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When: Tuesday 19th October, 18:00 – 20:30 Where: Crew Room, East Looe RNLI Station. Booking Essential. Known as ‘The Lone Kayaker’, Rupert Kirkwood has been capturing incredible images of marine wildlife for over fifteen years, clocking up over 25,000 paddled miles in the process! Rup

When: Sunday 24th October, 13:30 – 15:30 Where: Hannafore beach, meet below the coastguard station. Booking Essential. Fancy finding some cool crabs & stunning starfish? Well why not join local experts as we explore the rocky shore! We ask that all attendees come along with suitab

When: Tuesday 16th November, 18:00 – 20:00 Where: The Jolly Sailor, West Looe (Booking Essential) Join the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain (SACGB) and the Looe Marine Conservation Group for an evening of all things shark! We’ve lined up a panel of local experts, scientists a

As November drifts into December and autumn gives way to winter, the focus of my ornithological attention increasingly moves offshore. I frequently visit the seafronts at East Looe and Hannafore. This is the time to scan the shallow seas for exciting visitors from the north. Divers! G

Autumn for John Keats was the season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’ but for the birders of Cornwall it is more likely to be cherished as the most exciting time of year for finding unusual birds; each day news comes via the internet of sightings of rare visitors dropping in during

My grandson sometimes asks me what my favourite bird is. He says his is Goldfinch. For the last decade my favourite bird has been Oystercatcher. The old English name for this bird (and one used in Cornwall) is the ‘Sea-pie’ – a reminder of its black and white livery. Perhaps Sea-pie m

In mid-May my daily exercise walk shifted. I forsook the cliff path and the beach: the spring migration was mostly over. I decided it was time to return to the estuary, and follow the fortunes of its resident breeding birds. I had spotted a Shelduck pair on the river in March and I wa

For at least six weeks now, during lockdown, my day has started in much the same way. 7.00 am: a cup of tea at the kitchen window. I listen to the male Blackbird that is broadcasting his gorgeous leisurely song from a roof somewhere in the vicinity. Blackbird, the herald of the morn I

‘April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.’ So begins The Waste Land by Thomas Stearns Eliot. I first read this great poem when I was a sixth-former. I didn’t understand quite a lot of it then (a

An exaltation of Larks. An unkindness of Ravens. A charm of Goldfinches. A murder of Crows. Most bird-watchers will be familiar with collective names for groups of particular birds. However the other day I found myself wondering if there was a collective name for Eiders. I tried sever

Welcome to the first of our monthly bird blogs by local naturalist Derek Spooner. February 12th. Early morning; I part the curtains and peer anxiously at the weather. For three days Looe has been hammered by Storm Ciara. I need to carry out a water-birds count on the Looe estuary, and

The Campaign Story Looe Marine Conservation Group (LMCG) developed the Throw Jelly Not Balloons campaign to persuade people to stop throwing water balloon bombs for fun at water festivals and raft races. Water balloons are a needless form of plastic pollution which harms wildlife and

Welcome to our brand new website and our very first blog! We’re really excited that the Looe Marine Conservation Group’s new website has gone ‘live’ today 22nd January so please share it! We want you to discover, explore and learn more about Looe’s amazin