Julien Burcher

The university crisis is one of the most ignored issues in British politics and was barely mentioned this week. This is essential from @gsoh31 for @ArguablyMag on how underfunding, marketisation and managerial incompetence created an avoidable disaster – and how it can be fixed. arguably.uk/p/how-to-save-br…

We have a loved one scheduled to be on this flight. He will be killed if he’s returned to the Taliban. He supported the US mission in Afghanistan. He has broken no laws. He came here legally. Seeking asylum should not be a death sentence.

31 October 1973. 1st episode of the 26-part classic ITV documentary series World at War was broadcast. It was narrated by Laurence Olivier with music by Carl Davies. It cost £900,000 (worth £11 million today).

This is a Javan slit-faced bat, facing extinction because consumers, especially in the US, buy them for Halloween taxidermy decorations. Apparently, people like their "rabbit-like" ears. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition on October 29 asking the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list them under the Endangered Species Act. They say listing the Javan slit-faced bat would meaningfully contribute to the species’ conservation by strictly regulating the import, export, and interstate commerce of the species, and hope the listing will also raise awareness of the species and its threats within the United States. Let's start spreading awareness right now of the madness of driving a species to extinction for a frivolous decoration. The full petition is in this thread. (1/2)

Some 18.7 million bats died from wind turbines in US between 1981 and 2024, and the problem has grown dramatically worse in recent years. About 100,000 bats died per year 2 decades ago. But by 2021, the boom in wind farms had pushed the toll to 1.5 million bats annually science.org/content/article/…

On the coldest nights of winter, a dozen or more small birds will cram into a single box and huddle together to make it until morning. Your birdhouse wasn't built for that. Nest boxes are made for summer: vents up top so the babies don't cook, a hole near the roof, and nothing inside to hold onto. Most birds need to perch or cling while they sleep, and a nest box gives them nowhere to do it. A roost box flips the design. The hole goes near the bottom, so the heat the birds give off rises and stays trapped above them. There are few or no vents. And inside, perches run up the walls, staggered so nobody sleeps directly under somebody else. A classic design for small birds is about 10 inches square and 3 feet tall. Already have a nest box? Leave it up. Birds still use them. Plug the vent holes with foam weatherstripping for the winter, but don't seal it pitch-black. Birds like to see inside before they go in. Mount either one on a pole with a baffle underneath, out of the wind and facing south for the winter sun.

Wildlife Trusts hit £30m target to buy and rewild huge Northumberland estate, theguardian.com/environment/…

No recording without consent. UCU members at the University of Lincoln are challenging plans for compulsory lecture recording. ucu.org.uk/article/14696/UCU…

Please do not disturb! 💤 OTD in 2016, I wrote this blog about the importance of high-tide roosts. 🎂🔟 wadertales.wordpress.com/201… #ornithology