Reviewed by Ian Carter One of the joys of reviewing books is that you end up reading titles that would otherwise pass you by. Of course, it doesn’t always work out well, but I had high hopes for this one having read about all the awards and commendations it has received. Before reading…
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
Bank holiday book review – Images from a Warming Planet by Ashley Cooper
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This book is a tour de force in so many ways. The photographs, many of which are superb, are all taken by the author, and the words are all his and the book is published by him. This is the result of years of travel and is subtitled ‘One man’s mission to document climate change…
Bank holiday book review – Flock Together by B. J. Hollars
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Reviewed by Ian Carter I tried very hard to like this book and, in the end, despite the rather relentless ‘chatty’ style of writing, I think I just about got there. It’s certainly a hard book to categorise. In part, it’s a history of recently extinct birds in the USA and the individuals…
Guy Shorrock – African White-backed Vulture
Guy writes: Nature’s Clean-up Crew Vultures sometimes get a bad press, but these majestic birds are essential in cleaning up our landscape. A biological recycling team, vultures play a vital role in clearing away carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases like anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis and botulism. However, worldwide, vultures are considered one of…
Sunday book review – Flight Lines by Mike Toms
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For me, this book is almost a perfect 10 – let’s give it a 9.6. I was handed this book by its author at the Bird Fair at the weekend and, after saying thank you, said I’d put it on the pile of books to review. But having unwrapped it from its cellophane I dipped…
Tim Melling – Nightjar
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Tim writes: Most people think of Nightjar as a bird of lowland heaths but this one was high in the Pennines at well over 1000 feet above sea level in Yorkshire. The second half of May is my usual time for Nightjars but ill-health meant I wasn’t fit enough this year. So I went…
An Unreliable History of Birdwatching (22) by Paul Thomas
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Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
RSPB White-tailed Eagle story
An RSPB press release: Online sea eagle star re-emerges four years on Mull eagle now in the Highlands A sea eagle, whose movements as a youngster were followed online by people around the world, has been found successfully raising a family in the northern Highlands. Known as Shelly, she was fitted with a satellite…
Tales from the Bird Fair (5)
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Michael Gove’s ears should have been burning last weekend. It’s not that everyone at the Bird Fair was talking about him, but some were. And it’s not that everyone believes that he is going to do good things but some do, and most of the rest will wait and see. His name came up in…