There is lots of cow parsley in flower by the roadsides at the moment. As a hopeless botanist – or plant-identifier – I like cow parsley because I usually recognise it and know what it is. Cow Parsley has a variety of other names – like most of our plants, it seems. The nicest, which…
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
The final curtsey and a dead eagle
If Glenmazeran is indeed Richard Benyon’s place in the Highlands then I’ve just come across an interesting story from there in last year’s book, The Final Curtsey, written by Margaret Rhodes, the Queen’s cousin. Margaret, used to pop up to Glenmazeran for a spot of fishing and shooting as any gel would. On the way…
Pheasants, buzzards and Defra
Yesterday, I was supposed to be thinking about pheasants as I am writing a fantastically interesting article about them for a well-known and excellent wildlife magazine. And following the disclosure of Defra’s wrong-headed plans to pour £375k of taxpayers’ money into a study of how to allow more pheasants to be shot and fewer to…
Buzzards
The news that Defra is going to spend £375,000 on looking at how to reduce buzzard impacts on pheasants shows how deeply this department has now fallen into the hands of the shooting brigade. I have no doubt that buzzards take a few pheasants but why a government department is spending my taxes (and yours,…
Wuthering Moors 16
Here is the full response which I have received from Natural England in response to my request for information about the ‘Walshaw Moor Affair’ (see 15 previous blogs, all tagged with ‘wuthering’, the first of which is listed here). I will comment on this later in the week. But there are some very interesting passages…
A condor lead moment
American nature conservationists are campaigning to remove lead ammunition from the environment because it poisons species such as swans, eagles and California condors. They argue that non-toxic shot alternatives should be used. They also say that use of lead ammunition risks the health of people, particularly children, if they ingest tiny fragments of lead from…
Harriers
Following my blog on Thursday I did phone the NE helpline to ask where I could find the information promised by their Minister, Richard Benyon, in his Parliamentary reply (see Thursday’s blog to catch up on this subject – and read the comments there too). The people I spoke to were very helpful and mentioned…
Bits, some bits
went to London on the train from Peterborough on Thursday and saw 3 cuckoos got a reply from NE re Walshaw Moor – will blog later this week spent ages on Friday evening looking at a lone wader in vegetation and gloomy light wondering whether it was a Temminck stint – and it wasn’t, it…
Really wild?
Comments Off on Really wild?
This new magazine is available in WH Smith, all good newsagents and Sainsbury’s (I bought my copy in Wellingborough Sainsbury’s). I bought it because I have a column in it – flick through to page 21 please – but then read it because it’s a really good read about nature at home and abroad. You’ll…
Guest Blog Don’t shoot! – by Giles Bradshaw.
Giles Bradshaw owns a small farm near Exmoor. He campaigns for the law to be changed to allow for non-lethal dispersal of wildlife using dogs and for a wide-ranging ban on cruelty to wildlife. A gamekeeper was recently prosecuted for breaking the Hunting Act near Spalding. The court heard that he was found using…