I spent five hours on Microsoft Teams and Zoom yesterday, and was knackered at the end of it. Not sure why – all I was doing was chatting to nice people. Here is my 1-hour chat to Jimmi Hill of Raptor Aid about blogging, writing, campaigning and driven grouse shooting. Thanks Jimmi for the opportunity….
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
Guest blog – Wildflower-rich road verges – the botanists’ Hen Harrier? by Kevin Walker
Kevin Walker is a botanist who leads on science, monitoring and data management for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Before that he spent 12 glorious years working as a plant ecologist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, although much of that time was spent away carrying out fieldwork. Although his…
Press release – Global species extinction target proposed
Press release: New species extinction target proposed for global nature rescue plan The upcoming future strategy for conserving biodiversity must include a prominent target to lower extinction rates, say scientists. Biodiversity loss has continued unabated at an alarming rate, and so far, action to deliver on the global agreements in place has failed to prevent…
Just check your garden for one of these
Every few years there are numbers of this gaudy relative of the Starling seen in western Europe in late May/early June and now and again appreciable numbers of them get to the UK. This is one of those years! So check your fat balls and lawns for an exceptional looking starling – a Rose-coloured Starling….
Eye witness account of a Hen Harrier killing in Bowland
The RSPB has this evening published an eyewitness account of the killing of an adult Hen Harrier in Bowland last October. Read it and weep! I’ve known about this case for quite a while and I know the eyewitness as one of the many raptor enthusiasts in the Bowland area. By chance, the area where…
BASC has two voices…
Last week, on Friday and Sunday evenings BASC spokesmen were talking about what BASC was doing to rid their membership of wildlife criminals. Both Duncan Thomas and Steve Bloomfield were saying that BASC were doing their bit. I know both of them a little, I’ve met and talked to them, and I’d be more inclined…
Quite funny…
This video was posted earlier this week and it made me smile but, because I am a bit dull, it also made me frown slightly too. As a piss-take it’s quite amusing but I have two problems with it (because I am so dull – no fun at all!). First it’s a bit unfair to…
Press release – Wimpole Home Farm successes by National Trust
Farming for nature pays off for Wimpole Rare farmland bird numbers double in six years Invertebrate numbers increase by over a third in 13 years Farmland sequesters high levels of carbon while producing food and making a profit Nature and soil health are flourishing at the National Trust’s Wimpole Home Farm near Cambridge according to…
GWCT drowning not waving
Wouldn’t it be terrible if the GWCT went bust? In a recent letter to supporters, who clearly aren’t being supportive enough, Teresa Dent has told them that GWCT has a hole in its finances. Well, who would have thought it? Anyone would have thought that there was a global financial and health crisis… Maybe the…
Reposting
The following was first posted on 3 July 2017 – in a way nothing has changed. It’s good to talk. But talking can also be used as a refuge from taking action. If there’s one thing that is likely to get me animatedly irritated (and friends have seen this happen a few times) is when…