This is a novel about nature, nature conservation and nature conservationists. It is a cracking tale and I read the book’s 440 pages pretty quickly in order to find out what happened in the lives of the main protagonists and in the natural world around them. We move from behavioural ecologists in Oxford to seabird…
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
Were you listening?
This blog is slightly about last week’s ‘announcement’ on new farming schemes in England that was made at the Oxford Farming Conference, but actually it is rather more about what people said about it. It’s more a listeners’ guide to what was said, than about what’s actually happening. The reason for that is partly because…
Sunday book review – Wild Waters by Susanne Masters
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This is a book for those who like swimming in the sea, lakes and rivers and might be interested in the wildlife that they come across, rather than a guide to aquatic life for the naturalist. On that basis I think it does a good job and works well. For those who plunge literally headlong…
Guest blog – Natural England and Hen Harriers by ‘One who knows’
A lot is written about Hen Harriers and upland issues. It is nice to talk about the positives, but the article that Patrick Barkham wrote for the Guardian on the 4 December 2021 was a strange piece indeed. I would have been less surprised had the article been written by the cheerleaders for grouse shooting,…
Dear Mr Pursglove
I’ve written to my MP, Tom Pursglove, a few times about the donations he received from Alexander Termerko (see here, here, here). And so I was very interested to see this video about Termerko, Aquind and donations to the Conservative Party – apparently my MP is simply one of 34 Conservative MPs to have received…
Guest blog – Gull rescue as a non-lethal solution to conflicts, an update by Kevin Newell
I am Kevin Newell owner and founder of Humane Wildlife Solutions we are Europe’s only non-lethal, ethical, environmentally-friendly alternative to pest control. We help businesses and individuals all over Europe find solutions to wildlife conflicts without causing harm to the wildlife or the environment in the process. In November 2020 I told you of a…
Press release – New UK Red List for birds: more than one in four species in serious trouble
New UK Red List for birds: more than one in four species in serious trouble The UK Red List for birds now stands at 70 species, a net increase of three from the last update in 2015. Swift, House Martin, Greenfinch and Bewick’s Swan added to the UK Red List, a growing list of birds…
This blog’s Books of the Year, 2021
Since my last Books of the Year review I have reviewed a further 50 books – it’s a record! Since these Books of the Year reviews are timed to come out to inform your Christmas book buying there are a few books which were published in 2020 that appear in this list but let’s still…
Stephen Moss’s 2021 Round-up of Nature books.
Stephen Moss is a naturalist, author and course leader of the MA Travel & Nature Writing at Bath Spa University. This year he published Skylarks with Rosie: A Somerset Spring (Saraband) and The Swan: A Biography, (Square Peg). Here is his annual round-up of books about wildlife, nature and the environment. @stephenmoss_tv [Mark writes: where…
Press release – Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust and the future of the Birdfair
Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust regret to announce that they will no longer run the annual Rutland Water Birdfair Over the past 31 years, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT), supported by our hardworking staff, volunteers and members, has been proud to run Birdfair, the foremost and internationally-renowned bird-watching, wildlife and conservation event. Working with…