The RSPB (authors Donal McCarthy and Paul Morling) has done a piece of analysis that is rather novel and very interesting. It also conforms to my beliefs of how the world works, so I like it. Using regulation as a last resort? Assessing the performance of voluntary approaches does just that. It examines UK, EU…
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
Farmland birds still bumping along the bottom
In 2014 the numbers of farmland birds (as measured by overall trends in 19 species – see below) were at the second lowest level of the last 45 years (since, almost, records began). Guess what? The lowest level was in 2013! This is not a record of which any politician can be proud. The farmland…
Ash die-back – plague or sniffle?
This morning I spent a couple of hours learning about Ash dieback, and other Ash problems (notably emerald ash borer (sounds nice – is deadly!) and other tree problems. I was invited to attend a focus group (we were quite focussed actually) about how the public would react to various potential solutions to the problems…
Globally threatened vultures
After Chris Bowden’s two informative Guest Blogs on vultures (Asia vulture crisis and Africa and Europe) it is worth noting that the recent global reassessment of species’ status has resulted in six species of African vulture being assessed as more threatened than previously. In fact, four species, all of which I have seen, Hooded, White-backed,…
Corner Laughers’ UK tour
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I’m looking forward to doing a couple of reading from A Message from Martha at the Corner Laughers‘ Cambridge gig in the Portland Arms, a week today. I see they are also appearing in Bethnal Green (8 Nov), Nottingham (10 Nov), Brighton (12 Nov), Swindon (13 Nov) and York (14 Nov).
Globally threatened birds
It comes to something when four species of birds I have seen this year in the UK are added to the list of globally threatened bird species. The IUCN Red List is updated periodically, after much sucking of teeth and poring over the data (some of which are a bit ropy) and Birdlife International are…
Oscar Dewhurst – another Red Deer
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Oscar writes: Another one from Richmond Park a couple of weeks ago. On this morning there wasn’t really any mist, but the temperature was cool enough for this stag’s breath to be condensing, looking yellow as the sun shone through it. Nikon D800, Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR lens
Northampton NHS (and then Northern Ireland)
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I’m looking forward to talking about Passenger Pigeons on Friday evening to the Northamptonshire Natural History Society. I’ll have a pile of books to offer for sale at this event – it’s ‘nearly’ Christmas (near enough to start buying some easy personalised presents anyway). That’s…
Birdwatch birders’ awards
Birdwatch magazine has excelled itself in this year’s Birders’ awards. There are 10 categories in which you can vote (whether you consider yourself a birder or not). I can imagine the voting being pretty close in some categories – in particular the ‘Guano Award for Environmental Harm’ category. The four ‘contenders’ are the Countryside Alliance,…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
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Mark writes: welcome back Ralph! I hope you’ve had a wildlife-rich, low-carbon, break.