Peter Marren is friend of mine (although I haven’t clapped eyes on him for ages) and I have favourably reviewed several of his books here in the past (The Consolation of Nature, with Jeremy Mynott and Michael McCarthy, Chasing the Ghost, Where the Wild Thyme Blew, Rainbow Dust) and so it might not come as…
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John Burton 1944 – 2022
John Burton passed away at his home in Suffolk on Sunday morning. I’ve known John mostly through the World Land Trust with which I’ve been connected for over a decade as a council member, a trustee and latterly as chair of trustees. John’s association with WLT is far longer and far more personal as he…
Sunday book review – Field Guide to Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises by Mark Carwardine
I went to a talk at the 2018 Bird Fair by the author when he talked about the preparation of this book – and now here it is. It’s a fine field guide. And it really is a field guide – a slim volume that can easily be pocketed in a coat and brought out…
Sunday book review – Peak District by Penny Anderson
This is a standard New Naturalist – a series of books that doesn’t feel very new, or at all ground-breaking these days. Penny Anderson gives a workpersonlike account of the wildlife and ecology of this area, mostly a National Park, and the habitats it includes. There is mention of raptor persecution. Hen Harrier appears in…
That exemption from covid regulations for grouse shooting – remember?
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BBS1
It was a bit of a dull day when I did my first visit to one of my two Breeding Bird Survey squares – the sun came out a bit later. But an early morning stroll recording birds cannot ever be dull, can it? I was hopeful that I might add Cattle gret to the…
Today at 10:30 – Skydancer Day ’22
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Robert Gillmor – 1936 – 2022
Robert Gillmor, one of Britain’s best known and most loved wildlife artists passed away yesterday, aged 85 (birthday, 6 July). Gillmor’s work is familiar to many generations of professional and amateur naturalists – many of us grew up with it. His clear lines, tasteful composition and love of species with bold patterns make his work…
Sunday book review – Children of the Anthropocene by Bella Lack
This is a book written by an 18-year-old environmentalist – and it’s being reviewed here by a 64-year-old environmentalist. Forty-six years ago there weren’t books of this sort written by undergraduates and I’m very glad that I didn’t have one published then because I suspect that it would be an embarrassing read with the benefit…
BBC Radio 4 Today dips into the environment
I listen to the Today programme a lot – I’m awake at those hours and I’m interested in politics and current affairs. I sometimes wince at the tone and content of their environmental coverage. If this programme had the same standards of challenge and enquiry on environmental matters as it does on sometimes trvial events…