Interview – Page 6 – Hoopoe

Author Q&A with David Wege: Mammal Tracks of Europe

Author David Wege holding a feather for the camera — Author David Wege via Davidwegenature.uk

Passionate naturalist, author and illustrator David Wege has led an exciting 30-year career in international bird conservation. Now sharing the joy of tracking through teaching, he aims to encourage others to deepen their connection with the world around us.

For his latest work, he has turned his attention to mammals and has created Mammal Tracks of Europe. After rediscovering his passion for tracking, David hopes to inspire others to engage with the art through his latest work. This book includes the tracks of 72 European mammals, with detailed drawings and portraits of each species.

We recently had the chance to chat with David about how he first became interested in tracking, why he included Homo sapiens in his new mammal tracks field guide, what he’s currently working on and more.

This unique field guide features a broad selection of European mammals. What criteria did you use when choosing which species to include?

I set out with the intention of creating a mammal tracks guide that anyone could take out into the field, anywhere in Europe, and identify the tracks they were looking at. This meant including all of Europe’s larger terrestrial mammals, including the Arctic species from Scandinavia (such as Wolverine, Arctic Fox and Muskox), and the species that have ranges just into the Mediterranean countries (like Crested Porcupine and Egyptian Mongoose). So, all larger European mammals that you are likely to find tracks of are featured. Even the domesticated species that, as trackers, we often find the tracks of– such as cats, dogs, cows, sheep and Alpacas! The small mammals (such as the mice, voles and shrews) are not covered quite as well, but all species for which we have track photos are included. The end result, is a book with the tracks and trails of an incredible 72 European mammal species.

Creating a book that anyone can use meant making it accessible to people right across Europe. So, each species is represented by a small portrait of the animal; is identified by its scientific name; and its common name is given in eight European languages. As well as helping people navigate the book quickly, I think the species portraits make sure that we keep the connection between tracks and the animal that made them.

Tracking is increasing in popularity across Europe and is being used more and more as we rewild areas and reintroduce species in the region. My hope is that this guide will help encourage more people to connect with mammal tracks and engage with the conservation movement, wherever they are.

Why did you choose to include Homo sapiens in the field guide, and why were these tracks presented first?

Humans are part of nature. We’re mammals just like every other mammal in the book, so presenting ‘human’ in exactly the same way as our mammalian cousins – as Homo sapiens, a species that also makes tracks – seemed important. Connecting with nature starts with us recognising our place within it, so ‘human’ on Page 1 is a nod to our place as equals among other animal beings. There’s a practical aspect to this too. As a teacher passing on tracking knowledge to others, using our human hands and feet as a reference point for where toe pads, nails, palm pads, heels, carpal pads etc. are, is a great way for people to learn and relate to the track morphology of other mammalian beings. Human hands and feet (and the tracks they create) are a wonderful baseline against which we can start comparing the tracks of other species.

Instead of written descriptions, the field guide uses drawings as a primary aid to identification. What challenges did you face in illustrating the guide?

The guide really does have very little text and relies on drawings to do the talking – to be a graphic reference when you’re out in the field. I wanted to create precise representations of tracks for each species – to let the illustrations communicate all that was needed in a true ‘to be used in the field’ field guide. A noble desire, and easily said, but there really are many challenges. The first of which arises from the fact that no two tracks in the mud, sand, clay or snow are the same, so which one is best to illustrate? To overcome this, I ‘traced’ (electronically, on a tablet) as many track photos as possible to build up (as near as possible) a perfect average. This hopefully compensates for the vagaries of different substrates. Drawing from track photos means that those images need to be good too! They have to be taken from directly above, with not too much shadow, and with a scale or ruler in the photo. When you start drawing from photos it really makes you appreciate which are good (and useful/usable) and which are not. Once I had my ‘good‘ track photos, I started drawing– trying to keep strictly to what I was seeing in the tracks. This has hopefully resulted in illustrations that allow people to pick out the identification features that are most noticeable to them.

Another challenge is that some of the species I’ve illustrated are rare, or from parts of Europe I have not been tracking, so I have had to rely on track photos shared generously by other trackers. It is definitely harder to illustrate a track that you’ve never seen in the field yourself – it’s difficult to get a ‘feel’ for the essence of it, but I think I’ve managed to create good representations of tracks for all the mammals.

Where did your initial interest in animal tracking come from, and how did you begin your journey into this field of study?

I was totally hooked on tracking as a child when my parents gave me a book – Nature Detective by Hugh Faulkus. However, without a tracking mentor, I actively pursued my other passion of birds and birdwatching – a passion that I still have and that led me to a successful career in bird conservation with BirdLife International. Then, about ten years ago, I chanced upon a tracking mentor in John Rhyder (author of Track and Sign, and one of Europe’s foremost trackers), and have been learning from him and teaching with him ever since. We have just finished a book together titled Bird Tracks: a field guide to British species. Tracking just seems like a natural component of being in nature for me. Wandering in nature means intuitively noticing who was there, doing what and when, which birds are calling or singing, what plants are emerging or flowering (and so much more). Reading the tracks is just a part of this awareness, although I’m still learning how to balance an awareness of tracks on the ground with noticing birds up in the trees!

What will be next for you? Are there any plans for more tracking guides?

One of the many wonders of tracking (by which I mean reading and interpreting the tracks and signs that animals leave on the landscape) is that there is always more to learn. Animals constantly surprise and we’re often discovering new behaviours revealed in tracks and signs. I’m still learning but I also have the privilege of teaching the art and science of tracking to others. So, I will be spreading the tracking joy, with my book in hand, to people who can hopefully then use the skill to connect to nature, or apply their tracking skills to help monitor, conserve and restore wildlife. This book was designed as a resource for people across Europe, but I would like to see my track and trail illustrations used for local or national field guides that might then be accessible to a wider audience. Anything to help encourage nature connection through tracking.

Mammal Tracks of Europe: A Field Guide to The Tracks and Trails of European Mammals is available on our online bookstore here.

Author Q&A with Simon Barnes: How to be a Bad Botanist

An exploration of botany for beginners, How to be a Bad Botanist is a must-read that opens our eyes to the world around us. Through this charming and inspiring work, Barnes takes us on a fascinating journey on the complex nature of plants, and enthrals us with tales to help us appreciate the diversity and wonder of the natural world.

Simon is an author and journalist who has worked on a number of nature volumes, including the bestselling Bad Birdwatcher trilogy and Rewild Yourself. He is a council member of the World Land Trust, a patron of Save the Rhino and honorary vice-president of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

We recently had the opportunity to talk with Simon about how plants caught his attention, the importance of botany and how we can all learn to be Bad Botanists.

How to be a Bad Birdwatcher, published in 2004, rapidly became a birdwatching classic and this year was republished as a 20th anniversary edition. What prompted you to turn your attention to plants for your latest book?

It all began with a damascene experience on Orford Ness. This is a place where military and natural history collide. On the same visit I was able to see a Great White Egret and the casing for an atom bomb. It was, I read, about the same size as the one they dropped on Hiroshima.

My brain was somewhat scrambled by this. After a while I sat on the beach, my mind full of life and death and memories of a visit to Hiroshima, pretending that I was having a bit of a sea watch. It was then that I noticed a colony of plants. Growing in the shingle. Which is impossible. But there they were. Growing. Living. And the extraordinary way that life seeks to live, even in the most difficult circumstances, really rather got to me. These strange plants seemed to make sense of this strange, awful and wonderful place.

I worked out that the plants in question were Sea Pea, Sea Kale and Yellow Horned Poppy: and my own life was better for doing so. Soon, I would be looking at old plants with new eyes.

How to Be a Bad Botanist is a fantastic exploration into the world of plants and botany itself. Where is a good place to start for aspiring botanists?

