It was a dreary morning and I felt a bit grumpy as I made my way past Birmingham on the M42 heading south. It was rainy and drizzly and the traffic was difficult. I was surprised to see snow on the Malverns to my right and not at all surprised that I could hardly make…
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
Costs and benefits in Wonderland
I am still waiting for a copy of the letters that my MP, Louise Mensch, should by now have sent to the Treasury and Defra asking for the evidence from HMT that the Habitats Regulations are a brake on the UK economy (and Defra’s response to the fact that I intend to make a complaint…
Sunday bits and pieces
I think I delivered some quite thoughtful blogs to you this week, even if I say it myself (which I just have), and all of them attracted great comments from you readers – for which many thanks. I get a lot from your comments and I am certain that it is the mixture of blog…
Boffins – for or against?
Italy finally persuaded Berlusconi to sling his hook and instead brought in a technocratic government of experts. With wildlife in a sorry state in the UK would you like to see some Ministers in charge of the natural environment who know what they are talking about? Well, the fact is, that you already have them…
Badgers – slow Paice
On Wednesday, Defra announced their next slow pace towards a large amount of badger-bothering. What they said wasn’t very much and wasn’t very clear. It seems that some time in the autumn, that’s autumn 2012, there will be a six-week trial of farmer-led badger killing in two ‘pilot’ areas of southwest England which are yet…
Gonshaw, gone for sure.
Matthew Gonshaw is in prison again for stealing birds’ eggs. On Tuesday he was convicted of stealing and possessing eggs which included those of golden eagles, ospreys and avocets. Over 700 eggs were found in his east London home in Bow. This is the fourth time that Gonshaw has been jailed for similar offences. Rather…
Jim Paice doesn’t make stewardship pledge to taxpayers
The Defra Agriculture Minister James Paice told his fellow farmers that he wanted them to be able to opt out of their current agri-environment agreements if CAP reform changed the rules. This seems fair enough to me. I can’t quickly find his words on the Defra website but the Farmers Weekly report them here. Mr…
The third warming
It’s an old saying that wood warms you twice – once when you chop it up and again when you burn it. But the evidence is strong now that it warms you three times. We had a load of seasoned timber delivered the other day and moving it in a wheel barrow to a dry…
Burgundy? Glass half empty
It has been a cold weekend, although mine has been warmed by a rather lucky profit at Cheltenham racecourse (my winning bet came as a result of the leader falling at the last hurdle – but there is just as little point in apologising for fortuitous wins as railing against ‘unlucky’ losses) and by the…
Talking naturally
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You might like to listen to this podcast of a chat between Charlie Moores, Tristan Reid, Nick Moran and myself. It’s about 50 minutes long and it was great fun to record last Tuesday. How the CLA saved the bittern (Ha Ha!), what you should remember when out birdwatching, where you should put your casual…