This – click here – is an interesting chat with Prof Paul Racey who was my PhD supervisor many years ago. He’s a great guy, was a very good mentor to me and has done an awful lot for bat conservation and bat science over the years. Amongst some reminiscences (which I’m afraid include my…
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Research in Cumbria explores how fungal networks shape upland treescapes
New scientific research in Cumbria explores how hidden fungal networks shape treescapes in the UK’s uplands Cumbria Connect, the landscape-scale nature recovery programme, has secured new funding for its science programme to investigate how underground fungal networks influence the success of woodland creation in Cumbria’s upland landscapes, at a time of unprecedented national ambition to…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbine 15 of CEP (240 MW) by Nick MacKinnon
Nick MacKinnon is a freelance teacher of Maths, English and Medieval History, and lives above Haworth, in the last inhabited house before Top Withens = Wuthering Heights. In 1992 he founded the successful Campaign to Save Radio 4 Long Wave while in plaster following a rock-climbing accident on Skye. His poem ‘The metric system’ won…
RSPB – Capercaillies at Abernethy Forest
Boost for one of the UK’s rarest birds at key site The RSPB has revealed a promising increase in the number of Capercaillie at RSPB Abernethy in Scotland with 30 lekking males recorded in 2025, a 50% increase since 2020. The Capercaillie was once more widely spread across the UK but is now confined to native pinewood forests of Scotland where their total population is estimated at 532 birds. The…
Rare Pennine wading bird given boost as RSPB survey reveals Dunlin breeding success
Rare Pennine wading bird given boost as RSPB survey reveals Dunlin breeding success First-ever large-scale survey reveals rare Dunlin still breeding across the North Pennines, offering new hope for a declining species. RSPB-led project uses technology – including drones, cameras and acoustic recorders – to uncover hidden upland bird populations. Partnership conservation delivers results, with Dunlin chicks…
Ben Goldsmith to write Reform nature policies.
Well, this will be interesting – Ben Goldsmith will be advising Reform on its nature policies according to the Guardian – click here. Ben is a true, but quirky, friend of nature and Reform’s environmental policies were laughable at the last general election – click here. Clearly, if Reform were to challenge for power at…
RSPB – Gamekeeper pleads guilty in Hen Harrier persecution case
Gamekeeper pleads guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case On 29 January at York Magistrates Court Racster Dingwall – a head gamekeeper on the Conistone and Grassington Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park – pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Hen Harrier. Footage and sound recordings obtained lawfully by the RSPB’s Investigations team were…
Guest blog – Gullwing Hour by James Gilbert
James is a freelance ecologist and Chartered Environmentalist, presently living in Northamptonshire, always out in nature and sometimes writing about his observations and wildlife encounters. Gullwing Hour No sooner has the sun dipped below the ash-wood skyline, does a broad whiteish tide of gulls come into view; v-shape-drifting, pylon-high, silent wave upon wave…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbine 30 by Nick Mackinnon
Nick MacKinnon is a freelance teacher of Maths, English and Medieval History, and lives above Haworth, in the last inhabited house before Top Withens = Wuthering Heights. In 1992 he founded the successful Campaign to Save Radio 4 Long Wave while in plaster following a rock-climbing accident on Skye. His poem ‘The metric system’ won…
Guest blog – Is this a mole trap I see before me by Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons spent most of his career in public service serving as the UK Food Standards Agency’s Veterinary Director (2004-2007) and the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer (2007-2015). He is the current chair of the Zoological Society of London’s Ethics Committee on Animal Research and a member of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee. He…