If you see this post then it strongly suggests I have fixed the failure of the automatic scheduling on this blog. And that will make my life a lot easier.
Test
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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
My binoculars are not happy
It’s my binoculars’ birthday today – they are 41 years old. And they aren’t happy. It isn’t just that they are feeling their age, it’s the fact that just over 50% of my fellow Brits and TM the PM have fixed it that it is on my binoculars’ birthday that ‘we’ trigger Article 50 for…
Champions of the Flyway
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Today is the Champions of the Flyway bird race based in Eilat, Israel. Last year I was a member of the Birdwatch-Birdguides Roadrunners team which was a real privilege for me (see blogs Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7). This year the team comprises Mike Alibone, Mark…
Daffs in The Guardian
Roadside Daffodils have made it into the Guardian this week in Patrick Barkham’s Notebook. I was slightly nervous in raising the subject of my feelings for feral daffodils at all last week, but I’m glad I did. It was good to get it off my chest and even better to find a fair measure of…
North of the border
The National Trust for Scotland is a separate entity from the National Trust (England, Wales and NI) and therefore doesn’t impinge on my consciousness very much. But I was interested to see that it has been carrying out quite a dramatic down-size (see here, here, here). And even more interested to see that it’s Chief…
Another Red Kite down in the Dales
POLICE are appealing for information after a Red Kite was found dead with gunshot wounds near Greenhow, Nidderdale on the afternoon of Saturday, March 11. That’s just along the road from where Henry had a picnic last year. PC David Mackay, a Wildlife Crime Officer of North Yorkshire Police Rural Taskforce, said: ‘It has taken…
Dinosaur vocalisations in Jurassic Park
Guy Smith, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union, said last week that farmers were at risk of being treated as “park keepers”, with Britain forced to increase its reliance on imported food. ‘If the only support mechanism that we get is for environmental delivery, we then become state paid park keepers,” he said. “My concern…
National Trust turns Natural Trust?
The National Trust has a poor reputation amongst wildlife conservation organisations. This stems from a couple of things. First, the National Trust could do so much more to help nature, given its massive membership, large landholding and rich resources. This has been the case for many years. Second, despite the low priority that the NT…
Sunday book review – Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East: a photographic guide by Frederic Jiguet and Aurelien Audevard
This is a photographic field guide which covers all European bird species including vagrants and some species which have not yet occurred but are quite likely to do so eventually. In one slimmish volume the reader has images (over 2200 of them) of every species of bird (860) they might see on the continent….
Tim Melling – Hyacinth Macaw
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Hyacinth Macaw is a species I have wanted to see since childhood. They are the longest parrot in the world (though Kakapo is the heaviest), and have a breathtaking blue and yellow livery. They usually hang around in pairs or small groups. This one was foraging under some trees with its partner. Most of the…