Simon Curson

Ecologist, Moth Enthusiast, Amateur wildlife photographer, Dad, climate change believer, love exploring new ways of conservation and land management and cooking

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@gatesheadandbey @CrockpotIi @BirdGuides @RareBirdAlertUK Also Long-eared Owls are a Schedule 1 species and it is illegal to disturb them at nest sites. Photographers should always be putting the welfare of the birds first. Rob is right to pass this on to the Police. I don’t see how anyone could legitimately argue against this.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@gatesheadandbey @CrockpotIi @BirdGuides @RareBirdAlertUK Just to support Rob for a minute - Long-eared Owls nest in old nests from other birds or squirrel dreys. They seem to favour scrubby areas. At the left of the photo (a few feet from the photographers) is a shrub (Hawthorn) and so it is entirely reasonable that a nest is there

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@JLowenWildlife We don’t get them in our garden - in fact I hardly ever see them. Are there Lime trees very close to your garden James?

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@JLowenWildlife I have a few Limes in the village but have never caught Orange Sallow in the garden in 14 years of trapping. In fact I’ve not seen one for 25 years or so. Always scarce and not strongly attracted to light I think.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@JLowenWildlife Nice to see a fish shoal big enough to support that feeding frenzy.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@JLowenWildlife I had one yesterday in the garden (west edge of New Forest).

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons I’ll text you Graeme.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons Thank Goodness for that!

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons I would say that any bird survey done using an app to ID the songs and calls should be discounted as an acceptable or accurate survey.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons Having said that, the ID from bird song apps like Merlin can only be verified if you then see the bird singing. Use those with extreme caution. Apps can aid learning, but you do need to teach yourself using books and keys, as us old lags did (ok Graeme, you’re not old!).

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons My thoughts on this are that the apps often give a good indication on what a species is, but this should always be followed up by using books and keys to confirm. Apps can be a very useful starting point, but can easily misID. Use, but with follow up and caution.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@thenewgalaxy @EuropeanOrchids @Mariposa_Nature @BSBIbotany @dunnjons @botany_beck @SteveTandy3 @smurfett722 @chrishindle @Haggewoods @NatureLark @wonky_eggs @Love_plants @BSBIscience Well done Richard. Are the landowners aware so that that area won’t get felled or anything? Also I read, years ago, that a good searching method wad to lie down in the evening and scan horizontally with a torch - ever tried that!

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@SwaySteveK @MigrantMothUK @dgcountryside @MOTHIDUK Love the name. Have you still got the moth Steve, I live about 20 mins from Sway snd would love to see it.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@TonyJuniper just finished your What Has Nature Ever Done For Us. A brilliant and important book that, if followed could help the world’s nature and human needs to be maintained in tandem. You mention several initiatives. Would you write a follow up to see how those are doing?

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@LeeEvansBirding Lee, I do enjoy reading your tweets on birding and wildlife. I would rather not see your tweets on politics (unless they relate to wildlife). Because I follow you I get alerts to both. I would prefer it if you separated the two in 2 different accounts. Cheers.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@graemelyons I suspect that the weather is the main cause for fewer than insects around this year, but that is just one pressure on top of others eg pesticides, tidiness. I am seeing fewer butterflies and bees in areas I have visited a lot over the years.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@botolphsbirder @folkestonebirds That is certainly Willowherb Hawk - I should know, I caught the first in Newhaven in the 1980s. Mine was in as good a condition as yours is. Nice one Brian.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@James__Gale There was a great display here in the New Forest on night of 10th (night before last), but I slept through it 🙄.

[Simon Curson @CursonSimon]

@IanCarter67 From what I have heard, from both sides, there is an appetite to engage, talk and form more mutual understanding and try and come to a more unified way forward. If DG sees this I would be interested in his response.