I’ll declare my interest straight away: I volunteer for the Great Bustard Group and really, really want the species to breed commonly in England again. ‘Great’ news then (see what I did there?) that the first display of 2010 was filmed and posted on the GBG website yesterday. Shake those feathers, young man, and may all your offspring survive and prosper!

The politics around whaling stinks like a rotting corpse. While the world knows (but is apparently unwilling to act on the information) that Japan is the ‘Vieux Bologne’ of the whaling world, it turns out that Denmark is its European equivalent, being to European whaling what Malta is to the illegal hunting of migrant birds. What is it that makes humans so bloody-minded and so bloody short-sighted? Oh, that would be money then…

We all know that birders, with our high-priced optics, tendency to travel, and obsession with field guides, spend way too much cash on our hobby. But how much, exactly, do we spend?  And how much would be willing to spend, collectively, to help the birds?  Both of those questions will be closer to being answered in the coming year, at least in the state of Ohio. How?  Well, the first question will come closer to being answered by researcher Philip Xie, who will spend the coming year interviewing birders at six locations along the Lake Erie shoreline.  The second question could be answered by the Ohio Wildlife Legacy Stamp, Ohio birdwatchers’ answer to the Federal Duck Stamp.  Kimberly Kaufman ably and enthusiastically describe the new stamp from Ohio here.

Hopeful news for the future of the Critically Endangered Siberian Crane Grus leucogeranus. Supported by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by the International Crane Foundation through the UN Environment Programme, a joint project by China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia will use a ‘flyway’ approach to protect the remaining 3000 - 3500 birds.