A beautiful lacewing

Lacewing (Chrysoperla canea)

Orangutans killed in forest fires

I use Twitter, but not for saying what I'm doing every minute of everyday, I use it to find out what's happening in the environment around the world. I only link up to environmental bodies and post about environmental issues.

One Tweeter this morning has posted a news article which some of you may find distressing, I know I did! The first sentence hits home: "Wildlife experts warn that in as little as just a few weeks, the rare Sumatran Orangutans could become extinct." 

There's only one species to blame here and that's us! 

I have 'blogged many times about palm oil, but it's something I believe we should all know about. You may think there's nothing we can do about it, but there is....if we all change our lifestyles, the products we buy from the supermarkets, there may be a chance that we can help this threatened species. 

To recap on the effects of palm oil; thousands of hectares of land are destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, thus leaving orangutans and other species, trapped and dead. 

Palm oil factories are being accused of intentionally setting the forests on fire. The orangutans are then being forced into moving to less suitable forests, but the palm oil factory workers are apparently chasing the orangutans back into the fires when they're trying to move to safer grounds away from the fire. The bad news doesn't stop here unfortunately, factory workers are also being accused of paying poachers to kill the orangutans because they are destroying the young palm trees.

If this is the case what on earth has this world come to? Whether the palm oil factory workers are definitely doing this, they are still causing the orangutans habitat to diminish. What are your opinions on this? 

(*This blog article was written in reference to the following news article: http://www.nodeju.com/20617/hundreds-of-orangutans-killed-in-forest-fire.html*) 

There are ways we can help to protect this magnificent species, and that is to look at the products we buy on the shelves. There are numerous websites that provide lists of products that do not contain palm oil so why not try these:

Palm oil alternatives 01

Palm oil alternatives 02 (You can download a palm oil free shopping list from here too!)

WWF's Earth Hour

So, it's that time of year again, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is asking as many people all over the globe to turn off their lights for one hour. The point of this is "about people coming together to put the focus on this brilliant world we all share – and how we need to protect it. Not just for an hour a year, but every day." You can click on the link below to watch a video on this fantastic event. I've signed up, are you going to?

Earth Hour UK video

Ogston (March 25th)

A visit on a sunny afternoon to my local patch for a few hours a few days ago.

Willow Tit

Reed Bunting

Greenfinch

Cormorant

Common snipe

Black-necked grebe at Kingsmill Reservoir

Black-necked Grebe

On Sunday, I did my usual morning check on birdguides to see what bird species were in my local area: there was a black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) at Kingsmill Reservoir in Derbyshire.

I wasn't holding out much hope of seeing the bird. I'd almost finished walking the reservoir, when a fellow birdwatcher saw the grebe in the distance, and with a telescope the views were fantastic.

Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita) were heard.

Other birds seen: coot (Fulica atra), moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), gadwall (Anas strepera), pochard (Aythya ferina), mute swan (Cygnus olor), house sparrows (Passer domesticus), little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus), blackbird (Turdus merula) black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus), lapwings (Vanellus vanellus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and canada geese (Branta canadensis).