Apart from having my first ever flu jab I’ve mostly been sitting in the garden this morning – thinking. There are Skylarks flying over every now and again – so characteristic of fine days in October here. And there have been a few Red Admirals on the Ivy, among all the wasps, Ivy Bees (just…
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
News from the Moorland Association
Given that the Moorland Association has been strangely quiet recently it is worth noting that they are now trying hard to appear very very reasonable. It’s all a bit odd. Their responses to the RSPB statement on burning and Birdcrime report are rather moderately worded. I will be interested to see what the Moorland Association…
My neighbour’s Walnut tree
I slightly covet my neighbour’s Walnut tree but I’m not sure how good the walnuts are. What I do know is that the local Jackdaws love them, as does what appears to be a single Rook. The Jackdaws seem to arrive just after 9am every morning (why then?) and take away individual walnuts in their…
Update: Andy Langley’s fundraiser for World Land Trust
… is doing well. Thank you to all who have supported this appeal to protect the Ecuadorian Chaco Forest. Andy’s fundraiser is such a great deal: your £1 unlocks a further £3 that has been promised by Andy’s employer, Ecclesiastical insurence, and other potential donors that WLT has lined up. Andy’s trying to raise £5,000…
Wind?
Johnson is going to announce a big push on offshore wind energy today. This sounds good, although not unalloyed good news. It’s a very political move. Energy production generates jobs and energy, it appears that the PM’s announcement is going to put those jobs in the Northeast of England somewhere near where the red wall…
My article in the New European
A million pageviews
Last year was the first year that this blog received over a million pageviews in a year – and that milestone was reached in mid November. This year it was reached on 1 October. Thank you for your attention.
Looking forward to Saturday’s RSPB AGM
On Saturday it’s the RSPB AGM – have you booked your place online? This is always an interesting event, and usually a somewhat uplifting one, and it’ll be fascinating to hear the RSPB’s new position on gamebird shooting. At least, I assume it will be a new position after over a year of cogitation. The…
Sunday book review – the Hedgehog Book by Hugh Warwick
This is a charming book about a species that is being lost from our lives. I haven’t seen a live Hedgehog for several years and there aren’t many squashed on the roads around here these days. Friends and family send videos of hedgehogs if they come across one – this once common species is now…
Sunday book review – A Bird A Day by Dominic Couzens
You can’t go wrong if you slap a gorgeous Audubon on the front of your book and this Arctic Tern is one of my favourites (see p77 Remarkable Birds, which also has an Audubon on its cover). It’s a good start and there are more Audubons sprinkled through the 368 pages of this attractive and…