I think it's a Blue Tit as well. Here's some samples from xeno-canto which sound similar to your clip:
The red squirrels we have in the UK (Sciurus vulgaris) are a completely different species to the red squirrels I think you're referring to (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).
Winds of up to 70mph may hit coastal areas this weekend as rain and snow could cause travel disruption in Scotland
My TL;DR:
- Yellow weather warning for rain on Friday between 2am and 9am. Covers the central, Tayside & Fife, south-west Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde areas.
- Yellow weather warning for snow on Friday from the early hours until 9am covering central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar and Strathclyde.
- Yellow weather warning for wind in western areas, including parts of Scotland and Wales, and the north-west and south-west of England from 8am to 10pm on Saturday.
- The Environment Agency had 12 flood warnings and 93 flood alerts in place in England on Thursday morning, largely in southern areas.
I think prohibiting it altogether would be the right and best thing to do too. But otherwise discouraging through hugely increased taxes for every house someone owns beyond their first one would be better than nothing.
There's possibly some this discouragement happening already following Jeremy Hunt's latest budget and through certain councils increasing council tax on second homes (see here and here), but the more the merrier imo!
Going to go on a bit of a tangent but this is something that has come up previously in discussions with my right-wing family members.
They've been turning their nose up at policies like this. They argue that to solve the housing crisis in the UK that we need less red tape like this because it will only mean that houses will be built slower and that less houses will be built overall.
I'm not really convinced that the solution to the housing crisis is to simply build more houses quickly.
According to the last census in 2021 (for England only) we have 23.4 million households of which 1.5 million are unoccuped. 10.3% of these unoccuped dwellings are second homes.
If we really want to make more houses available quickly then we should be discouraging people from owning multiple houses.
It boosts more than 140 species, including some of the rarest on the planet, and for many the Tropical Butterfly House is a go-to place during school and bank holidays.
My TL;DR:
> Last weekend the conservation park, in North Anston, near Sheffield, celebrated its 30th birthday.
> The centre was built to create an accessible energy-efficient and ecologically friendly environment to house butterflies and tropical plants with the support of the RDPE Growth Development Fund. The final phase of the project will see a new bug house open this year.
> The park is committed to conservation efforts and plays an active role in breeding and conservation programmes aimed at protecting native species closer to home.
> There are more than 450 bird boxes across the three sites which each attract a variety of native birds including one of the largest populations of tree sparrows in the UK.
> Large herds of red deer, barn owls, grass snakes and an abundance of native butterflies have also been recorded.
> The park’s most famous resident is Odin the Raven, who is well known for her artistic ability with a paintbrush. Odin, who prefers a black and red palette, even painted a special 30th birthday masterpiece which was auctioned last weekend with all proceeds donated to the RSPB.
An hour of water is an hour that a valve/tap/whatever which allows untreated sewage to be dumped into our waterways is left open.
There are multiple of these valves/taps around Yorkshire which all together make up the half a million hours.
This is a ridiculous way of measuring water volume. Though from what I understand even this level of monitoring is a relatively new thing.
Officials caution that comparisons over the years are difficult as an increasing number of storm overflows have been fitted with monitors over time, and all now have the technology to record spills.
Absolutely. The upgrades they're referencing should have been done years ago with the money that we have been giving them this entire time.
I sure do love our essential public infrastructure being ran by private companies! /s
Storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas across England for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023, more than double the previous year, figures show.
> The levels of sewage spills for Yorkshire Water for 2023, 516,386 hours, has more than doubled on the figures for 2022 which were 232,054 hours.
> A [Yorkshire Water] spokesman said:”The weather experienced in the region in 2023 included a very wet summer and prolonged heavy rainfall towards the end of the year resulting in groundwater infiltration into the sewer network. Nevertheless, we know there is more to do, and we are making headway with a £180m programme to reduce discharges across the region by April 2025.”
