Cotton buds down, masks up, and more nature reads for your weekend

Good news about British beaches

Here at Walking With Daddy we're big fans of beach cleans. The Marine Conservation Society holds an annual beach clean, and then analyses the tally of what's found. The results for 2021 are out.

The good news includes:

• Cotton bud sticks dropping out of the top 10. (More and more of them are paper now, happily. We can compost ours.)
• The amount of rubbish on beaches is declining.

But there's still a huge way to go, and recent events are creating their own problems:

Levels of PPE found this year were similar to 2020, when masks were made mandatory across the UK. 32% of UK beaches cleaned found PPE litter though masks ranked 59 out of 121 for most common litter items.

So, it's good to know that changes we're making do have a marked impact. But it's also worth remembering that there are many battles yet to be fought:

Great British Beach Clean 2021 results

It was fantastic to see so many people from across the UK get involved in this year’s Great British Beach Clean. Volunteers young and old took part in a quest to clear their local beaches, streets and parks of litter and record their findings.

Marine Conservation Society

Mad, but glorious

This is almost quintessentially British. How should you raise money?

Simple. Do a 15 mile walk. In the winter. In your swimming costume.

More power them! (But rather them than me…)

Speedo Mick joined by ice swimmers for 15-mile charity walk from Kendal to Carnforth

Outdoor Swimmer

Quick Links

• How a lost camera was found, photos intact, 12 years after it was lost.
• The spread of avian flu is hitting some birds hard.
• UK Government report into the mental health benefits of woodland.

Tweet Corner

Climate & the coast path

This looks really good:

Hope in the darkness

An Ernest appeal

My absolute favourite outdoors and nature magazine is the delightful Ernest Journal. It's a high-quality “indie” magazine — which means it only publishes a few times a year, and is more like a soft back book than a traditional magazine.

It's always a highlight when an issue drops onto my doormat.

However, like many publications, COVID has hit it hard. They're running a crowdfunding campaign to both reprint the long sold out issue 1, and to ensure it has enough money to carry it forwards into next year:

At the time of writing (early Sunday morning), there's only a few hours remaining. The crowd-funding finishes at 6pm. Do consider checking it out, and backing it for one of the wonderful rewards donated by supporting suppliers:

Ernest Journal: Collector’s Edition campaign

We are raising money to print a Collector’s Edition of the sold out and much sought after first issue of Ernest.

Crowdfunder UK

Video: the Great Skua

This is lovely and informative: