This is an American book with lots of mentions of backyards and strange creatures (most of which are bigger than their UK counterparts). But I thought it might be of interest and it certainly was. The starting point of many books about wildlife and gardens in the UK is a rather traditional garden with flower…
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
RSPB – UK’s tallest bird, the Crane, has record high year
UK’s tallest bird, the Crane, has record high year A record number of Cranes bred in the UK last year, with 87 pairs raising 37 young, bringing the total to around 250 individuals Cranes went extinct in the UK around four hundred years ago due to overhunting and the loss of wetlands, but thanks to…
Peatland Alliance press release – Calderdale Energy Park defies council guidance
Calderdale Energy Park defies council guidance with rushed public consultation on Walshaw Moor wind farm Community consultation on new version of contentious wind farm timed for local election purdah period. Calderdale Energy Park developers have defied Calderdale and Bradford Council advice to delay their statutory consultation on the proposed “Critical National Priority” wind farm on…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbines: Laneshaw Bridge bypass 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…
A post about inefficient government
This is my Mum, who died two years ago today in her 98th year. But this blog post is about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). I’ll be sending a copy of this blog post to my MP. When someone dies there is a fair amount of ‘sadmin’, sad administration, to do. There are…
Exhibition “The Birdman of Auschwitz: Science and the Failure of Conscience”
(Oświęcim, Poland) — A new exhibition, “The Birdman of Auschwitz: Science and the Failure of Conscience,” will open April 30 at the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88, at the former home of Commandant Rudolf Höss. In partnership with British naturalist, historian and author of The Birdman of Auschwitz, Nicholas Milton, it explores…
Government to consult on changes to shooting seasons
Governments in Britain are to consult on shooting seasons for Woodcock, Snipe, Golden Plover, White-fronted Geese, Goldeneye, Pintail and Pochard (with different packages of proposals for each of Scotland, Wales and England) but it is proposed that Pochard should be removed from Schedule 2.1 across Britain. Consultation – click here. These proposals emanate from correspondence…
BSBI – Plant of ancient woodlands confirmed in northern Scotland
Plant of ancient woodlands confirmed in northern Scotland Herb-paris, a plant typical of ancient woodlands, has been confirmed growing in upland birch woodland on a ravine ledge in East Sutherland, in northern Scotland. The plant was originally spotted by James Rainey, a botanist and ecological consultant, seven years ago but wasn’t reported to the Botanical…
Sunday book review – The Ascent of Mammals by John Reilly
This book, like the author’s 2018 The Ascent of Birds – reviewed here, is a very clear and interesting explanation of a complicated and technical story. How did mammals evolve into species as different as the Duck-billed Platypus, Blue Whale, Vampire Bat and you and me? The answers are here and they appear to be…
Land Use Framework for England
I’ve read this document – click here – several times, and I’ll need to read it several times more to get the most out of it. But my initial rating of it is 6.5/10 which is quite a bit higher than I expected. I’d be very interested in others’ views on this document and I’d…