Dear Steve Thank you for your response to my open letter and it was good to see you briefly at the Bird Fair on Friday – wasn’t it fun!? And congratulations on the Skydancer project winning the Heritage Lottery Award vote in the education category. Very good news and an indication of the high level…
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
In case you missed them…
Three snippets: Jim Dixon is to leave his post as Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park at the end of the year to pursue a portfolio career in writing, consultancy and non-executive directorships. I wish Jim all the best in his new career as he is a former colleague, a nice guy and…
Guest Blog – a reply on Hen Harriers and grouse shooting from the Chair of RSPB Council
Professor Steve Ormerod is Chair of RSPB Council and Professor of Ecology in Cardiff School of Biosciences. Here he replies to an open letter from me that was posted on 4 June where I asked the RSPB to clarify its position on the Hen Harrier and grouse shooting issue. I’m grateful to Steve for his…
The ibis has landed – almost…
This summer, a pair of Glossy Ibises built a nest at the RSPB nature reserve at Frampton Marsh – the first recorded nesting attempt by this species in the UK. The pair did not go on to raise young but this is a sign of things to come. RSPB Senior Sites Manager John Badley said:…
Only 362 days until the next Bird Fair.
Well, that’s another Bird Fair of sun, rain, ice-creams, beer, books, binoculars, holidays, talks, friends, colleagues, queues and friendship. But it’s also the first one where Hen Harrier Day t-shirts were almost everywhere except on a very scantily clad lady who strolled through the food area. What are things coming to? Sunday was a quieter…
Oscar Dewhurst – Red-bellied Macaws
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Oscar writes: Red-bellied Macaws were also common at Los Amigos Biological Research Station. These flew past the canopy tower at about head height every evening, sometimes very close to the tower! Nikon D300s, Nikon 600mm f4 AFS-II
Bird Fair Day 2
The winner of the Fair to Nature farming award was unveiled at breakfast at the Bird Fair today and it was…drumroll….Graham Birch. Congratulations to him and to the two Highly Commended farmers (Ian Crabtree and Charles Porter)(click here for details). Thank you to Fair to Nature (formerly known as Conservation Grade) for a free breakfast,…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Ralph writes: if we are going to succeed at tackling big problems like climate change and raptor persecution we need to understand that people are influenced by their emotions and values. Humans as a species are not fact-processing machines and we need to adapt our approaches with this in mind – for more information see…
Bird Fair Day 1
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Well, that just shot past. I missed the opening ceremony. I gave half a talk and Tristan Reid gave the other half – it seemed to add up to a proper talk in the end. A lady was emotional about the fact that Turtle Doves had not turned up in her village this year –…
The book to buy at the Bird Fair
This morning I am talking about Passenger Pigeons in a double act with Tristan Reid in the Main Event Marquee at 1100 (until 1145). Come and listen to the tale of the Passenger Pigeon and what it signifies for us today in a countryside which is losing its farmland birds – and another pigeon, the…