First sketch today

Wednesday 11th November 2020

I took the photo of the blue tit today in the garden and decided that I would make my first attempt at sketching. The book is great 'The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling', however it does look like I stretched the poor bird! I think its a good first attempt and am very pleased with it. I took lots more photos of fungi today - I discovered that they really like the playing fields at the university. They are all different from the ones that we saw over the weekend which was a deciduous woodland habitat. I am going to try drawing one of them next.

I did see an article today which I thought was worth sharing. If you have read my recent blogs you will have seen that legislation and increasing reporting and enforcement are needed in the UK to make the changes that our wildlife needs. Natural England is the government body that is responsible for making a lot of that happen. Its all very well the Government making claims that they support our wildlife and the Wildlife Trusts #30by30 initiative but if the funding is dramatically cut from Natural England then it will not happen. Natural England, which is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has a range of responsibilities, including monitoring and protecting the country’s most valuable habitats such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and national nature reserves (NNRs). It also works with farmers to protect biodiversity and advises the government on environmental policy, planning and licensing. https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/10/natural-england-cut-to-the-bone-and-unable-to-protect-wildlife-staff-claim-aoe?fbclid=IwAR2DmUwLdPn0d1W9rWVkfAUJk8pkz1f6X0eIRHLgsSQXDwQBxeZBzl0lOfU