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…
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 press release – Montagu’s Harriers nest successfully in England after 6-year absence
Britain’s rarest breeding bird raised four youngsters at secret location A pair of Montagu’s Harriers, Britain’s rarest breeding bird, have successfully raised four youngsters at a secret location in England The pair of birds which arrived in May have been closely monitored by the RSPB who, working closely with a farmer, installed a protection fence…
More Hen Harrier killing
RSPB press release: Chicks fledge with RSPB support after suspicious loss of parent Hen Harriers. In May 2025, over a period of eight days, four breeding male Hen Harriers suspiciously disappeared from their nests in northern England – two from RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria, and a further two from the Forest of Bowland…
Sunday book review – Neurodivergent, by Nature by Joe Harkness
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This book is about the relationship between neurodivergent people and the natural world. I found it interesting and probably more interesting than I thought it might be. The author is neurodivergent (diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and does a very good job in explaining, from the start of the book, what are the…
Sunday book review – Exmoor by Flemming Ulf-Hansen
This New Naturalist of 530 pages is about one of the three upland National Parks in southwest England – you get a better view of the sea (and, on a clear day, of Wales) from this one than from the other two and it has the distinct advantage, from my biased point of view, of…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbine 29 by John Page
John Page was born in the West Riding, a proud Yorkshireman and was taught to play cricket left-handed “ ’cos it flummoxes t’ bowler, and buggers up t’ field.” He went to university in London and Leeds, and enjoyed (most of the time) attempting to teach young people that there’s a big wide world beyond…
RSPB press release: Drought adding to challenge of caring for Sherwood Forest’s iconic Major Oak
Drought stress adding to challenge of caring for Sherwood Forest’s iconic Major Oak Pioneering techniques and technology are being used by Britain’s largest conservation charity to deliver bespoke care to one of the nation’s most famous and beloved trees. But the recent heatwave is bringing an additional challenge as attempts continue to address complex issues…
Good news on lead ammunition
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Yesterday’s news that a ban (almost total) on lead ammunition use is coming is welcome. Assuming that it all goes smoothly (I believe it will) then it will bring to a happy conclusion decades of campaigning. But why has it taken so long? So very long? Lead is a poison and it has gradually been…
Guest blog – Reintroductions by Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons spent most of his career in public service serving as the UK Food Standards Agency’s Veterinary Director (2004-2007) and the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer (2007-2015). He is the current chair of the Zoological Society of London’s Ethics Committee on Animal Research and a member of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee. He…
Tony Marr 1939-2025
Tony Marr was born in Glasgow but he will always be associated with Sussex where he was one of a small group of birders in 1962 who founded the Sussex Ornithological Society (other leading lights being Richard Porter, Chris Mead, Bill Bourne and Mike Shrubb). He attended Steyning Grammar School and was encouraged in his…