Filtered light

It's been a roller-coaster week. Today I woke to find that Leonard Cohen had died. His singularly insightful words and gentle melodies have been an important part of the soundtrack to my life, and this just seemed yet another blow in a very cruel year. 

But while the international news has been singularly depressing, local events have been much more uplifting. The wildlife group talk was fascinating - a heartening tale of a fen farmer with a love for wildlife who noticed and recorded the decline of farmland birds on his farm, realised that this was a result of agricultural intensification, and made small but well-executed adjustments to his farming methods which have largely reversed that decline. He has also become one of the most successful growers and sellers of bird seed in the country, and gives a proportion of his profits to the Wildlife Trusts. 

This morning Pete and I attended the first meeting of the Peterborough Nature Partnership, which is an informal collaborative partership of all the organisations and individuals with an interest in biodiversity improvements in the district. This is an excellent initiative, and it was great to get together with a wide diversity of people with a range of talents and connections. I feel very hopeful that this group will be able to make positive improvements for wildlife even in the face of continuing development pressure.

Chris and I escaped to Old Sulehay Forest for some much needed peace and quiet. In the evening Pete and I went to our next door neighbour's birthday party, where plenty of wine was drunk and the conversation ranged widely.