Good haul of hazenuts yesterday. And lucked into these perfect field mushrooms on the way home. The heather-clad slopes of Bengairn as a backdrop.

You spend all July and August looking for one (without success) and then hit the jackpot in late September. This wing was all on its own in woodland so not sure what happened to the bird. Eerily, Jays were screeching from the trees as I took the photo.

Press statement from Police Scotland 🔽 #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #BirdingScotland #Ornithology raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/24/r...

My thoughts on Wild Galloway by Ian Carter and published by Whittles Publishing. Thank you to them for sending me a copy to read halfmanhalfbook.co.uk/review/wild-...

Still a few tickets for this event at Wigtown Book Festival next Wednesday. Talking all things wildlife and conservation in Galloway with Polly Pullar. Wind turbines, Sitka Spruce, Red Kites, open access and more. Plus my take on trying to stay positive, despite everything.

This has received no publicity but is damning. A clear explanation of why this type of reintroduction is not just a distraction and a waste of resources but is ACTIVELY HARMFUL to conservation. Environmental journalists please note and please publicise. operationturtledove.org/captive-rele...

I wrote an essay on non-fiction and truth for The Author, in which I talk about Capote, Graves and Durrell before concluding that writers just need to stop being full of shit.

Cautionary commentary from Peak District environmentalist Bob Berzins. raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/16/g...

A good crop of Yew berries this year, much enjoyed by wild birds and mammals. All parts of the tree are toxic to humans EXCEPT the flesh of the berries (always spit out the toxic ‘pip’). A sweet taste and pleasingly gooey texture. We’ll worth trying.

Very pleased to see a review of ‘Just Earth’ from Mark Avery. Mark has been involved with all these tricky ecological subjects for about as long as I have, so good to have his thoughts on this book (which was quite hard to write, although hopefully not hard to read) markavery.info/2025/08/31/s...

A birdless ‘Wildlife reports’ in the current BW, and I’ve checked 5 (make that 6) times. Read through the molluscs section twice by way of compensation but its not quite the same.

Excellent opportunity to join the @naturambyth.bsky.social team in NW #Wales with @rspbcymru.bsky.social. They work on some fantastic sites on #YnysMon #Anglesey and #Llyn, on some brilliant species: Curlew, Chough, Large Mason Bee, Geyer's Whorl Snail... app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

Sat down to eat my sandwiches and this popped out of the nearest rock. On the north side of the Solway, looking across to Cumbria. Undeniably cute even if we’d be better off without them.

It's so great, finally, to see a reviewer from the conservation sector acknowledge that although there is harm to natural life from recreation, it is utterly dwarfed by the harm due to land use and the levers pulled by those who own and control who gets to access or develop land.

All part of the same social group but that doesn’t count for much when the nuts are running out.

All part of the same social group but that doesn’t count for much when the nuts are running out.

Incredible footage of Goshawk predating Hobby chick. Will likely return 😬 - watch live here: www.youtube.com/live/MJaRwj4... #birds #ukbirds #ornithology Web cam by the amazing Wildlife Windows www.wildlifewindows.co.uk

There’s a maternity roost of pipistrelles (both species) in the roof and we get the odd interloper that finds its way inside. This one at least was easy to catch and release - next clip.

It's the Inglorious 12th. The start of the Red Grouse shooting season. Grouse shooting: an expensive niche hobby of shooting birds for fun, based on environmentally damaging burning of our uplands and underpinned by crime against wildlife. Shame!

Second brood from this nest, almost ready to go. Very tolerant of the intrusion. Until they weren’t. Adults calling in the background. Loads of insects around this year so both Swallows and House Martins have done well locally.

Compelling arguments made for re-wetting the moors instead of setting fire to them. raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/08/10/g...

@parthianbooks.bsky.social really enjoyed this book by Carly Holmes. Her love of her local wildlife and the Teifi valley is very engaging. I hope it gets wide publicity.

1 October for my slot, tickets available on the festival website. Loads of good stuff this year, including plenty on the environment. Well worth a look.

Noticing what is likely to be a great #Nature read (and purchased!) based on previous books by Ian and a great upcoming event in #Wigtown #BookFestival #Galloway #Dumfries @iancarter67.bsky.social

Faint whiff of smoke in the garden today (Galloway, west coast). No obvious fires anywhere close. And then I read that smoke from Canadian wildfires is now affecting Western Europe, I presumed just at high altitude. Could some also be at low level? Anyone else had the same experience today?

