine, Regulated Sleep

At night, the Australian jumping spider Portia fimbriata hangs upside down beneath a thread of its own silk and goes almost completely still. For a long time, it would have been reasonable to assume the little hunter was simply resting; however, a new study from the University of Bonn suggests…

Bored Panda · Oct 30

Beavers to return to waters around Loch Ness 500 years after last sighting

NatureScot said the animals could ‘significantly improve’ diversity in the River Ness catchment.

Evening Standard · Oct 30

For many, striped bass fishing is a way of life. But the iconic species could face collapse

Striped bass are in decline on the East Coast and fishermen and scientists are in a race to save the iconic sport fish

The Independent UK · Oct 30

‘Significant milestone’ as golden eagle chick fledges from grouse moor

Beaky Junior is one of five golden eagles successfully fledged in southern Scotland this year.

Evening Standard · Oct 30

Wildlife Trusts hit £30m target to buy and rewild huge Northumberland estate

About 25,000 members of public chip in £17m towards 3,800-hectare Rothbury estate, described as ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’

The Guardian - UK · Oct 30

Hoverflies, Beetles and Moths: India's Overlooked Crop Pollinators

Walk through a mustard field in Rajasthan in February and the hum you hear is not all honeybee. Look closer at the yellow flowers and you will find hoverflies, small, striped, and easy to mistake for bees, moving between florets with a speed and persistence that rivals anything Apis cerana…

Times Life · Oct 30

Fig Wasps and Figs: The Pollination Deal That Binds Two Species Forever

Every fig is, in biological terms, a flower turned inside out. The actual blossoms are hidden inside the fleshy receptacle, and the only way pollen can reach them is through a tiny hole at the base called the ostiole, a passage so narrow that only one species of wasp, in…

Times Life · Oct 30