On my birthday at the end of March I’ll be chasing birds in Israel which will be terribly hard work, I’m told. I’ll be the most useless member of the Birdwatch-Birdguides Roadrunners team whose fellow members are ace-birders David Callahan (henceforth known as Team Captain Callahan) and Mike Alibone. …
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 – Ban toxic lead ammunition by Rob Sheldon
Rob Sheldon is a freelance conservationist. He has worked in nature conservation for almost 20 years, including 12 years with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Since 2013, he has been the Chairman of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, The Caucasus and Central Asia (OSME). Most recently he has worked…
Sunday book review – the Sacred Combe by Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes’s new book is a very readable collection of stories, memories and short essays on places that are important to him – all with a strong link to the natural world. I enjoyed reading them. And I enjoyed the illustrations by Pam Guhrs-Carr too. I wasn’t completely convinced that the book deserved the handicap…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
You are in charge – stand a tip-toe
On Tuesday evening, as you know, I spoke in Glossop and one question that came up, which quite often comes up, is the question of the great power of the rich landowners to get their way. When a lady asks the question it is usually along the lines of ‘Won’t it be difficult to ban…
A bit of a round up
five MPs were treated to a day’s shooting by BASC, to the value of £772 each. The five MPs were the chair of the all-party shooting and conservation (ho! ho!) group, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Con, Cotswolds), Bill Wiggin MP (Con, North Herefordshire), Sir Edward Garnier (Con, Harborough, former Solicitor General), Graham Brady MP (Con, Altrincham…
Topsy-turvy progress
I was speaking in Glossop on Tuesday evening so I set off for a leisurely drive on Tuesday morning. Rather than take the fastest route I took something approximating to the shortest route, but added quite a few wiggles: the nice thing was I had plenty of time, it was a sunny day and there…
My NGO disinvestment strategy
You might remember that I left a whole bunch of organisations at the turn of the year and said I’d invest my money according to how I was feeling about them instead of paying a fixed membership. Well, here’s the first instalment of news on that front: Greenpeace noticed that I’d cancelled my DD and…
Who do they follow? Liz Truss
Liz Truss is the Secretary of State at Defra and the MP for Southwest Norfolk. Her Twitter handle is @trussliz. She has 21,500 Twitter followers (including me) and follows 940 Twitter accounts (not including me). Ms Truss’s Twitter account gives little evidence that she is interested in the environment at all. She follows no national…
Who do they follow? Rory Stewart
Rory Stewart is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Defra and the MP for Penrith and the Borders. His Twitter handle is @RoryStewartUK. He has 24,500 Twitter followers (including me) and follows 590 Twitter accounts (not including me). It’s sometimes amusing to stroll through someone’s Twitter follows. They are usually a varied bunch and…