Wild food (2) – Mackerel by Ian Carter

The summer and autumn months bring Mackerel shoals close inshore around much of our coastline. They are like miniature tuna and roam the seas in hungry packs looking for baitfish, snapping voraciously at anything that moves – even a brief pause for reflection would result in the loss of a meal to the other fish…

Wild food (1) – Chanterelles by Ian Carter

We read a lot these days about the benefits of connecting with nature and I’ve yet to find a better way of connecting with it than by finding, collecting and eating it. This very simple act really does change our relationship with wildlife in a way that’s hard to explain to those who haven’t yet…

Guest blog – Hen Harrier reintroduction by Ian Carter

Ian Carter has worked as an ornithologist for more than 25 years. He was involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme in England and has a keen interest in the conservation of raptors, bird reintroductions and wildlife management more generally. He is particularly interested in human attitudes towards wildlife and the complex ways in which…

Sunday book review – What Good are Birds by Antonio Sandoval Rey

  Reviewed by Ian Carter Not What Birds are Good? as I initially thought having misread the title but What Good are Birds?, a somewhat broader and altogether more interesting question. His initial answer (to an inquisitorial family passing his regular sea-watching spot in Galicia, north-west Spain) was rather good I thought – ‘for flying’…

Guest blog – State of Nature by Ian Carter

Ian Carter has worked as an ornithologist for more than 25 years. He was involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme in England and has a keen interest in the conservation of raptors, bird reintroductions and wildlife management more generally. He is particularly interested in what might be called the culture of nature conservation and…