My nature memoir, Land Beneath the Waves, is on sale with a discount from Blackwells at the moment. They'll deliver worldwide for free too and have books in stock ready to go... @summersdalebooks.bsky.social #lifewriting #naturewriting #chronicillness

Just received my review copy of Renaturing by James Canton. Interesting title & hopefully interesting content, I'm reviewing it for the @britishwildlife.bsky.social newsletter. Sign up for it! @irishrainforest.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @nicwilson.bsky.social @rewildscotland.bsky.social

This is finally out! Joe @joeharkness.bsky.social is a class act. Buy his book. Or wait for my review in @newscientist.com - out soon! - and then buy several copies of his book.

An excellent review. The first I’ve seen to appreciate that this book has a clear agenda from the outset. Most readers have fallen for the ‘fair and balanced’ line in the blurb. Not Sam Hackney: www.britishwildlife.com/uncommon-gro...

They’ll soon be flying over a garden they don’t yet know exists, though the nest is just a few inches from the window.

Lovely big Holt Bookshop 5th birthday celebration next weekend, for anyone in North Norfolk 🦉

After a few false starts this has finally been published. A two year love affair with a Galloway glen and an introduction to the wildlife that lives here. From the elusive Red Grouse of the high tops to the swarms of Common Scoter out in the Solway. And everything in between.

Four adult breeding Hen Harriers 'vanished' from nest sites in Cumbria & Lancashire in May 2025 - silence from police, valiant conservation efforts from RSPB staff & volunteers. RSPB press release & some questions from me 🔽 #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/07/24/h...

The dark line is a Badger path. The lawn was wildflower meadow and so little light reached the ground. Now it has been cut the dead, yellow grass is revealed. But where the Badgers cross they trample the long grass letting light down to the ground. Worth looking out for in recently cut fields.

New on the blog! Read a sample chapter of The Merlin by Frank Rennie, due for publication at the end of this month 📖 Take a look 👀 ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/4znydmxb #merlin #falcon #raptor #ornithology #ecology #conservation

Learn more about Rhythms of Nature and what readers have thought about the book 📖 Take a look 👀➡️ https://tinyurl.com/jmpsawdk #rhythmsofnature #naturewriting #naturalhistory #wildlife #wellbeing #wilderness #ornithology #nowinpaperback

The dark line is a Badger path. The lawn was wildflower meadow and so little light reached the ground. Now it has been cut the dead, yellow grass is revealed. But where the Badgers cross they trample the long grass letting light down to the ground. Worth looking out for in recently cut fields.

One of those books that you ease into slowly, but builds as you read on. As you begin to tune into his stories and understand how they illustrate wider truths about life in a troubled world, in troubled times. As you read about what we can (and must) do to effect change. Beautifully done.

Next-book news.

Nice review of my book Of the Trees and the Birds in Scottish Forestry Journal... I'll take 'Packhamesque' as a compliment! @markavery.bsky.social @chrisgpackham.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @irishrainforest.bsky.social @nicwilson.bsky.social @iand777.bsky.social @rewildscotland.bsky.social

Cheap as chips, in paperback, from today. A book about the under-explored, under-rated, rarely discussed, endlessly surprising expanse of land between Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon, and the five years I spent getting to know it. The joys and, just occasionally, the darker aspects.

No mention of the disease risks. Or the welfare concerns of releasing birds into places that don’t suit them. This is pretend conservation, dressed up as the real thing and given a free ride by a serious environmental journalist. Hugely damaging. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Cheap as chips, in paperback, from today. A book about the under-explored, under-rated, rarely discussed, endlessly surprising expanse of land between Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon, and the five years I spent getting to know it. The joys and, just occasionally, the darker aspects.

Thrilled by this fabulous review of LIFELINES in the TLS and to be sharing a page with the brilliant @wildtwin.bsky.social! www.the-tls.com/world/travel...

Contents of a few pellets from our local Barn Owl nest, showing that variety isn’t everything when it comes to diet. It’s nothing but Field Voles.

Unexpected find in the garden yesterday. The first in over 3 years here. Struggling to get much traction on the paving slabs, then sliding away into one of the crack between them, threading itself down into the moss and soil.

Anyone got a video of a hare having the shit scared out of it by a curlew — ah, don’t worry, got one anyway!

No mention of the disease risks. Or the welfare concerns of releasing birds into places that don’t suit them. This is pretend conservation, dressed up as the real thing and given a free ride by a serious environmental journalist. Hugely damaging. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I’m with @histassoc.bsky.social tonight talking all about how birds have been shaping and transforming our relationships with place for a very long time. Old places and old ways. Come join! Online, free, 19:30: www.history.org.uk/events/calen.... #thecuckooslea #naturewriting

@iancarter67.bsky.social Wild Galloway is a very interesting and engaging read. I got a real sense of place, the history and the wildlife in it. Enjoyed it so much have bought another of Ian’s books, Red Kite Year.