I’ve been away for a few days for a family wedding in Edinburgh. It was a slightly strange but very happy event with few guests (six of us) and where the wedding breakfast was held in the open air, by the Scottish Parliament looking up at Arthur’s Seat, drinking champagne and eating take-away pizza. But…
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
Andy Clements extended, Teresa Dent expendable
Further to an announcement in early June, Andy Clements is remaining on the Natural England Board for a further two years whereas Teresa Dent is not – see here. This must be seen as a good thing although the Scientific Advisory Board that Andy has chaired cleared the way for the highly contentious, and still…
Press release – National Trust
National Trust sites prove successful breeding grounds for peregrine falcons 11 peregrine falcon chicks discovered at four sites cared for by the National Trust Lockdown pair at Corfe Castle successfully hatch three chicks, and the return of visitors hasn’t put them off Peaks partnership work results in most successful breeding season in High Peak since…
Starts tomorrow
Big Butterfly Count – click here.
Four weeks today…
… is the … …twelth, the traditional start of the grouse shooting season. There are all sorts of reasons why the grouse shooting season might be a damp squib this year. First, the weather may not have been perfect for Red Grouse this year and there are reports of Red Grouse numbers being low in…
Fruits of the garden
This raspberry was delicious but I think the Blackbirds are getting more of them than I am from the few that appear in our garden. Still I don’t begrudge them – much! It looks like our garden will provide plenty of blackberry and apple tarts and crumbles though. Although there is quite a long way…
A second Badger challenge
Tom Langton is a Badger expert and seasoned campaigner. His crowdfunder to challenge DEFRA on plans to extend the Badger cull deserves support – and I’ve put a few quid of my own in that direction.
Guest blog – Re-connecting with Rock Pools by Heather Buttivant
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Heather Buttivant is a writer, educator and marine conservationist based in Looe, Cornwall. She specialises in introducing people to the magic of the rock pools. Her first book, Rock Pool: extraordinary encounters between the tides, is available from bookshops and online (and is reviewed here) and her website was named BBC Wildlife Magazine’s Blog of…
Sad news: Colin Wilkinson RIP
I learned today of the passing on Saturday of Colin Wilkinson, a former colleague at the RSPB. Colin worked first in the RSPB Central England Region (the cinderella of RSPB regions – lots of people, not so many birds) which morphed into the Midlands Region. He was based in the Banbury office and more recently…
RSPB and gamebird shooting
The RSPB is taking its time over this consultation on gamebird shooting but it is going to be worth it. The infographic that the RSPB has released is clearly not the whole picture, and is an interesting selection of information. There is quite a lot of food for thought here alone. RSPB members are 62%…