A new scientific paper on the human health impacts of lead ingestion from gamebirds shot with lead has recently been published. This study uses measured levels of lead in gamebirds on sale in the UK to estimate health impacts. Perhaps the most striking proposed impact is that for children, eating lead-shot gamebirds around once a…
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
Taking mud to Essex
Last week Environment Secretary Owen Paterson launched work on Europe’s largest man-made wetland nature reserve – at least so say the RSPB and Crossrail whereas Defra is noticeably silent on the matter. Luckily, there is photographic evidence of the event. In an amazingly complex and difficult project, for which the RSPB’s Chief Executive Mike Clarke…
Shot partridges
Today sees the publication of Dick Potts’s book on partridges. I have reviewed the book for Birdwatch so you’ll have to wait to see that for my overall assessment. But I was interested to see that lead shot came up in the index a few times. I hadn’t realised that partridges sometimes suffer from accidental…
Leading the way
Do you remember that the Shooting Times were given a copy of a WWT Council paper on their position on lead ammunition back in the spring? As I said at the time, it’s hardly surprising that a nature conservation organisation is against the use of a type of ammunition that poisons some of its victims…
A young eagle’s lingering death
I usually stick to one blog each day but this story is just so striking and so horrific that it demands publicity. Here is the link to the RSPB press release. You may have to read the release a few times before you can quite believe it.
What’s in a name? Where is the movement?
Your votes in the poll on your preferred future name for the RSPB show you to be a pretty conservative bunch – no surprises there. Almost two thirds of the 600+ votes were for ‘no change’ with the remainder of the votes split more or less equally between a name that would stick to birds…
Children’s Eyes on Earth
You have a few days to vote in this international photographic competition for children and young people up to the age of 17. Voting closes at midnight on 25 September but why not vote now, otherwise you’ll forget won’t you? There are 50 photographs from around the world and some of them are stunning –…
Ralph Underhill cartoon
I’m pleased to announce that each Saturday the Standing up for Nature blog will now feature the work of talented cartoonist Ralph Underhill. Feel free to comment and to suggest future subjects for Ralph’s pen.
Are you game?
The Spanish Agency on Food Safety and Nutrition has looked at the human health risks associated with use of lead shot in hunting. I guess Spaniards eat quite a bit more game than you and I, and that hunters eat more than non-hunters do. If you are an Andalucian game-hunter (and I guess you are…
Benefits
‘Tory MPs press Osborne on benefits‘ was a headline on the FT website on Tuesday evening, referring to the wish of some Conservative MPs to cut benefits in order to reduce government spending. Apparently the linking of benefits to inflation could be changed to a link to earningsbut only over the Liberal Democrats’ bodies –…