Today a joint campaign is launched by over 50 nature conservation groups – please give it a great start by signing this petition right now: https://bit.ly/3kjLIsX Unless, of course, you trust the Westminster government to deliver for wildlife without being harried, prodded and poked at every opportunity – personally I don’t trust them and…
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
Press release – the Curlew Recovery Partnership
The Curlew Recovery Partnership is a new, exciting and transformative initiative, bringing together all those with an interest in Curlew conservation, including land managers, farmers, gamekeepers, policymakers and researchers. They are joining forces to help secure the future of one of England’s most iconic and threatened species, the Eurasian Curlew. Urgent action is needed. The…
Sunday book review – Regeneration by Andrew Painting
This book introduces a strong voice in nature writing to the world. This is Andrew Painting’s first book and it is a cracker. Painting works for the National Trust for Scotland at Mar Lodge Estate in the Cairngorms. This book is about the very long-term regeneration of habitats and wildlife that are underway, and are…
Tim Melling – What do Spotted Flycatchers eat?
Tim writes: while photographing Ring Ouzels in the Crowden Valley I was distracted by the sound of this Spotted Flycatcher snapping its beak as it tried to catch an insect. Now you can guess what Flycatchers eat as the clue is in the name, and even its scientific name Muscicapa means flycatching. So I had…
Jane V. Adams – Mercury Rising
Jane is a naturalist, photographer and nature writer living in Dorset. Her work has appeared in books, anthologies and blogs for charities such as The Wildlife Trusts and the International Bee Research Association. When she’s not exploring Dorset’s lanes and countryside she can be found lying on her stomach watching insects in her garden. Jane…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Guest blog – Eco-impacts of badger culling, by Tom Langton
Tom Langton is an ecological consultant who has helped small organisations and individuals find free and low cost ecological advice and representation for legal cases over the last 15 years. These include many civil and criminal trials, with action for horseshoe bats in the Forest of Dean, damselflies, fish and rivers in New Forest and…
Lead shot lack of progress
On Wednesday a paper was published showing that, so far, nothing has changed in lead ammunition use – see here. Report in the BBC – click here and listen to BBC Inside Science – click here about half way through. Report in the Telegraph – see here. The GWCT take it on the chin (and…
Press release – Trees for Life on Beavers
Legal challenge to Scottish Government’s beaver killing policy can proceed says Scottish Court of Session Scotland’s supreme civil court has given Trees for Life permission to challenge the Scottish Government’s beaver killing policy through a judicial review. The rewilding charity says the Government’s nature agency NatureScot is breaking the law by failing to make the…
An interesting/dull and important/unimportant paper published today
This paper was published today and sometime soon it will be available free online, but at the moment the ‘free’ bit hasn’t kicked in. I have a copy of the paper sent to me by the BTO, and also by Natural England, so I’ve read it all (but don’t have access to the supplementary material…