What’s required is a subtle but drastic mental shift. After my Orford Ness moment, it was clear that plants were now something to do with me. Something personal. I was doing what I wanted aspiring birders to do when I wrote How to be a Bad Birdwatcher. Only with plants.

And the first thing I wanted to do was to be introduced. To know the name. Always the first step towards greater intimacy. So, when I saw a tree, I found myself asking, what sort of tree? I made the delightful discovery that I knew more than I thought – oak, conker, holly. It wasn’t the hardest thing in the world to learn a few more – and all at once the adventure was gathering pace.

An illustrated yellow horned poppy growing in shingle. — Yellow Horned Poppy by Cindy Lee Wright.

One of the first things that struck me about the book was how funny it is (I particularly enjoyed “my sitting was devoid of porpoise” when lamenting the lack of marine mammals spotted during a period observing the sea). Do you think humour and levity are important in providing a gateway into a topic that might originally seem highly specialist?

I’m glad you liked the porpoise joke. It’s one of those lines you know you really ought to cut, but haven’t the heart.

And yes, humour is essential. It’s essential to almost everything. Humour doesn’t compromise seriousness. Humours enriches life. There is humour in the greatest art – Ulysses, A la recherche du tempts perdu, Hamlet, The Waste Land, Metamorphoses. Humour humanises, bringing meaning and proportion to all we do. At a funeral, what touches us most deeply are funny stories from the life of a person we have lost.

Humour doesn’t make things trivial. When appropriate, humour makes things profound… in a funny sort of way.

Why do you think that botany is important and what can it bring to our lives?

Everything starts with plants. Plants are the only things that can eat the sun: the power of the sun allows them to make their own food, and that feeds everything else that lives (unless you live in a hydrothermal vent at the bottom of the sea, of course). Lions couldn’t live without plants: they just eat them at one remove.

Those of us who like nature tend to have areas of specialisation, and that’s only natural. But nature itself isn’t about separation: it’s about the way everything fits in together. You can’t really get a handle on your own specialist subject, no matter what it is, without understanding the way it’s driven by plants.

An illustrated Oak tree from How to be a Bad Botanist. Illustrated by Cindy Lee Wright.

The final chapter relates to a decline of the natural world – what more could we do to support our native wildflower populations in the UK?

The first thing to do is to look after any piece of land you have control over and make it richer and wilder. Sometimes neglect – what conservationists call “minimum intervention” – is the best policy, and it’s assiduously practiced at our place in the Broads.

The second is to support good organisations: your local county wildlife trust (and yes, there’s one for London) and the excellent Plantlife.

And after that, just show people wonderful stuff: here come the waterlilies, this pretty stuff on the riverbank is Purple Loosestrife and Hemp Agrimony, and round the next bend there’s an Aldercarr with nesting herons. By doing so, you enrich people’s lives as well as your own.

Other than buying your book, can you tell us one tip that you give to an aspiring ‘bad’ botanist?

Just look. Look, and seek a name. These days you can use phone apps like Pl@ntNet which will have a decent shot at identifying plants from flowers, leaves, even bark. But mostly it’s about that mental shift: making it personal. Last year it was a nice little yellow flower, this year it’s the first Lesser Celandine of spring and your heart can rejoice.

How to be a Bad Botanist is available to order from our online bookstore.

Q&A with Matt Larsen-Daw and Alana Scott: Celebrating 70 years of the Mammal Society

The Mammal Society, founded in 1954, is a UK charity formed to support evidence-based mammal conservation in Britain and Ireland. The Mammal Society is involved in promoting and enhancing conservation initiatives working to restore mammals and their habitats, with the overall mission of securing thriving populations of native species.

The Mammal Society will be celebrating their 70th anniversary in 2024, which will be the focus of this year’s annual mammal conference. The conference will focus on the past challenges and successes of mammal conservation, and discuss opportunities for future work.

Matt Larsen-Daw is the CEO of the Mammal Society. Having worked with WWF for some time leading education programmes, Matt is now working with the local mammal groups at the base of the Society’s work. Alana Scott works as communications officer for the Society, with a strong history in conservation biology and ecology. She also has significant achievements in the reintroduction of Water Voles in southern Cornwall.

In anticipation of the upcoming National Mammal Week (22nd – 28th April), we recently had the opportunity to talk with Matt and Alana about the successes of The Mammal Society, their upcoming 70th anniversary and goals for the future.

Small dormouse resting on a branch in front of leaves. — National Mammal Week is an annual event encouraging awareness and conservation of mammals. Image by The Mammal Society.

Firstly, could you give us a brief insight into how The Mammal Society came into existence back in 1954?

Seventy years ago, in 1954, The Mammal Society was formed under the name of The Mammal Society of the British Isles (TMSBI), following a meeting of prominent zoologists, naturalists and the Zoological Society of London. The aim was to link amateurs and professionals in promoting the study of mammals, and by doing so to power conservation of mammals at a time when an alarming decline in the populations of several species was already being observed.

Three years later the society started to deliver on its remit when it published its first book – A Field Guide to British Deer. Perhaps some well-thumbed 1st editions of this vintage text are still sitting on shelves? More likely readers may have one of the beautifully illustrated 4th edition copies of this handbook, published to coincide with another significant anniversary – the 60th year of the British Deer Society – in 2023. The British Deer Society is one of several organisations (including the Bat Conservation Trust and SeaWatch) that started their lives as subgroups within The Mammal Society, until their objectives became sufficiently ambitious and broad in scope to warrant a separate charity. This highlights one of the key roles that The Mammal Society has played over the past seven decades. By acting as a lightning rod for discussion and research around the big issues in mammal science and conservation, the Society has convened experts and enthusiasts to foster collaboration and initiate vital projects at all levels of mammal conservation. From collaborative research projects to species-focused organisations and grassroots local groups, the work of the Society has helped shape the mammal conservation sector we see today.

What do you think has been the key to the enduring success of The Mammal Society?

A key factor in the ongoing success of The Mammal Society is the community of mammal specialists and nature enthusiasts that has formed around it in the form of our members and local groups network. The staff team at the Society has never been big – in fact we are often assumed to be much bigger than we are, due to our vibrant social channels and the large influence we have on policy and practice. Our Council of Trustees, our Committees, and our ever-growing community of local mammal champions are just as important in the achievement of our aims. We are nothing without our members, and we hope that we give plenty back to those who join us in our mission to support and protect British mammals. Members receive our acclaimed seasonal magazine Mammal News, receive substantial discounts on our trainings and events, and have the opportunity to influence the priorities and projects of the Society. Why not join, or gift membership, today?!

At the hub of this thriving community of volunteers and supporters, the staff team arranges forums, events, training, campaigns and research projects that channel the huge energy and expertise in the wider community, while ultimately strengthening and energising that same community.

Our small size has allowed us to be agile and respond to urgent challenges quickly and efficiently – such as the discovery of the non-native Greater White-toothed Shrews in Britain in 2022. It also means our overheads as a charity are low – ensuring that we can put every penny of membership fees and donations to good use in our work to ensure a bright future for mammals.

A group of people smiling in a field with a wheelbarrow. — ARK (Action for the River Kennet) participants of a Harvest Mouse Survey, 2023.

The world has changed a lot in the last 70 years. Have the key purposes and goals of the charity evolved during this time to adapt to this changing world, or have they broadly remained the same?

Conservation science is powerless without first being able to answer the questions ‘what to conserve?’ and ‘where to conserve?’; to do this we need to know, for each species, how large the population is, where it is (and was) distributed, and its status, threats and requirements. This science is exactly what The Mammal Society has been promoting since its inception, seeking to ensure that whatever the approach needed, it is undertaken in the right way – informed by science and data.

