I was surprised to notice the other day that the Secretary of State for the Environment (and some other stuff), Michael Gove, follows me on Twitter. I’m not foolish enough to think that Mr Gove is reading every word that I write, nor perhaps any of them, but just in case, I thought I’d pen…
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
The Raptor Persecution UK Marsh Harrier revelation
I can’t remember Raptor Persecution UK getting a story badly wrong – admittedly their spelling and grammar are sometimes a bit suspect but their facts and news are spot on. And so I’d be very surprised if they have been misinformed about the desire of grouse moor managers to bump off Marsh Harriers revealed today. …
Stunning news from Raptor Persecution UK
Sometimes things happen which change the scene dramatically. Today sees such an event. Raptor Persecution UK reports that the Moorland Association’s Amanda Anderson revealed in a DEFRA Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group meeting that her members want licences to kill Marsh Harriers. Read the full story here.
Remarkable Birds
Comments Off on Remarkable Birds
Remarkable Birds is being translated into Chinese, Spanish and French but you could buy the English edition for your loved ones’ Christmas presents. Available from all good bookshops including this one – Blackwells.
Red Kites – poisoned deliberately and accidentally
I see Red Kites almost every day – in fact, I think I’ll actually make a note of when I see them next year to see how true that is. They are certainly back in the skies of east Northants after the reintroductions which started in the 1980s. However, in a scientific paper published in…
Puffarazzi find clues to Puffin decline
Photographs of Puffins taken around the UK by members of the public (the Puffarazzi) are helping uncover the reasons for this bird’s decline says the RSPB. The RSPB analysed over 1400 images taken at Puffin colonies and early results suggest that the diet of Puffins varies significantly around the UK – in the northern isles…
Save the date – 11 and 12 August 2018
The first eight weeks
Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting keeps making significant progress. Highlights: Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey approaches 100 signatures – next week? The number of constituencies with 50+ signatures has jumped from 18 to 26 in the last week. Foyle and Barking remain the only two UK constituencies without a single signature Here…
Blue Planet 2 – programme 5
The most recent ‘Green Seas’ programme was good. You can’t go wrong with magnificent feeding Humpback Whales, cute Sea Otters, clever Octopuses, intriguing sea pens, gangs of moulting crabs and the weirdest and cutest of Weedy Seadragons. What did you think?
‘I cannot let great recipes die just to be politically correct’ – Tom Kitchin
‘Every year when August 12 comes round I get so many trolls on my Twitter feed, telling me about lead poisoning, about hen harriers, but I cannot let great recipes die just to be politically correct.’ says the Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin, whose Edinburgh restaurant specialises in all sorts of game (as quoted in The…