Another busy day and, with the exception of a shower, another dry one at the Bird Fair. I haven’t yet got as far as Marquees 1 & 2, but I intend to tomorrow. The nice ladies from Plantlife gave me a refreshing elderflower drink as I arrived – you see plants are worth having –…
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
Bird Fair – Day 1
It’s actually quite hard work enjoying yourself at the Bird Fair – I don’t mean that you can’t enjoy yourself, just that it is a bit knackering. It doesn’t quite have the buzz of the Cheltenham Festival for me but today the period between 0930 and 1730 just whizzed by. I have this strategy of…
Captive audience at RSPB Arne
Today I’ll be at the Bird Fair (come up and say hello – and perhaps buy a copy of Blogging for Nature from me) but last Thursday I was still on holiday in Dorset having not seen white-beaked dolphin and not seen Adonis blue butterfly. What would I not see next? Arne had already provided…
Last word from me on grouse and harriers – for a while – probably
I’d like to thank all the contributors to the lively debate here over the last week on the way forward in the conflict between grouse shooting interests and the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of our cherished raptors. But seriously, thank you for joining in, especially to those from the shooting community. Did we…
Beautiful butterflies were missing
Adonis was the subject of a tug of love between Aphrodite and Persephone because of his great beauty. The Adonis blue is pretty good-looking too and restricted to chalk grassland sites such as are to be found in Dorset, so Wednesday, after being stood up by white-beaked dolphins, was Adonis blue day. Butterflies are pretty…