Copsework

The house where I was born.

@TrooperSnooks I agree that some of us are trying our best to improve biodiversity on farms but we can’t ignore the fact that everything is still in decline except deer and wood pigeon 😬

I went out for an hour with the dogs this dawn. I met 29 different bird species, that I could i.d. anyway, brown hares, rabbits, roe and muntjac(😡). Highlights were the grey partridge and willow warbler. Farming and nature rub along quite happily here, ignore the naysayers.

@TheOhioRob @AdamJSchwarz @GeopoliticalDem But Charles is a hedgelayer so he’s used to wrestling with gnarly old brittle lumps of wood.

@AdamJSchwarz @GeopoliticalDem Charles has the hands of a lifelong truck tire changer for some reason. He could probably crush Donny’s short little piggly wigglies without a thought.

Trump is trying his toxic beta-male handshake, and Charles is having absolutely none of it.

@pete_ar_fryn @TonyJuniper The increase in generalist predators must be addressed: surely it’s partly due to the increased numbers of non native gamebirds released in their millions every year?

@TonyJuniper I’m a curlew volunteer. In our area last year over 400 animals were killed per 1 successful curlew chick. To me that is not an acceptable cost. Land use. Biocide use impacting insect availability. Drainage reducing damp fields. MUST be part of it.

If we are to halt & reverse decline of the Curlew then difficult subjects must be tackled, including the high density of predators we have across the country - including foxes, crows & badgers. All wonderful creatures as well, but too many is a big issue for ground nesting birds.

@BenGoldsmith @theipaper @RosieP4 I used to plant trees for a living and we would generally achieve a 90% to 95% survival rate. This was considered to be standard practice.

@theipaper @RosieP4 One in five is a great survival rate, what are you even talking about?

One in five trees planted using taxpayer funding died due to drought last year, leaving the UK even further away from meeting its legally-binding tree cover targets trib.al/msWDjfl

@paulpowlesland Well done 👍

Spent the last few hours of golden winter sunlight of 2025 setting my intention for 2026 by caring for the River Roding. This area doesn’t look like much, but as one of the few places on this part of the river with ‘in river’ trees rather than just bare concrete or metal banks, it’s a haven for wildlife. It’s always a bit sad to hear the joyful toot of the moorhen & then see them cavorting among rubbish & crap. So I paddled over, removed a canoe full of rubbish & planted a dozen willow trees. I noticed the trees I planted in previous years are starting to get established, so this area should be even better for the creatures of the Roding in 2026.

@silviejacobi @redrumlisa @waitrose Yeah. I think there was full employment in the GDR as everyone was employed to spy on each other.

@redrumlisa @waitrose Was born in the GDR where people of all abilities were working, as work was a form of pride and social structure, wich was not taken away from people with disabilities. Everyone playing their part with as much emphasis as they could

I used to work in a factory in the 80s there was lots of people who worked with us with a range of disabilities & they did the work that suited them. They were fully accepted as work colleagues. The idea that we live in progressive times is wrong .@waitrose you are out of order

@TadhgHickey @gbsumudflotilla Have a safe journey 👍

Good morning from the @gbsumudflotilla, and a what beautiful morning it is 🌅 Forensics just left. We remained on our boat overnight to protect it. Today we set sail for #Gaza 🙌 #Nopasarán

"This is England 2025. It starts slowly at first, then all of a sudden it just creeps up on you" . #Echobox=1757421870" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

@bigbonedtrev @JohnJamesNI I think the problem today is that everyone is looking for a conspiracy or a sinister plot behind everything.

@copseworker @JohnJamesNI Hinge and Bracket were a staple of Saturday night entertainment shows, too. Back then, you could choose to turn them off. No one did as it was a more innocent/naive time.

NEW: Parents in east Belfast, Northern Ireland have confronted two drag queens after they hosted “Drag Queen Story Time” for children at a library in the city. The event “brings your favourite childhood stories to life through the art of drag” and is “suitable for all ages”.

@herdyshepherd1 @AliDriverUK It’s only the female sparrowhawk that is big enough to take a pigeon. Goshawk will also take out pigeons. What I take from all of this is that it’s good news that raptors are thriving and a sign that there’s a healthy population of prey species.

@AliDriverUK Will do Though if you saw the pigeons going over here 150mph like they’re about to die I think you’d believe there is a peregrine about :-)

About once a week we find the remains of a pigeon There are a couple of breeding pairs of peregrine falcons nearby and they must be living well Live pigeons regularly pass over like they’re terrified, swinging low and hard over the farm

@WildlifeMag They don’t always find the nuts so they are actually inadvertently planting trees.

Squirrels spend autumn stashing nuts away for winter, but how do they find them again? Sense of smell, memory and chance all play a part. discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/m…

@ObserverUK @chloehadj Great work. FWIW when I first heard this story I was also sceptical.

Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame with The Salt Path: the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. It became a global bestseller and was adapted into a major film. But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth. @chloehadj Read: bit.ly/3GtJXsy

@horton_official @Tom_Clarke Very misleading headline about a complex situation.

Exclusive: UK farmers’ incomes stagnant since the 1970s, report finds theguardian.com/environment/20…

@AaronBastani @novaramedia It looked like a planned mugging and that Zelenskyy was doomed regardless of how he acted.

Zelensky just dropped a disasterclass in diplomacy with Trump. Was always going to be incredibly tough - years of anger from Trump just came to the surface. Unpleasant to watch… We are discussing now on @novaramedia

@cmcknz77 I think that as the USA is no longer concerned about Russia, it’s time to close down all the US military bases in Europe and send the troops home 👍

I've got a solution to Ukraine that leaves mean Ukraine outside NATO: Complete disarmament of Russia.

@PaulWelters @paullewismoney I must be clear that I work in conservation and enjoy working alongside farmers but I can’t support this protest especially as it’s promoted by the far right.

@copseworker @paullewismoney Shooting is coming to an end as well...

Are farmers allowed to use duty free red diesel when driving to and from these protests or do the fill up at the local garage first? Do these journeys count as ‘purposes relating to agriculture’, perhaps ‘events which provide information and education that benefit agriculture’ bit.ly/41d6i58

In today's episode of The Poetry Detective, a listener asks us to investigate a mysterious epitaph in a graveyard above Morecambe Bay bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

Nice to see the progress of the local hedgelayers on the commute to work.