This central remit has certainly not changed. However, the role of The Mammal Society in the conservation sector was a hot topic of discussion in the first few decades. In 1963, a resolution was passed at a meeting that the Society should be ‘a scientific body to which those in authority can turn for factual information about mammals and mammal biology’, upon which to base a judgement of the conflicting claims of different champions. To be accepted as such a body, the Society should not itself become involved in any way with […] controversial matters. In other words, The Mammal Society should gather and present scientific facts but not campaign for any particular action to be taken. This perspective shifted within ten years, with members wanting the Society to be prepared to call for action where it was scientifically justified. Nowadays we certainly consider ourselves to have a key role not only in establishing scientific evidence, but also in ensuring it is seen, understood and acted upon to bring positive outcomes for mammals. Communicating the science and advocating for its application are as important as the science itself if we want change.

The other facet of our work that has become more important in recent years is communicating the importance and wonder of mammals to public audiences, in order to build public support for mammal conservation and encourage more engagement with life sciences – especially among younger people and communities currently under-represented in conservation. This objective is part of our remit to strengthen and energise the conservation sector. For example, our annual Mammal Photographer of the Year competition allows us to spotlight photographers who have captured beautiful and surprising images of mammals in the wild and inspire others to share in their wonder and excitement at spotting our elusive wild neighbours going about their everyday lives.

In 1995, The Mammal Society entered a new phase when it established a network of local groups that could monitor the state of mammals in their area and respond to local issues while playing a key role in contributing to a better national picture of mammal populations. Through this process of evolution, The Mammal Society moved from connecting amateurs to professionals in mammal conservation, to providing anyone concerned about the decline of mammals with ways to get involved and directly help tackle the key issues.

Some of these original groups are still going strong, and others have joined in the nearly 30 years since then. Led by volunteers, these groups provide opportunities for nature-lovers from all walks of life in their community to support citizen science activities that provide essential data and insight to inform mammal research, conservation practice and landscape management policy.

Now we have more than 30 local mammal groups in the network, and their contribution to projects such as the Mammal Atlas, the Harvest Mouse Survey and many other projects cannot be under-estimated – as well as the profound impact many have had on mammal populations locally through their targeted efforts. The Mammal Society have sought to guide and support these groups over the years, but we feel there is much more we could do.

Our new Local Mammal Groups Strategy (reflected in our new Local Groups Handbook) sets out how we intend to invest in growing, strengthening and diversifying the community of local mammal champions that participate in mammal conservation at the grassroots level through the local groups network.

Red squirrel peeking out from behind a Silver Birch tree on the right and directly looking at a Bumblebee flying towards the tree. — The Squirrel and the Bee. Image by Garry Watson, winner of the Mammal Photographer of the Year competition, 2024.

Biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are key issues for everyone involved in conservation at present. What are your main goals for the coming years and decades?

Seventy years on, the challenges that need to be overcome to ensure a bright future for wildlife and people are just as daunting. This means that over the decades to come, our role as convener and mobiliser in the world of mammal conservation will be more important than ever. There is no doubt that reversing the loss of nature will require work from everyone, and the more joined-up those efforts are, the more positive the impact for wildlife and people.

As we move into our eighth decade, we continue to do everything we can to foster collaboration and inclusion in mammal conservation. We aim to bring the scientific insight and expertise of our committees, members, council and staff to strengthen and support any initiatives that can help address the threats faced by our native mammals. As an active member of Wildlife & Countryside Link, we are already adding our voice to those of varied stakeholders across the nature sector to call for urgent action to address issues and redress shortcomings in policy and practice. Via European Mammal Conservation Europe, we have strengthened joint challenges on issues such as the protected status of wolves in the EU. We are active contributors to the RSPB-led UK State of Nature Report, and members of coalitions and steering groups on various species recovery strategies. We continue to engage with government to ensure that policy and priorities are informed by science.

Our commitment to ensuring that everyone understands the importance of mammals, and can play a role in monitoring and protecting mammals, is reflected in our reinvigorated approach to supporting local groups – including an equipment loan scheme, free training for local groups, and an ambitious plan to see at least three new groups in currently under-represented urban areas by 2025. Alongside this our new school programme launches this year, creating opportunities for young people to explore and support mammals, and prioritising schools in areas of deprivation and serving communities under-represented in conservation.

A group of children sat at a school desk dissecting owl pellets. — Owl pellet dissection as part of the new school programme.

Seventy years as a successful charity is an incredible achievement, not to mention the research, support and training you have undertaken and provided during this time. How are you marking and celebrating this important milestone?

We’re spending 2024 looking back, and looking forward. We want to celebrate what’s been achieved over the past 70 years but also to take the opportunity to look at the challenges ahead and how we can all play a role in meeting them.

To help us highlight this significant milestone, talented illustrator Silvie Tonellotto has designed our beautiful 70th anniversary badge, which will feature on communications throughout 2024. You can see more of her work on Instagram (@silvietonelottodesigns).

An illustrated dormouse sat inside the number 70. — The 70th anniversary badge, designed by Silvie Tonellotto.

One of the key things we are focusing on is celebrating the people whose actions are key to ensuring a bright future for mammals, and especially to show the rich diversity of people and variety of roles people can play in supporting mammal conservation. We have therefore marked this 70th year with the launch of a new awards scheme – Mammal Champions. NHBS generously supported the prizes for the 2024 awards, and we’re delighted to have been able to shine a spotlight on some incredible volunteers, campaigners and thought leaders.

National Mammal Week (celebrated in the autumn in previous years, but now moving to a new home in the spring) is 22nd to 28th April 2024. We’ll be celebrating the wonderful individuals shortlisted for Mammal Champions Awards, while also providing loads of opportunities for anyone in Britain and Ireland to find ways to become mammal champions in their own lives and communities.

Learn more and get involved through The Mammal Society website.

Author Q&A with Jeremy Biggs & Penny Williams: Ponds, Pools and Puddles

Ponds, pools and puddles are a common sight in our landscape and play a very important part in sustaining wildlife. In Volume 148 of the New Naturalist Series, the authors provide a comprehensive survey of the variety of plants and animal life for which they are a habitat, and discusses the way in which they are used, their importance, and compares their major variations in life cycles. Ponds, Pools and Puddles makes an invaluable contribution to raising awareness of these popular, yet frequently underrated freshwater habitats and gives them the attention they rightly deserve.

Jeremy Biggs and Penny Williams work for Freshwater Habitats Trust, a wildlife conservation charity focused on reversing the decline in freshwater biodiversity. They have been involved in numerous research projects, publications and conferences on the ecology and management of ponds and other freshwater habitats.

We recently had the opportunity to talk to Jeremy and Penny about how they became interested in ponds, whether they think technological advances will play an important role in future pond research and more.

Jeremy Biggs wearing wellies on the side of a large pond looking at something he has caught in a net on a sunny day with clear, blue skies. — Jeremy Biggs

Can you tell us how you both became interested in ponds and pond life?

P: I had a wonderful early experience at primary school: we had a trip to a local pond in Southborough, Kent and caught a Three-spined Stickleback. The teacher brought a couple back to a classroom tank and I watched in amazement as the beautiful azure blue and orange male made a nest and fanned the eggs with his tail.

J: I was interested in wildlife from my teens, particularly birds, but it was at university (Royal Holloway, University of London) that my interest in freshwater was awakened. Crucial for me was an inspirational teacher – the late Dr Nan Duncan – who ran one of the best courses there was on freshwater biology.

I found your definition of a pond interesting as there appears to be so many ways of deciding what constitutes a pond. Can you talk us through the process that you went through to decide on the parameters for your definition?

