If Defra were a school it would be judged inadequate, would be served a notice to improve and be put in special measures. But it isn’t, so it jogs on as the government department near the bottom of the political pecking order and with few friends in government or in the real world. Defra sprung…
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
Bird/poultry flu on Today today
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Good to hear more about bird/poultry flu on this morning’s Today programme. ‘Patchy’ does seem to be the word, which will make any biologist’s antennae start wiggling – what is the cause of the variation? But note that the patchiness has some pretty big chasms. Gannets down by ‘up to 25% in some colonies’ –…
Press release – Wild Moors and League Against Cruel Sports
Natural England restricts gamebird shooting on Thornton Moor. Fresh doubt has been cast over the future of the controversial game bird shoot on Yorkshire Water’s land at Thornton Moor after Natural England has refused permission for a significant part of the operation. The government’s habitats watchdog has said in a decision notice issued to Yorkshire…
Farming Today about 10 years out of date
I enjoyed the piece on Farming Today this morning where a farm was monitored for 10 years and by sensible application of agri-environment schemes its farmland birds increased and remained as profitable as farms around it. That’s obviously good news. And it appears to be a good replicate of the findings at the RSPB’s Hope…
Bird/poultry flu on Today
It was good to hear bird/poultry flu on BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning but the interview between Justin Webb and the Chief Vet, Christine Middlemiss (just after 07:30), just exposed the fact that both were operating off a smattering of knowledge about the subject when it comes to wild birds. That’s OK for…
Latest weekly bird/poultry flu update from Defra – for what it’s worth
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This week’s woefully inadequate update of bird/poultry flu in wild birds from Defra shows positive cases in seabirds (Gannet, Great Skua, Guillemot, Puffin, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull and Great Black-backed Gull), some swans and geese and another White-tailed Eagle. The positive records come from Shetland to the south coast of England. Little can be drawn…
Press release – Trees for Life, Beaver consultation
Bid to make Glen Affric Scotland’s next beaver release site A community consultation that will help decide whether beavers are reintroduced to Glen Affric has been launched in the Scottish Highlands, led by Trees for Life. The rewilding charity is carrying out the consultation on behalf of four private landowners and Forestry and Land Scotland,…
RSPB press release – White-tailed Eagles
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Iconic white-tailed eagles celebrate silver anniversary with 25th chick A pair of white-tailed eagles on Mull have recently celebrated their 25th anniversary by successfully fledging their 25th chick. Skye and Frisa are the UK’s oldest known white-tailed eagle pair at 28 and 30 years old respectively. They paired up in 1997 and had their first chick the following…
It’s always touching to get a personal reply from a Minister of the Crown
Bird/Poultry flu. A couple of days ago the RSPB sent out a strongly worded press release, which I reproduced here, which was entitled ‘Defra asleep at the wheel in bird flu emergency’. I tweeted about it later that day: I received a response from Richard Benyon himself: It’s always good to have got a Minister’s…
RSPB press release – Bee-eaters hatch chicks in Norfolk
Rare bee-eaters right at home in Costa del Cromer: but it’s a red alert for global warming Rare bee-eater chicks have hatched in a Norfolk quarry amid the UK’s first ever red warning for heat. Having previously been rare visitors, breeding attempts by these brightly-coloured birds are increasing in the UK, with six recorded in…