I count the author of this book as a friend and therefore you might want to discount all the good things I am going to write about his excellent book – please don’t do that. Professor Andrew Balmford FRS is one of just a handful of UK academics who understands nature conservation through doing it,…
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Reshuffling the cards
Let us start by wishing Caroline Spelman well and thanking her for being a champion of biodiversity during her time at Defra. The outgoing Secretary of State did a good job on international biodiversity protection – and was notable for her own personal successes at the Nagoya meeting. Spelman lacked charisma and had the air…
Book signings
At the beginning of the Bird Fair weekend I had never done a book signing – but by the end I had done 10. You might imagine that this involves a team of helpers marshalling the eager crowds of expectant book-purchasers into an orderly queue whilst the author pens witticisms in the title pages of…
Fancy a new job?
A little bird tells me that Songbird Survival is looking for a Chief Executive to work a few days a week running the charity. The little bird seemed to have this on very reliable authority so I attempted to ask Songbird Survival through their website for details and an application form as I may have…
What’s in a name? New Poll.
In Chapter 15 of Fighting for Birds I ponder the future of the RSPB and that leads me on to wonder whether it is time to change the name of the organisation. The RSPB is searching for a Fundraising and Communications Director, a new post combining two existing roles, and whoever is successful in that…
Saturday 7
I’ll tell you what day it is. On this day, 98 years ago, at 1pm local time, 6pm (I think) UK time, there was a dull thud in Cincinnati. The last passenger pigeon in the world, called Martha by her keepers in Cincinnati Zoo, had died and fallen off her perch. It was the end…
Saturday 6
You do know what day it is don’t you? In my ‘political birder’ column in this month’s Birdwatch magazine I discuss whether nature conservationists should be causing a few more problems for the fieldsports community in response to the lack of hen harriers, buzzardgate and the call to put goosander and cormorant on the general…
Saturday 5
You do know what day it is, don’t you? What has been in the news recently? There was ‘Buzzardgate’ (see here, here, here and here for example) back in May, but if Fighting for Birds had been published by then you would have known that it was coming. I wrote as follows on page 210:…
Saturday 4
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This photograph was taken in the Lake District, in Keswick actually, a few weeks ago. Note the name of the shop. It has nothing to do with my book, Fighting for Birds, which you could buy now by clicking here. You do know what day it is, don’t you?
Saturday 3
I have a column in Wild Travel magazine which is a new magazine about travel and wildlife. The second issue is now out and my column takes a look at the wonders of animal migration. Wild Travel comes out six times a year and is now priced at £3.99. I bought my copy in WHSmith….