P: After working on ponds for a couple of years it became clear that we needed an easy-to-use definition, particularly to deal with the inevitable question: is it a pond or a lake? It also had to include temporary ponds, which were hardly recognised in the UK at the time. So, at Freshwater Habitats Trust we went for an area-based definition because that’s easy to measure. We set 2 ha as the pond/lake cut off, as this seemed to best capture the difference between the two. The ‘wet for at least four months of the year’ is included as this is roughly the time needed for ponds to develop a wetland plant community. That means that you should be able go to a basin that’s wet or dry at any time of year and tell if it is a pond. In practice, the lower limit is a little flexible: we use 1m² to include tiny pools and garden ponds, but for practical reasons use 25m² for national counts of ponds where it’s impractical to count every little countryside puddle.

Penny Williams carrying an inflatable kayak by a pond on a sunny day with blue skies. — Penny Williams

It’s clear that the first national pond survey paved the way for gaining a more in-depth understanding of pond classifications, species, ecological preferences and more. What do you think the next step is in gaining an even greater understanding of ponds, and do you think modern, technological research methods will play a big part in this?

P: Current policy, legislation and general awareness of the importance of ponds now lags way behind our knowledge of pond ecology – so although there is still an enormous amount more to find out about pond biology, I think the greatest need is for knowledge that shows the importance and value of ponds for protecting freshwater biodiversity. For example, we need evidence about how high-quality pond creation and restoration can be used, at a landscape scale, to maintain healthy freshwater metapopulations, prevent extinctions and enable the spread of species that may be increasingly isolated by pollution and climate change. This is a real focus for Freshwater Habitats Trust, where we’ve been championing the importance of small waterbodies – and ponds in particular – for more than three decades.

Modern technology will undoubtedly play a part in this: DNA, and eDNA in particular, may be a game changer, although we are some way off from using it for the purpose that I would love: routine monitoring of all waterbodies (rather than just rivers) to get a real understanding of what is happening to freshwater biodiversity in our landscapes and how we can best address that.

New technologies are always exciting but, to be honest, I think the main thing we need at the moment is publicity, publicity, publicity. Widespread knowledge and appreciation at all levels of how wonderful these little waterbodies are.

J: More than a particular technological solution, what we really need is funding for ‘National Pond Survey 2’, led from a conservation perspective and, as we’ve been doing for the last 30 years, generating and testing the ideas that Ponds, Pools and Puddles summarises. There’s so much to learn here: are ponds still declining in quality? What’s the effect of pond management? How do ponds, lakes, streams, wetlands and rivers interact? What about the microbiota which we know next to nothing about (that is something eDNA will help with)? How is climate change affecting ponds?

It was fascinating to learn that there is a much greater variety of species found in ponds in comparison to river communities. How important do you think ponds are in the recovery of nationally scarce or Red Data Book species?

J: The very wide variety of nationally scarce and Red Data Book species found in ponds means that ponds are absolutely vital for the recovery of these species. The special virtue of ponds is that, with their small catchment, we can still find large numbers of very high-quality ponds in the landscape, or create new, near pristine, clean water ponds in areas protected from pollution. This is all much more difficult for streams, rivers and many lakes with their much bigger catchments. There’s no doubt that creating and restoring networks of clean water ponds could put many of our Red Listed freshwater species on an upward trajectory. Indeed, this is one of the aims of Freshwater Habitats Trust’s vision to build the Freshwater Network: to reverse the decline in freshwater biodiversity. This will see us creating a network of wilder, wetter, cleaner, more connected freshwater habitats, and ponds play a big part in this concept.

Delta Pond in Eugene, Oregon surrounded by trees, plants and flowers on the shoreline. — Delta Pond in Eugene, Oregon by Rick Obst, via flickr.

To what extent do you expect climate change to affect the ecological formation and chemical makeup of natural ponds in the future?

P: The effects of climate change on ponds are undoubtedly going to be complex, varied, unexpected and unpredictable. For example, in the Water Friendly Farming project, where we’ve been monitoring the same ponds for over a decade, a clear (but not predicted) result is that shallow ponds are being rapidly encroached by marginal wetland vegetation in dry years, and this vegetation persists so that open water is being lost. However, the effect differs: where ponds are grazed this has been beneficial, sometimes enabling uncommon plants like Orange Foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis) to spread to lovely new poached drawdown zones. In other cases, it has been sad to see little ponds with water buttercups be replaced by just wetland grasses like Sweet-grasses (Glyceria spp) and Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera).

J: Climate change is going to have a big impact, but the effects are going to very difficult to predict. Ponds are so varied, it’s inevitable that their responses will be too. It’s possible to make sweeping generalisations (pollution impacts get worse, many temporary ponds disappear) but there’s a good chance these will wrong. It’ll be crucial to have a good set of observations of what is actually happening to ponds. In the meantime, the priority should be to use ponds to put as much clean water as we can back into the landscape.

What is the most interesting finding that you have come across while researching ponds, pools and puddles?

P: For me it’s undoubtedly been the opportunity to riff on my geological background and delve into the ancient natural processes that shaped ponds in the past – and which still has so much to teach us about ponds (and other freshwaters) today. For example, I love the fact that almost all of today’s wetland plants evolved in landscapes that had already been shaped by grazing and poaching processes for over 200 million years – no wonder many wetland plants benefit from grazing and the presence of muddy ground! And, at a time when many people (including scientists and policymakers) still undervalue ponds as man-made artificial features, some of world’s best-preserved evidence of early life in terrestrial landscapes (the Devonian Rhynie cherts in Scotland which are c400 my) reveal an environment that is full of ponds with the fairy shrimps and tadpole shrimps swimming amongst stoneworts.

J: For me, it’s been the chance to bring together so much information that we simply haven’t had a chance to publish anywhere else. With the amount of time it takes to publish research, we are extremely selective about what we write up in papers. Only the most important results ever make it into print. It’s also allowed us to look at groups we don’t work on so much ourselves (such as the microalgae) and see how these reinforce many of the ideas about ponds from the more obvious bigger plants and animals. It’s also nice to get into the book the truth that many of our biggest and most famous wetlands, like the Coto Donana in Spain, are actually massive pond complexes comprised of over 3,000 temporary ponds!

Pennington Flash Pond through the Trees. — Pennington Flash Pond through the Trees by Ronald Saunders, via flickr.

Are either of you working on any other projects that we can hear about?

J: Freshwater Habitats Trust is really busy at the moment! Amongst other things we are:

– Launching the Freshwater Network: this is our plan to restore freshwater biodiversity taking account of freshwaters, including the critically important small (standing and flowing) that make up most of the water environment but have been largely overlooked for 100 years.

– Developing the network in key regions to protect and restore freshwater biodiversity in some of our most important freshwater landscapes like the New Forest, The Brecks, in the catchment of the R. Thames and in the Yorkshire Lowlands.

– Working with colleagues in Europe and South America looking at pond biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate change as part of the EU Horizon 2020 PONDERFUL project.

– Beginning research on the value of pond buffer zones in a project for Natural England and assessing the role that eDNA can play.

– Creating thousands of new ponds with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation as part of the Newt Conservation Partnership – created for Great Crested Newts but with much wider benefits for wildlife and, critically, monitoring the effects so we can tell whether it’s really making a difference.

– Continuing catchment research which looks at all of the water environment. Fortunately more and more people are realising that in every landscape, small waters are a lifeblood.

– and so many others….

Ponds, Pools and Puddles is available to order from our online bookstore here.

Neil Middleton on the 4th edition of Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists

The 4th edition of Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists: Good Practice Guidelines is the latest update of the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) Guidelines and features new content on biosecurity, night-vision aids, tree surveys and auto-identification for bat sound analysis. Several key chapters have been expanded, and new tools, techniques and recommendations included. It is a key resource for professional ecologists carrying out surveys for development and planning.

