SUMMERS OF FIRE, AND CHAOS IN THE U.K. PART 2.

Britain has become rather different from the way it was when I left 20 years ago. It was decided recently, that Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, would have to go because some considered him to have had a tenuous relationship with the truth -- he could no longer be taken seriously. A handful of people (members of the Conservative Party and less than 1% of the British population) were given the pleasure of electing a new leader. In the end this came down to a choice between two individuals, and neither appeared much interested in the current environmental problems.…

Hummingbirds – They’re Almost as ‘Big’ as Africa!

I was out in the garden yesterday trying to convince plants to grow when I was buzzed by a drone - an exceedingly stealthy one. I didn’t see it, but certainly I heard it, hovering behind my head before making off at speed. My wife sitting in a nearby lounger was able to make a more realistic observation - I was standing on the flight path of a rufous hummingbird, a creature weighing no more than a spoonful of sugar... it was attempting to visit a bee balm flower. Not quite a drone then, but even the most technically advanced…

HAWAII: JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE. PART 1 – IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT.

On a recent visit to Hawaii, I hardly saw any native wildlife, a stark reminder that things haven't improved since I first came to film for the B.B.C. back in the early 1980s. Thirty five years ago I made my first visit to Hawaii at a time when travelling to distant tropical islands from the U.K. was considered exotic. In those days, you'd emerge from a plane into the shimmering light and once down the gangway steps walk to the terminal building with the heat of the sun bouncing beneath your feet like a playful pet; and just as you were…

Is Every Rotten Tree in the Forest Really Out to Get You?

The modern world has noticeably changed. We all have rights now; should a tree fall upon us somebody else will almost certainly be responsible, and if an appropriate scapegoat can't be found we can at least expect to sue our local authority. There is very little left in the developed world for which we are responsible - becoming fat, having too many children, getting run over when jogging across a busy intersection whilst listening to a stereo system plugged into our ears; even spilling hot coffee over ourselves in a public place clearly has nothing to do with us. Read the…

The Plight of the Eagle – Urban Development.

After I wrote my first blog my daughter told me that I would need to write new ones quite regularly, because, as Punch said to Judy, ‘That’s the way to do it ...’ This was quite a shock, although it has nothing to do with Punch sounding loud and shrill, and everything to do with ‘quite regularly’ sounding like a job. The blog started over concerns about an environmental issue and rather stupidly I hadn’t thought much beyond that. There are a couple of other concerns as well, and my friend Colin put his finger on one of them straight…

Don’t know what’s going on? Take a picture – it might be useful.

Many years ago I went out into the desert and there I met a man who had a vision. I'll have to stop doing that... building up my story before I've started. More prosaically, I was setting up to film a sequence on elf owls for a movie about, well, what else but owls... and the man I met in the desert was Bill Peachey, one of those experts the B.B.C. seek out when their freelancers aren't sure what they are doing - pretending to know is useless and in any case, you can't know everything. Elf owls nest in…