Reviewed by Ian Carter My wife picked up a copy of this short book at a recent Natural England event where Ralph was giving a talk. To be honest I was rather surprised they let him inside the building given how rude he has been about them – including that logo with the roof. The…
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
Tim Melling – Golden Takin
Tim writes: the Golden Takin is a rare mammal that inhabits the same mountainous bamboo thicket forests as Giant Panda. There are four subspecies and this is the form that lives in Sichuan (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana) with more blotchy flanks than the true Golden Takin (B.t.bedfordi) from Shaanxi, NW China. The remaining two subspecies are…
An Unreliable History of Birdwatching (52) by Paul Thomas
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Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Ralph writes: This toon is from the The Framing Nature Toolkit! Packed with activities, tools and advice, the toolkit explains what framing is and how we can use it to create a better world for wildlife. The goal of conservation is to help the natural world thrive. To do this we need the support of…
Hotting up for Avery Island
I’ve never been to Avery Island, Louisiana, but I’ve often thought I would – maybe I need to hurry up. For most people, Avery Island means very little, but for those to whom it means anything, it will probably be as the home of Tabasco sauce. I like Tabasco – I had some on cheese…
My first Willow Warbler – a bit late in coming
I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes this morning. It seems to have been a long time coming since the first Chiffchaff was three weeks ago! I think of my first Willow Warbler as being usually a week to 10 days after the first singing Chiffchaff. …
Press release: RSPB and Kent Wildlife Trust
Press release from RSPB and Kent Wildlife Trust: A Local council ignores national outcry by ploughing ahead with plans that threaten one of the last bastions for nightingales in England Last year over 12,000 people wrote to Medway Council to object to proposals that could see thousands of houses built at Lodge Hill, the most…
Signatures for banning driven grouse shooting
These are the maps of signatures for ‘my’ e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting (closed September 2016, LEFT) and Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting (closed Monday this week, 2 April, RIGHT). Unfortunately the shading isn’t on the same scale (and…
Not many migrants
There haven’t been many spring migrants (birds) around in Northants so far. I still haven’t seen anything more than Chiffchaffs and a few Sand Martins – but then I’m not out all the time. But the Chiffchaffs are singing in lots of places. Their song cuts through the air and delivers the message that spring…
Guest blog – Peak District Moorland Monitors
Thanks Mark, for allowing us the opportunity to introduce ourselves! We are the Moorland Monitors – a group of local people from raptor, mammal and ecological backgrounds who want to combine forces to protect the wild species and wild spaces of the Peak District grouse moors. We believe that local people and visitors can play…