Neil Middleton is a licensed bat worker and trainer. He is the Managing Director of BatAbility which offers bat-related and business skills development courses and training throughout the UK and Europe. He kindly agreed to take the time to write an article for us which will help ecologists and bat workers assess some of the key content and changes within the 4th edition of the Bat Survey Guidelines, and evaluate how this is likely to impact you, your colleagues and your business.

I have been asked to write this blog for NHBS regarding the recently published 4^th edition of the BCT Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists: Good Practice Guidelines. Straight away I feel I should say that, broadly speaking, we (BatAbility) are supportive of the overall spirit of intent that these new guidelines are seeking to achieve.

The contributors to the finished work and the editor of the final draft will have, I’m sure, had much debate about the final wording of the guidelines. It certainly cannot have been an easy task to come up with approaches that a broad range of experienced people, each with different backgrounds, were able to fully agree upon (or at least not disagree). In addition to which, these guidelines need to cater for all the component parts of the UK, where differences in legislation, planning, licensing etc. apply.

What follows are my thoughts on why you need to be up to speed with what’s happening. When I discuss some of the points you need to be aware of, it’s not that I am criticising or disagreeing with what has been produced, it is more that I am encouraging you to think about things that may not immediately be apparent when it comes to impacting (positively or negatively) upon your daily business operations.

Broadly speaking, these Good Practice Guidelines are what we all need to be referring to now for guidance and, barring any new properly released formal material direct from BCT (i.e. it doesn’t matter what someone says on a social media post or during a webinar) that either updates, changes or gives additional explanation to what is in the 4^th edition, this is where we, as a community, are at. BCT have confirmed that a few changes to the text will be made by way of an amendment document and this, in conjunction with printed Q&A material resulting from BCT webinars (November 2023 and February 2024), will prove to be essential complimentary reading for everyone relying upon these guidelines during their day-to-day work.

At this stage, I feel that it is also important to say, and BCT have been very keen to emphasise this point (e.g. during their webinars on the subject), that the guidance is very clear about deviating from its approaches where specific cases and/or experienced, professional judgement suggests that a different approach can be taken for good reason, provided that it is fully disclosed and discussed within generated outputs (e.g. reports going to local planning departments). The material produced is described as ‘guidelines’ after all, and should not be used prescriptively when common sense, good scientific rationale or proportionality, as examples, suggests otherwise.

These updated guidelines were keenly awaited by bat workers for some time leading up to their publication.The driving force behind the update was thought mainly to be the integration of Night Vision Aids (NVAs) into our bat survey approach, as initially described within an Interim Guidance Note published in May 2022 and covered in this article on the BCT website.

I mention this for two reasons. Firstly, it’s what I feel almost everyone was genuinely expecting. Secondly, these revised guidelines don’t (as anticipated rightly or wrongly!) fully address some of the specific aspects of where the NVA debate is going to finally arrive. Regarding this aspect of bat work, the finer detail around this matter is now being tackled by a review panel, and BCT will inform us as/when they are in a position to do so. In the meantime, the Interim Guidance (2022) remains as an additional, essential point of referral. Having said that, within these new guidelines there are regular pointers, reminders and requirements that NVAs should be incorporated within survey design.

So, why do we need to pay any attention to these new guidelines? If they are not telling us about the specifics of the NVA approach, then you may very well think that there’s not much value in getting your own copy and reading through, yet again, what was there before. Yes, you may very well think that. Yes, you would be very wrong.

There is so much in here that is going to make your life as a bat consultant different to how it was up until last year (2023). There are undoubtedly elephants potentially in some people’s rooms. But an hour after sunset when it’s too dark to see, some people may not be aware that elephants lurk (well not unless they have an NVA, and it’s pointing in the right direction). There are resourcing implications, cost implications, tendering implications, health and safety implications – there are all of these and more that you need to be aware of. And by implications I mean a mix of positives and negatives. It is a classic situation whereby in solving a range of issues and making clarifications on others, new issues and opportunities inevitably arise.

From a surveyor’s point of view, the dreaded dawn work is mostly redundant, although I feel there are still going to be occasions from a bat behaviour point of view, and from a health and safety point of view (e.g. working within busy town centre areas) where dawns could still occasionally be a better, or even a desirable approach. The guidelines certainly don’t say you should never do a dawn survey again, full stop.

From a business owner’s perspective there are matters that will need serious consideration and budgeting for. This could impact (again negatively or positively) upon your turnover, your approach to tendering, resourcing, the deployment of staff and equipment, as well as the careful balancing of your team’s time at their desks versus time in the field. All of this, of course, needs to be considered against the benefits to bat conservation. The challenge on the business model is not necessarily a bad thing, provided you are fore-armed and have seriously thought through how these changes impact upon your organisation.

Please don’t construe that I am not supportive of what these guidelines are seeking to achieve. In many respects, from a conservation perspective, I feel things have moved closer to where they should be. Balanced against this, however, I urge you to be aware that you need to get your head around the new approaches as a matter of urgency, and build into your day-to-day workings methods of adapting to the changes.

There is neither the time nor the space to cover it all here, and to do so would merely be to repeat what was contained in the guidelines in any case. What I am seeking to do is alert you to the fact that, despite how much you may have seen on social media etc. relating to the NVA debate, there are arguably equally as BIG matters contained within the new edition that don’t relate to the use of NVAs.

Here are some key points of where things have really changed, in my view:

Dawn surveys are pretty much redundant, as we are now pressed to doing dusk surveys with NVAs. This is great from a work-life balance, but it also removes up to 50% of the previously available time slots on your survey calendar.
NVAs are to be deployed on pretty much every emergence survey, covering the survey subject as fully as possible, with the associated implications for reviewing all that footage and storage of data. Video footage is much larger than the pure audio that you will have been accustomed to.
A licenced bat worker is required to be present for any field work where a licensable situation could occur, no matter how likely or unlikely, be that structures or trees. Following the definite statements in the 4^th edition, there is no longer any ‘wiggle room’ on this issue.
Bats and Trees – aerial assessment (be that by ladder, rope or MEWP) is pretty much the desired approach, meaning that this will be a greater part of these jobs and, in conjunction with this, licensed bat worker(s) will need to be present.
Due to the increased requirement for licensed bat workers to be present far more often than previously was the case, and the increase in tree climbing work where licensed bat worker(s) should also be used, there are resourcing implications that need to be considered when it comes to training in these areas. It is important to be aware that not every licensed bat worker within a business is either capable of or desires to climb trees. Also, in some business models, the licensed person/people are in more senior positions where their presence in the field conflicts directly with the role they are being asked to perform for the business (e.g. team management, client meetings, tendering, business process improvement). So, for some businesses, depending upon their current resources of licensed bat workers, there may need to be a rethink.

What I have described above is most definitely not the full suite of changes, but hopefully it’s enough to demonstrate that you need to get on top of what’s in there.

The key message is, if you haven’t already got yourself a copy and read it through in detail, then as a matter of urgency you should do so. Then you will be able to consider how you are going to achieve what is required.

The 4th edition of Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists is available as a downloadable non-printable version direct from the BCT website.

Also available as hard copy from nhbs.com – remember to use your BCT membership number to get a 20% discount.

Author Q&A with Tim Mackrill: The Osprey

Persecuted mercilessly in Britain, the magnificent Osprey became extinct in the 1890s. However, the return of the species to Scotland in the 1950s was the catalyst for reintroduction programmes elsewhere, and this remarkable raptor is now an increasingly common sight in our skies. This Poyser monograph includes over 150 photographs and details the distribution, migration, foraging ecology, breeding behaviour and population dynamics of this spectacular bird. It also places emphasis on the conservation efforts across the species British and African haunts, the latter of which has only recently been discovered thanks to satellite tagging technology.