> In response to the figures, a spokesperson for industry body Water UK said: “These results are unacceptable and demonstrate exactly why we urgently need regulatory approval to upgrade our system so it can better cope with the weather."
> The water companies say they want to triple investment to £10bn over the period 2025-2030 to tackle the problem, which would be paid for through consumer bills.
I'm struggling to find information as to why we measure sewage discharge in hours rather than something we can easily understand (like litres).
As it stands it's really difficult to imagine just how much sewage is being discharged into our waterways. After all, I imagine that sewage is discharged at different rates across different sewage treatment facilities (i.e. one facilities hour of discharge could be a greater volume than another facility).
There's just no way for the public to know for certain, it seems.
I'm sure many people can guess this without having to read the article but, yes, the E coli is present due to faeces being discharged into the river:
River Action said the testing locations suggested the source of pollution is from Thames Water discharging sewage directly into the river and its tributaries. It said this was based on publicly available data which showed that the water company had discharged sewage into the Greater London area of the River Thames for 1,914 hours from the start of 2024 up to 26 March.
Department for Transport announces funding for 'cleaner, greener' public transport in the region
> Transport secretary Mark Harper confirmed that dozens of "state-of-the-art", "zero-emission" buses would hit the road as part of efforts to decarbonise public transport by replacing diesel models. His department said it would provide £5.7m in funding towards the cost of the rollout.
> Meanwhile, the £2 bus fare cap will be extended until the end of 2024. The investments are part of a £1bn package for the North and the Midlands, paid for out of money saved from the scrapped northern leg of HS2.
> Announcing the move, the Department for Transport said the buses "will also improve the passenger experience, providing users with considerably quieter and more comfortable journeys" while "helping improve local air quality both for bus users and the local communities". The new vehicles will meet enhanced accessibility standards and will include features such as wi-fi and USB charging sockets.
> The funding is part of the nationwide Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programme, which includes a £143m investment in new electric buses. Today's announcement follows a pledge of almost £330m for transport scheme in Hull and the East Riding, to be provided over seven years beginning in April 2025 with councils able to decide how best to spend it.
People all over the UK are coming together to save their local pubs, creating community hubs in the process
> On first impressions, the pub might look like your classic East End neighbourhood boozer. Wood-panelled l-shaped bar? Check. Floral-patterned red carpet? Check. Dartboard? Check. But as well as the main bar, there’s another room that the pub often rents out for no cost – it’s used for a regular children’s stay and play sessions hosted by a local provider, English lessons for refugees and meetings for charities. While the pub doesn’t do food, it hosts pop-ups with Plateful Cafe, a community organisation that trains and employs refugee chefs.
> At The Old Forge, the committee regularly asks locals what they think about the pub, whether that’s what’s on the menu or the events programme – live music nights with local musicians have been a huge hit. Spendley says that being able to adapt in response to the community’s feedback is what makes these places so successful. “Member control and input ensures the business is continually adapting and serving the needs of its members and wider community – that’s what gives community-owned pubs such longevity.”
I use Merlin as well. It's very accurate at identifying birds by sound but by pictures it's very hit and miss.
I use the BirdTrack app to record my bird sightings. The data is used by and helps the BTO (British Trust of Ornithology). As someone who used to play Pokemon GO it gives me a similar kind of enjoyment.
Merlin also allows you to record bird sightings but that data goes to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in America instead. I tend to record my sightings in both, but only when I'm independently confident of my identification (i.e. not just plugging in what Merlin is telling me I'm hearing).
I think the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) has some plant ID apps which I'm tempted to try out since I want to learn more about native plants/trees for my future gardening endeavours.
Some great suggestions here. Would definitely second the recommendations for RSPB Bempton Cliffs and Hardcastle Crags.
For personal recommendations which aren't in the original article I'd add:
- Spurn Point: Especially amazing during Spring/Autumn during migration season.
- RSPB St Aidan's & RSPB Fairburn Ings. Both are very close to one another where there is a long line of lakes & wetlands along the River Aire.