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Guest blog – Volunteers in the Conservation Sector (4) by Louise Bacon

Mark Comments Off on Guest blog – Volunteers in the Conservation Sector (4) by Louise Bacon

A year ago, Mark published my first guest blog on volunteering, where we mused on the monetary value of volunteers, and how this was appreciated or valued within conservation charities. There was much comment, and I was actually congratulated by a couple of senior NGO managers on raising the issue, or maybe simply on sticking…

Guest blog – Hope and what we do by Jean-Luc Solandt

Mark 1 Comment

Jean-Luc Solandt is a marine biologist struggling to get out of a policy expert. He worked on coral reef ecology for 15 years, providing diving survey data for the creation of Marine Protected Areas. He’s been working in the UK at the Marine Conservation Society for over 15 years on developing networks of MPAs, making…

So, why do you want to be Secretary of State for DEFRA?

Mark 12 Comments

The strong rumours are that we will see a new Secretary of State at DEFRA very soon after a ‘We’re pretending that we’ve done Brexit’ reshuffle. If so, we’ll never know what Theresa Villiers might have done because she hasn’t done much of note so far except make an awful speech at the Oxford Farming…

Brian Leecy – Short-toed Eagle

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Mark writes: Brian photographed this Short-toed Eagle in Spain in September last year as it was planning to cross the Straits of Gibraltar towards Africa. I thought it was a very striking image and loved the look in those big yellow eyes, and the angle that the tail was held. Look too at the underwing;…

Tim Melling – Thomas’s Pika

Mark Comments Off on Tim Melling – Thomas’s Pika

Tim writes: Thomas’s Pika (Ochotona thomasi) is yet another mammal with barely any published photographs.  It is a Chinese endemic, being restricted to isolated forested peaks within a relatively small area.  It was only described new to science in 1948 but that was mainly due to its similarity to other Pika species.  In fact we…

Big Garden Birdwatch 2020

Mark 10 Comments

I’ve done mine: Red Kite – 1 – low over the garden and looking down (I’m counting it!) Jackdaw – 4 Starling – 9 House Sparrow -12 Chaffinch – 8 Goldfinch – 6 Blue Tit – 3 Great Tit – 1 Dunnock – 1 Magpie -1 Collared Dove – 2 Wood Pigeon – 1 Bullfinch…

An interesting petition

Mark 6 Comments

This is, as it says, a petition to save the last known nesting site for Turtle Doves in Rye, Sussex. It’s worth signing even though loss of nest sites is not the most important thing affecting Turtle Doves across the UK. This very rapidly declining species is almost certainly declining because of intense farming rather…