Tim Mackrill holding an Osprey in a field. — © John Wright

Nature conservationist Dr Tim Mackrill completed a PhD on Osprey migration at the University of Leicester and has since worked with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation on various reintroduction projects, including the return of Osprey’s and White-tailed Eagles to England. He managed the Rutland Osprey Project for over ten years and is the founder of the Osprey Leadership Foundation, which aims to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders by working with young people who live along the Osprey’s migratory route.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Tim about The Osprey, including why he is so captivated by this species, the technological advances that have helped increase our knowledge of them and more.

Your entire adult life, and indeed much of your childhood, appears to have been spent observing and studying Ospreys. What is it about this species that so captivates you?

Anyone who has seen an Osprey will vouch for the fact that they are a spectacular bird, particularly if you have been fortunate enough to see one plunge into water to catch a fish. However, it is the species’ migration that I find so captivating. As I write in chapter 6 of The Osprey, whenever I see a newly arrived Osprey perched beside its nest in the spring, I always think it is rather humbling to consider what the bird might have experienced since leaving its wintering site a few weeks earlier: traversing the Sahara, negotiating imposing mountain ranges, crossing areas of open sea. It could even have flown through the night – its path illuminated only by stars and moonlight – with the urge to reclaim its nest– a source of great motivation to power its way north. The fact that Ospreys are faithful to the same nest site each year, and that we know them as individuals, makes it even more special to see a familiar bird back home in the spring.

Osprey catching a fish in the sea. — Adult female Osprey – The Gambia, by John Wright

In the introduction of your book, you mention that there can be few bird species that are as well studied as the Osprey. What technological advancements over the past few decades do you think have been most influential in increasing our knowledge of this species?

The advances in satellite tracking technology since the 1990s have added greatly to our knowledge of Ospreys. The most recent transmitters are able to log data at very high temporal resolution – as often as once per second in some cases – and this gives some amazing insights into the migratory journeys of individual Ospreys. It has shown how Ospreys are able to adapt their flight according to environmental conditions, and to make very long sea crossings – something that most raptors avoid. It has also demonstrated how experiences on the first migration shape the subsequent migratory habits of individuals, and also how young birds enter the breeding population for the first time.

Historically, the persecution of Ospreys has been a large problem within Britain. Is this something that is still an issue?

Fortunately, this is much less of an issue now. Egg collecting was a major threat during the early years of the Osprey recovery in Scotland, but has declined since the introduction of custodial sentences. Historically, persecution at fishing ponds was a major cause of the population decline of Ospreys in the British Isles, and although the occasional Osprey is still shot, the sight of an Osprey plunging into the water at great speed, and then lifting off a few seconds later with a fish grasped in its talons, is much more likely to excite and inspire people than to create animosity. The success of an Osprey photographic hide at a working trout farm, Horn Mill, in Rutland is testament to that.

Manaton Bay Osprey Family. — Manaton Bay Family by John Wright.

Ospreys appear to respond well to translocation projects. Is this down to the characteristics of their species, or because we have good quality research and evidence to indicate how best to undertake such projects?

Translocation has been a key tool in helping the Osprey recover from the negative impacts of historical persecution and DDT. The first Ospreys to be translocated were in the United States in the late 1970s and in Europe, at Rutland Water, in the mid-1990s. As such, a wealth of information on all aspects of the translocation process has been developed and refined over the years, which means that more recent projects are much better informed than earlier ones. However, it is the species’ own breeding biology that is key. Young Ospreys, particularly males, are highly site faithful and usually return to breed close to their natal site. The imprinting process seems to occur after fledging and prior to migration and so, by moving young birds at around five to six weeks, when they are a fortnight from making their first flight, they regard the release site as home, rather than their natal nest. All young Ospreys undertake their first migration alone, and so as long as translocated Ospreys are provided fish after fledging in the way that wild-fledged birds are provisioned by their parents, they migrate as normal. Then, all being well, they return to the release site for the first time at two years of age.

As a fully piscivorous species, do Ospreys suffer from ingesting water-borne pollutants or plastic waste?

The Osprey is regarded as something of a sentinel species for environmental contaminant exposure and effects in aquatic ecosystems. It was badly affected by DDT in the United States and some parts of Europe. More recently, research in the United States has identified Polybrominated biphenyl ether (PBDE), flame retardants used in thermoplastics, textiles, polyurethane foams and electronic circuitry, as a potential emerging threat to Ospreys.

PBDEs have been shown to bioaccumulate and biomagnify up the food chain, but unlike organochlorine pesticides which have declined in aquatic ecosystems in recent decades, PBDEs have increased since the 1970s. Plastic waste is also an issue, particularly in some of the coastal areas where Ospreys overwinter. It is a sad sight to see a wintering Osprey perched on a beach surrounded by ubiquitous plastic pollution.

Red Kite chasing adult female. — Red Kite chasing adult female by John Wright.

When it comes to the Osprey, where are the gaps in the knowledge? What are the things that you’re still excited to find out about them?

There are still elements of migration that we do not fully understand. We know that young birds use a process known as vector summation (an inherited programme of distance and direction) on their migration, and that adults become expert navigators as they become more experienced, but we do not know the exact mechanisms for this, though factors such as landscape features may be important. Personally, I like the fact that there is still this mystery around certain aspects of bird migration – it adds to the sense of awe that is created by the remarkable journeys of Ospreys and other species.

Finally, what’s keeping you occupied day-to-day at the moment? And do you have plans for further books?

One of the most exciting projects I am involved with at present, through my work with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, is the reintroduction of White-tailed Eagles to southern England. The first pair bred successfully last year and it has been exciting and encouraging to see how the birds are fitting into southern England. Like Ospreys, they take fish from the South Coast estuaries and so there is a wealth of suitable habitat for them. The fact that there are now breeding Ospreys and White-tailed Eagles back on the South Coast of England is very exciting and testament to what a positive, proactive approach to conservation can achieve. I love writing and so I definitely have plans for future books.

A few years ago I also set-up a charity, the Osprey Leadership Foundation (OLF), which works to inspire and enable young conservation leaders. I feel very privileged to have had Roy Dennis, who wrote the foreword for The Osprey, as a friend and mentor for many years, and I hope the work of OLF will help the next generation of conservationists to follow the lead of people like Roy to undertake bold and ambitious projects for nature recovery – we certainly need it.

The Osprey is available to order from our online bookstore.

Author Q&A with Illustrator Mike Langman

Mike Langman has been a full-time illustrator specialising in birds since 1992 and has published a total of 85 books, including Park and Garden Birds and the Guide to Ducks, Geese and Swans, with his work also featuring in many UK birdwatching magazines.

Mike worked for the RSPB at their headquarters in Bedfordshire for nine years after finishing his education at Middlesex Art College in 1983, and his illustrations have been published in most of the RSPB’s quarterly Nature’s Home magazines, on nearly every RSPB reserve, on identification cards, in murals in information centre, and in other outlets across Britain and Europe.

He has been an avid birdwatcher from the age of ten and particularly enjoys birdwatching around his local area in the South West, especially Berry Head in Devon, with his knowledge and expertise regularly sought by local organisations. Mike is also a voluntary art editor for Devon Birds, his local bird society, where he has previously held a number of roles in numerous years between 1994 and 2010.

Mike recently took the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions about his career in illustration, which mediums he uses to create his drawings and more.

How did you get into illustrating nature?

A love of nature started with walks with my parents and visits to my grandparents – one set keen on birds and the other owned a farm where I could (more or less) have free range to explore. Drawing wildlife came from copying pictures I saw in books of wildlife that excited me, initially big cats but as I watched birds in gardens and countryside I would copy pictures from books of them too.

