*THERE is a man living on the banks of the Severn who has arguably done as much for conservation as anyone I know.

He always insists on anonymity so that’s why I refer to him as ‘Caddis.’ He has planted hundreds of willow trees over the years, strengthening the banks of the river, constantly at risk from the selfish actions of speeding boaters.

These days, on my all-too infrequent visits to the Camp Inn at Grimley, I always seek him out, this latter-day Johnny Appleseed who helps to keep the green in our pleasant land.

*THERE is much talk of development again and no doubt some form of compromise will eventually be reached so that a minimum of land vanishes below bricks and concrete.

My patrolling territory runs from Grimley through Worcester and on to Kempsey, a verdant river corridor that thankfully teems with wildlife.

I just hope that whatever happens, it will still be possible to leave room for the birds, the calm of Gerald Coates’s fields, and an uncluttered view of the Malvern Hills. And of course the freedom and space for people such as Caddis to work for the benefit of the natural world.

*IF I was a member of a party that was stuck fast in the permafrost of a political midwinter, I would be constantly writing to the Press seeking to further the aims of my chosen creed.

That is why I’m so perplexed by the lack of response to the letters criticising New Labour that so often feature in this newspaper.

All right, they do appear occasionally, such as when veteran socialist Peter Nielsen puts in his four penn’orth, but they to tend to be as sparse as an Ed Miliband original thought.

Head office diktats apart… has anyone any theories?

*HIGH over Kempsey, a ‘parliament’ of rooks whirls around, thousands of birds moving in a slow but steady sideways motion that seems to hint at some form of collective intelligence.

There are many folk tales concerning rooks, one being that they hold ‘courts’ where a bird is being tried by his peers.

Eventually, the accused is either free to go or suffers a much worse fate.

Do you have any bird stories? If so, write in to your Worcester News.