A record-breaking 13 Hen Harrier chicks fledge at RSPB Geltsdale in Cumbria Conservation efforts help deliver best breeding season in over a century Success offers hope for species’ recovery, but illegal persecution remains a major threat Thirteen young Hen Harriers are getting set to take to the Cumbrian skies as RSPB Geltsdale celebrates its best…
Author: Mark
Born Bristol, UK
Educated: Cleeve House School Bristol, Bristol Grammar School and Downing College Cambridge
Ph.D. University of Aberdeen, Winter activity of pipistrelle bats.
NERC post-doctoral Research Fellow, Edward Grey Institute, Oxford University
Former Conservation Director of the RSPB, 1989-2011
Sunday book review – Prelude to Murder by Alan Stewart and Lyndsey Hamilton.
Alan Stewart, a former wildlife crime officer in Tayside Police, has written widely about wildlife crime, in fiction and non-fiction. I have enjoyed his previous books and reviewed four of them here (2017, Killing by Proxy; 2021, Calls from the Wild; 2023, Cruel Intentions; 2024, The Peregrine Thief). This book is also about wildlife crime…
Iceland to consider a ban on whaling
This issue hasn’t gone away, but I somehow wonder whether it will be resolved soon. Icelanders are a steadfastly independent people as their close recent rejection of even negotiating to join the EU demonstrates – click here. I note that the Guardian article mentions the potential ban being of commercial whaling which would presumably exclude…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbine 28 of CEP (240 MW) by Nick MacKinnon
Nick MacKinnon is a freelance teacher of Maths, English and Medieval History, and lives above Haworth, in the last inhabited house before Top Withens = Wuthering Heights. In 1992 he founded the successful Campaign to Save Radio 4 Long Wave while in plaster following a rock-climbing accident on Skye. His poem ‘The metric system’ won…
Rewilding Britain – Public backs nature restoration to protect Britain from extreme weather
Public backs nature restoration to protect Britain from extreme weather, new polling reveals 62% of Britons believe the UK Government should invest more in nature restoration to address future extreme weather, while 74% believe the government is not preparing the country well for such events Almost two-thirds (62%) of the public want the UK Government…
BSBI – Alien Star-thistles found in Hampshire
Hampshire botanist Tristan Norton has found three species of star-thistle in Hampshire; all are alien plants, one is nationally Endangered and one is new to the county, with only a handful of prior records across the UK. Tristan, who is the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland County Recorder for Hampshire, and his friend Gavin…
RSPB expands Lough Erne Reserve
RSPB Northern Ireland has announced the purchase of Carr Island on Lower Lough Erne, marking a significant expansion of its Lough Erne reserve, the RSPB’s most westerly nature reserve in the UK, and reinforcing its commitment to nature in the area. Supported by funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the…
Guest blog – What all Wise Men and Women Know by Ric Edelman
Ric Edelman is a conservationist and creative writer. His new book CHEETAH Caught in Conflict, with illustrations by Iranian artist Sama Soltani, gives 50% royalties to cheetah protection. Ric co-founded Green Light Trust which mentored 60 community woodlands and now brings marginalised groups closer to nature through the learning of conservation skills. My…
Guest blog – Crow Hill Junction of CEP (240 MW) by Nick MacKinnon
Nick MacKinnon is a freelance teacher of Maths, English and Medieval History, and lives above Haworth, in the last inhabited house before Top Withens = Wuthering Heights. In 1992 he founded the successful Campaign to Save Radio 4 Long Wave while in plaster following a rock-climbing accident on Skye. His poem ‘The metric system’ won…
Evolution – Chris
And so we bid farewell to another very good BBC wildlife series. Evolution is a tricky subject as the motion picture camera hasn’t been around for much of Earth’s history and so there is a lot of leaning on CGI (which wouldn’t have been available in David Attenborough’s days) and fossils. But ending up with…