What are your favourite mediums for illustrating books?

Most of my published work is a mixture of watercolour for its freshness and clarity, but to speed up the process I (like many other published artists) use gouache too, this being opaque pale paint that can be put on top of darker watercolour to create feather edges and highlights etc. A watercolour purist uses the white of the paper to shine through pale areas!

Mike Langman's pencil and watercolour double page illustrations with annotations of a Warbler. — Warbler field sketch by Mike Langman.

How do you approach illustrating a bird you’ve perhaps never seen in real life?

I use whatever I can get my hands on, googling photos or videos (better for capturing character), but I still use skins (dead crudely stuffed birds) held in museums like Tring or even Exeter and Torquay.

How do you record a bird‘s behaviours, and have you seen any unusual behaviours from a common bird?

Yes, as a birder I’m always looking for not just unusual species but behaviours too –– an inquisitive mind leads to a better understanding of the species and I do illustrate behaviour in published work when required to.

What has been your favourite bird to illustrate that you keep coming back to?

That’s a tricky one, but I love seabirds and warblers. I suppose if I had to choose one it‘s the Firecrest for its character and colour – a truly stunning tiny bird. But, I must not forget our south Devon speciality, the Cirl Bunting, and, and I could go on!

Cirl Bunting field sketch in pencil and watercolour by Mike Langman. — Cirl Bunting field sketch by Mike Langman.

How has climate change altered your approach to projects?

I do a huge amount of illustration work from home but I do travel a bit too (although much more locally based than I used to be). At home I’m trying to be as carbon neutral as possible with solar panels, storage batteries, good house insulation and, last year, buying an electric car. When I do travel abroad I do as much wildlife watching as possible – visiting reserves and hiring guides which will help maintain some of the very important and often not so important biologically rich areas.

Do you see wildlife human conflict in your work?

Not so much in the publishing world, but as part of my secondary job as a wildlife guide here in Devon, running walks, tours and cruises, I have witnessed some terrible scenes. Dolphins caught in nets, seals with plastic rings and fishing gear snagged around their necks, jet skis harassing dolphins, fishermen throwing rocks at seals and even fishermen having ‘fun’ catching gulls with baited hooks. Away from the sea we have hedges cut by land owners at the wrong times of year, and housing developments on green land around Torbay in areas I used to watch wildlife...

What bird do you wish you had seen and why?

Pretty much every bird I haven’t seen – but I know that’s not a good thing, practically and in terms of harm to my carbon footprint, and inevitably it’s just not possible. So, I keep it local and look for anything that provides me with a challenge to find, identify and share with others. For more than 30 years I’ve wanted to find a Hume’s Warbler (a small and very rare eastern Siberian migrant) at my local lakes at Clennon Valley in Paignton (where I volunteer as part of the friends group). In December 2023 I did a double take when I heard one calling, ‘Che-wee, Che-wee’. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity I located and watched it, sketched it and shared the sightings immediately with others. The bird stayed around for over a week. I guess I need a new goal now…

What projects are you working on right now?

I’ve just finished the 3rd edition of the Helm Field Guide to the birds of the Middle East and painted its new cover too, which I’m very proud of. I’m also working on some wood etching images (my work completed on the computer!) for Greenspace designs for the Lower Otter Restoration Project.

A collection of books illustrated by Mike Langman can be found in our bookstore here.

Author Q&A with Hugh Warwick: Cull of the Wild

In Cull of the Wild, author Hugh Warwick investigates the ethical and practical challenges of managing invasive species to increase biodiversity. He explores the complicated history of species control over time, while also combining scientific theory and subtle humour, to explain the many issues conservationists face when trying to protect native species from their non-native rivals.

Hugh Warwick is an ecologist, conservationist and writer who specialises in the study of hedgehogs. He has published three books focusing on this species, however he recently expanded his field of study to include invasive species while writing Cull of the Wild. He has previously written for BBC Wildlife, New Scientist, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, is the spokesperson for the Hedgehog Preservation Society, runs courses on both hedgehog conservation, and lectures in creative writing.

Hugh recently took the time to talk to us about his book, including what inspired him to write Cull of the Wild, how he hopes his book will help future conservation methods, and more.

Firstly, what inspired you to write a book on the culling of invasive species?

The very first independent field work I did in 1986 – for the 3rd year project of my degree – took me to North Ronaldsay. My supervisor had a friend who was both the GP and the bird warden on this island, the most northerly in Orkney. He had noted that there seemed to be a correlation between the increase in number of imported hedgehogs (that was the postman’s fault!) and the decrease in breeding success of ground nesting birds – in particular the Arctic Terns. My work was to try and find out how many hedgehogs there were. This turned out to be around 500 – not the 10,000 the Daily Express had reported! The bird observatory organised an airlift to remove the hedgehogs after I had gone and I returned in 1991 to repeat the survey. Since then I have found the collision of ecological study with human concerns really fascinating.

This led me to become involved, rather inevitably, in the Uist hedgehog saga, where the RSPB and Nature Scotland were killing the hedgehogs for the very same reason they had been airlifted from North Ronaldsay. I quickly shifted from reporting on the story for BBC Radio 4, to joining the campaign against the cull, and then doing the research that helped stop it. But while all this was happening, I met a researcher from New Zealand who was telling me that they were killing hedgehogs over there (in the 1860s we sent a load of hogs over to help the colonialists feel more at home) I could see no reason not to kill those hedgehogs.

That apparent contradiction has been spinning in my head ever since and was the springboard for this book.

Close up photograph of a New Zealand Hedgehog walking through long grass. — New Zealand: Hedgehog, by Eli Duke via flickr.

How did you find researching such differing opinions on the subject, and have your preconceived opinions changed over the course of writing this book?

I found this book so very different from all the others I have written. Previous outings have always been with people who are just really pleased to talk – to share their enthusiasm for Beavers or Water Voles or owls. This was the first time where I felt like the initial communication was almost like a job interview – assessing whether I was suitable to talk to. Some people simply refused to talk, others were cagey. I guess I was quite naïve!

The journey of the book is basically one where my head and my heart are in constant debate. I lay out my ‘bunny-hugging’ prejudices at the start. I suppose I was hoping to find that all instances where animals were being killed could be dealt with in other ways.

One of the biggest lessons I learnt, though, was about how people, even ones with whom you have fundamental differences of opinion, share so much common ground. But you will never see that common ground if you charge in at the difference! I love that one of my potentially conflicting interviews ended up with the biggest argument being over who recorded the best version of Sibelius’ 5th Symphony!

In Chapter 1, you discussed that animals are shown to be continually developing to become more like humans – problem solving, making and using tools etc. Do you think this gradual form of humanisation may lead to more equal ‘rights’ between animal species and humans in relation to killing for conservation?

I would not look at this as humanisation – that is slipping back into the human exceptionalism that got us into this mess. Currently the degrees of cruelty we deliver to wildlife is arbitrary, based in large part on language and on the names we give them, even different members of the same species.

We need to recognise that these animals being killed experience pain, joy, fear and hope. If the realisation that different species have the capacity to do human-like things is enough to get this recognised, then that is some progress.

I have been gently eased away from the concept of ‘rights’ for animals and towards a desire to see cruelty minimised. Rights are important and I see their value – but here, I feel the best outcomes will emerge from a utilitarian desire to maximise good and minimise bad. Though that requires we have the idea that these animals, most of whom are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, are individuals and can suffer.

A close up of a Red Squirrel stood on its hind legs on a rock eating a nut it's holding in it's front paws. — Red Squirrel, by Caroline Legg via flickr.

You must have visited many places and spoken to many different people about different species while you were writing this book. Were there any particularly memorable moments or experiences that that have stayed with you?

