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 – A GCSE in Natural History? by Chris Baker
Chris is a science teacher of nine years and a former country park ranger. He began his teaching career in London before taking up posts at British schools in Vietnam and China. He is a Biology specialist and currently Head of Science at the British School Bucharest. An online petition calling for the…
Living off the land
I mentioned in passing in Fighting for Birds (p103) a conversation with a man in the Nene Valley who told me that when he was a lad he had been able to fill a baker’s tray with Lapwing eggs in an afternoon. I somehow doubt that you could do that in a full day with…
Still on the Brink
The news that the National Lottery is helping to fund the conservation of threatened species of animal and plant in England is very welcome – I almost wish I’d ever bought a lottery ticket. There’s a little bit of confusion about which species are in and out as there are 20 main species (and the…
Heather burning and health
I definitely wasn’t awake at this time so I am grateful to a reader of this blog for pointing me in this direction. On Radio 5 Up All Night on Thursday 30 March at 2hr 21min 19 secs into the programme, there was a discussion about the smoke from heather burning and its potential health…
Who said this?
‘A 21st century charity must rediscover the urgency, passion and anger of the volunteers that started the great causes in the Victorian period. Our organisation depends entirely on our supporters and our future depends on our ability to empower them to act and generate ownership of the strategic direction of the organisation. We will find…
Flying noses
I am a birder, but I have got used to looking for signs of spring other than the arrival of warblers and hirundines, Wheatears and Garganey, Sandwich Terns and Ring Ousels. On Sunday morning, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps were adding their songs to those of many Chiffchaffs at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes. I…
Guest blog – The National Trust and Nature by Simon Pryor
Simon Pryor is the National Trust’ Natural Environment Director and is responding to my blog (and your comments) last week. Hi Mark I’m glad you wrote a blog on the announcement of out ‘ambitions for nature’; and as we’d all expect, you asked some probing and provocative questions! So thanks…
The RSPB on driven grouse shooting
Martin Harper has penned (or keyboarded) an interesting BB eye in this month’s British Birds magazine. It is entitled ‘Why it is in the driven grouse industry’s interest to clean up its own act’ and it rehearses the long list of ills with intensive management of driven grouse moors with which so many of us…
Sunday book review – What Good are Birds by Antonio Sandoval Rey
Reviewed by Ian Carter Not What Birds are Good? as I initially thought having misread the title but What Good are Birds?, a somewhat broader and altogether more interesting question. His initial answer (to an inquisitorial family passing his regular sea-watching spot in Galicia, north-west Spain) was rather good I thought – ‘for flying’…