Like you, I expect, I cannot imagine what the landscape will be like in, say, ten years’ time. My window on the world is in Ramsbury, in the upper valley of the Kennet in Wiltshire. We have long been used to dying trees. Death took all our mature elms long ago, and they have gradually…
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
Haiku
Do you know the story of the Wake Island rail? It lived, guess where?, Yes! on Wake Island and nowhere else. Wake Island is a small Pacific island and the Wake Island rail was a small flightless rail. When Japanese soldiers arrived on Wake Island there were rails, after they left there were no rails. …
How many is best?
What is the best number of people to go birdwatching together? I’ve been pondering this question and discussing it with my birding companions and I have made up my mind – but what do you think? Now I expect you’ll ask what ‘best’ means and what ‘go birdwatching’ means – because you are that…
Desert Island Naturalists
I am a big fan of Desert Island Discs. As the theme tune comes on I have usually organised my late Sunday mornings so that I can listen in peace to the guest and their choice of music. Sometimes I get bored after a while but usually I love it! This programme has been a…
Ralph Underhill cartoon