Here’s a challenge for you: next time you’re outside any time between dawn and dusk, see how long you can last without hearing a single bird. Not long, I bet. Antarctica residents: you’re cheating. Needless to say, birdsong is everywhere, whether or not we happen to be listening. As you might expect, there is a long history of scientific research into the phenomenon. The beauty, complexity and sheer variety of sounds made by birds has captured the imaginations of countless minds from Keats to Darwin. Recently though, the focus of some biologists has shifted away from the whys and hows of birdsong, towards answering the question: is our increasingly noisy world having any effects on the way birds communicate? The short, emphatic answer: “yes”, but it’s a little more complicated than that… Anthropogenic noise, or “noise pollution” is a big challenge faced by nearly all wildlife, and it’s only getting worse. As urban sprawls expand into natural landscapes, and human populations continue to grow at an alarming rate, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to escape the sounds of the modern world. Read more...

National Tree Week is approaching;  it is organised by The Tree Council.  This year, it runs from the 26th November to the 4th December.  This year's poster for the week is the headline image (opposite) *. The main aim of the week is to encourage the planting of trees.  Tree planting is important as many of our trees are now under threat, for example, bleeding canker and the leaf miner moth can attack Horse Chestnut, whilst the Ash is succumbing to Ash Dieback (Chalara). Read more...