These are the shortlists for this year’s categories. Lots of good contenders but I wish Ruth Tingay the best of luck in the political advocate category. Given the judging panel, I would rate her odds of winning at around 9/4. We will learn the identities of the winners on the 22nd of November at a…
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
Iceland and the whales
Photo: The Whaling Station, Hvalfjörður It’s a beautiful setting for some less than beautiful deeds. Hvalfjörður means Whale Fjord and the group of white buildings at the foot of the pier into the fjord are where Iceland’s catch of Fin Whales are flensed and butchered under the eyes of a Japanese inspector – for all…
Defra/NE dragging their feet again on wildlife crime
If you are aware of the MoU between NE, NRW, the CPS and the National Police Chiefs’ Council then I doff my cap to you. I’ve only recently been pointed in its direction. The document deals with how these organisations should and will work together covering the following areas: purpose of the agreement the parties…
Who will be walking beside you on 22 September?
Who might you see in Hyde Park on 22 September taking a Walk for Wildlife? Prominent politicians? TV personalities? Staff of your favourite wildlife NGO? Your friends? I’m looking forward to seeing you.
Free food but no drink
On Saturday a few minutes in my favourite blackberrying patch provided an easy couple of ice cream containers of free food. Thee are plenty left and I must get out again before the weekend to harvest some more. The plan was to have a celebratory pub lunch afterwards, but the local pub, I found, is…
Red Kites in August
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the August tally was a rather low 16 days out of 31 . January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days out of 31. April: 20 days out of 30. May:…
NE response to an FoI request
Fair enough – I thought that might be the response. Is it reasonable to take all 20 working days to answer an enquiry whose answer was always going to be this? The 20 working day period for response is supposed to be the maximum available in order for the relevant enquiries to be made. NE…
The future of grouse shooting?
Have a look at this machine that lobs clays towards grouse butts in ways that somewhat match the flight of Red Grouse packs over the shooters. I’d be interested to hear how similar the shooting experience is from those who blast grouse out of the air. Could this replace ‘real’ grouse shooting? I somehow doubt…
National Trust reintroduces Water Voles on Exmoor
Water Vole. Photo: National Trust/Steve Haywood Endangered water voles are returning to a stretch of river where they have been extinct for more than 30 years – thanks to a National Trust river and waterways project. Once regularly spotted on Britain’s riverbanks, they are now the nation’s fastest declining land mammal, disappearing from 94 per…
An alternative narrative
Natural England’s answers to some questions about the failure of two Hen Harrier nests on a Yorkshire grouse moor this season were published on this blog this morning. To be fair to NE, they only responded to the questions I posed, rather than giving a full account of events on this grouse moor over the…