Nest raids by feral mink take their toll

Airedale, West Yorkshire I try not to overreact to invasive species. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to see the bigger pictureThe moorhen had tried again. My passing-by startled her out of her nest – a cup at the foot of a stand of fading yellow flag irises, not two metres from the lakeshore. Before I made an apologetic retreat, I took note of a single soft-spotted pale egg resting in the hollow. All being well, another five or six would follow.All, however, was not well. This clut