AFON

Wouldn’t it be good if the politicians sat down and talked properly with the CEO’s of the wildlife organisations in the UK? Wouldn’t it be good if the CEO’s talked among themselves and they all sang from the same hymn sheet when lobbying the politicians? Just think what could be achieved if this happened.

The only way of making this happen is to bring these people together at an early stage. AFON (A Focus On Nature) probably has the future leaders of the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Natural England, The Forestry Commission etc, etc, already within their ranks. These people know one another. They know one another NOW as they are developing their skills as individuals within a group. They are experiencing their early years TOGETHER. There are probably future wildlife law makers among their number too.

I am a mentor for AFON and have been in there from the start. I realised then, and I maintain now, that we must rear a new breed of wildlife enthusiast to protect our future.

I went out again with Catherine Bullen the other week. I am one of her AFON coaches guiding her on the next steps within her career as a wildlife photographer. Note her name. She’s good. You will be seeing more of her work in the future I’m sure. Take a look at some of her photos on her website http://www.catherinebullen.co.uk and by friending her on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/catherinebullenphotography

To reach people; to touch people’s hearts and minds, sometimes words are not enough – you need a good image to make them sit up and listen. Catherine is one of the people that will help to do that in future.

Shedding light on the dark side of Wildlife

There’s nothing that pleases me more than to see people out and about enjoying our Wildlife. Some take it further and decide to make the world of nature their employment. I did this some years ago and have enjoyed it ever since. Others have done it before me and more will do it after me; to make sure of that I have volunteered as a mentor for ‘A Focus on Nature’.

This is an organisation set up by Lucy McRobert to encourage young people aged 16 to 30 to get involved in, enthused about and passionate about the natural world.

If I can make a small difference to someone’s attempt to get into employment or just seeking enjoyment from the natural world I am a satisfied bunny. If you feel similar and have something to offer or gain from AFON I urge you to take a look at the website and make contact with Lucy. http://www.afocusonnature.org.uk Our true legacy is what we do for others.

Talking of Bunnies. When we did our trip to Scillies last October we came across several Black Rabbits. No not some sort of invisible in the dark sex toy but a melanistic form of our common Leporidae.

Melanism is caused by a gene disruption within a population when the dark pigment melanin is dominant. It is quite common in the mammal world and a Black Squirrel, the darker form of the Grey Squirrel is spreading our way into Norfolk The nearest pocket of occurrence’s is around Cambridge  but there has been a sighting up on the coast at Holt. I haven’t seen one yet but without doubt, given a little time …

See the monitoring project here. http://www.blacksquirrelproject.org/