I did not get to some of the places in this book – time, Covid, money and a desire to minimise flying all conspired to keep the exotic interviews on Zoom. But the adventures I did have were all special.

Heading out along the coastline of South Ronaldsay, Orkney, with Spud – the most handsome labrador I have ever met – was magical. The wind blew, the surf crumped in from the Atlantic, and Spud, well, he followed his nose and we followed him as he tracked down evidence of Stoats.

The Stoat story is so important – it is about speed and trying catch this problem early – they were only found in 2011. But more than the practical, it is also about the buy-in of the local population. If the public are not onside, the conservationists can give up now. So it is about education and communication as much as it is about deciding which traps to use and where to site them.

A close up of a stoat climbing over a dark, wet, mossy log. — Stoat (Mustela erminsea) by big-ashb, via flickr.

In what way do you hope that Cull of the Wild will help future animal conservation efforts?

The overarching message I hope people get from Cull of the Wild is that ecology is both fascinating and VERY challenging when it is part of a conflict. Ecology is not given the level of respect that it should receive. It is always sidelined – economics and politics hog the headlines – yet both of those are but subsets of the wider ecosystem. Without a healthy ecosystem we are on a downward slope to disaster. So, I hope that people will read this book, maybe because they are outraged at the killing, and will then come away realising that ecology is very complex and should be treated with great respect.

I also hope that this book will convince people who hold very firm opinions – opinions that are often amplified by the bubbles in which we tend to linger – that people with differing views may well share many of the same values as themselves. And that to begin discussion at the common ground is the foundation of progress. Argument should not be about winning, but about making things better. Remember, it is quite possible that some of the things you know are wrong. A friend of mine turned up at a conference recently with a t-shirt saying ‘Don’t believe everything you think’. We should be humble enough to recognise we might be wrong.

Are you currently working on any other projects that you can tell us about?

As I write this, the lovely people at the publishers Graffeg are hoping I will stop promoting Cull of the Wild and finish the two books I owe them: one on bats and the other on nocturnal nature. I have another narrative nonfiction brewing – about as different to this book as imaginable. Something which will hopefully bring laughter into our love of nature.

Cull of the Wild is available to order from our online bookstore.

Author Q&A with Chantal Lyons: Groundbreakers

Big, messy and mysterious – crossing paths with a Wild Boar can conjure fear and joy in equal measure. In Groundbreakers, Chantal Lyons gets up close and personal with this complex and intelligent species in the Forest of Dean, and investigates the people across Britain and beyond who celebrate the presence of these animals – or want them gone. From Toulouse and Barcelona where they are growing in number and boldness, to the woods of Kent and Sussex where they are fading away, to Inverness-shire where rewilders welcome them, join Chantal on a journey of discovery as she reveals what it might take for us to coexist with the magnificent Wild Boar.

Chantal Lyons is a naturalist, writer and science communicator. Having grown up in the tidy countryside of Kent, her encounters with the growing rewilding movement opened her eyes to the potential for restoring nature in Britain, and inspired her to study the relations between people and Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean. She currently lives in Cheltenham, never too far from the boar.

Chantal recently took time out of her busy schedule to tell us about her first experience with a Wild Boar, her hopes and fears for the future of their populations in Britain, and more.

First of all, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to writing a book about Wild Boar in Britain?

Up until my mid-twenties I spent all my writing time churning out unpublishable fantasy and sci-fi novels, alongside a zig-zagging career in the charity sector. The journey to Groundbreakers was perhaps a ponderous one – it started when I went to the Forest of Dean in summer 2014 to research a Masters dissertation in environmental social science. The Forest of Dean was, and still is, one of the few places in the country where Wild Boar have returned since their extirpation from Britain around 700 years ago. I wanted to find out from local residents what it was like to suddenly find yourself living alongside a big, wild, and utterly unfamiliar creature. What I discovered from those interviews astounded me, and I was sure that some established nature writer would soon publish a book about the return of boar to Britain and what this meant for us. No one did. After seven years, I decided to send off a proposal to a publisher who I’d encountered on Twitter, and it snowballed from there.

Could you tell us about your first real life experience with a Wild Boar?

It was a long time in coming! While I was in the Forest of Dean doing the Masters research, I used every spare moment to explore the woods on my own, often following locals’ leads. It always came to nothing. The boar seem to be like cats – you seem to be more likely to meet them the less you want to. But eventually, at the tail end of summer, I went to a spot where I’d heard from someone that a sounder (a family group of boar, which is always led by a matriarch) had been foraging each evening. I heard them softly calling to each other, then there was a rustling in the bracken, and an adult stepped out onto the path to get a look at me. We stared at each other for about two seconds, she gave a belching alarm call, and then she vanished with her family.

Wild boar and 7 piglets lead down on a rocky bank in the Yorkshire Dales. — Wild boar at Bolton Castle in Yorkshire Dales National Park, by HarshLight via flickr.

I appreciated the ways in which you speak about rewilding, in particular the importance of nuance and accepting the unknown. Do you think that uncertainties about the best way to undergo reintroduction projects and their expected outcomes are a significant hindrance to their implementation?

I have heard many a time from rewilding practitioners that the inherent uncertainties in rewilding can make it especially challenging to gain funding, given that projects aimed at restoring nature have traditionally been expected to be able to set clear targets and end-goals. But beyond practicalities like money, I think the bigger challenge is the attitude that reintroducing species for rewilding purposes is too big an unknown, and therefore too big a risk. Of course we should aim to conduct as much scientific research and gather as much knowledge as possible, but we are running out of time to reverse the haemorrhaging of our biodiversity in Britain and globally. To me, it beggars belief that we seem quite happy to continue doing all kinds of things that we know are massively damaging the environment, but reintroducing species? Why, that’s a step too far!

Close up image of two wild boar walking through mud with their snouts and feet covered in wet mud. — Wild boar, by Marieke IJsendoorn-Kuijpers, via flickr.

One part of the book that particularly resonated with me was in ‘The Risks of Being Alive’ where you speak about how, for most modern humans, ‘nothing matters more in life than eliminating all risk to it – even at the cost of happiness’. What do you think it would take for humans to accept more wildness into their lives?

Maybe it’s a cliché to say this, but I think it hugely helps to engage children with nature from a young age, and to continue doing so as they grow up. That of course means ensuring that everyone can access nature.

Beyond that, the question of how to convince people to accept more wildness is an incredibly tricky one, especially in a place like Britain which suffers so badly from ‘ecological tidiness disorder’ (as Benedict Macdonald puts it in Rebirding). The problem is that most of us have not made the connection between our tidy sterilised surroundings and the loss of nature. There is a lack of understanding that the majestically bare plains of Dartmoor or our rolling green fields mean an absence of life; and that you need all manner of species, including big ones, to ensure healthy ecosystems. I didn’t realise this for years. But once you know, you can’t stop wanting to bang the drum.

What are your biggest hopes and worst fears for the future of Wild Boar populations in Britain?

I want the planned, country-wide reintroduction of Wild Boar to become accepted both politically and societally. In the meantime, I hope that the few boar we do have are allowed to thrive. That means more oversight of people carrying out legal shooting of them on their land, and – in the case of the Forest of Dean population – better censusing methods to ensure they are not over-culled (though some culling will always be needed, as the boar currently lack other predators).

What am I most afraid of? That very soon, a disease called African Swine Fever (ASF) which burns through pig populations like wildfire will make its way into Britain. Since Brexit, border controls on pork imports have been so lax that experts think it’s only a matter of time before ASF reaches us. Forestry England is primed to wipe out every last boar in the Forest of Dean if the disease is ever detected in the population. And once they’re gone, it seems very unlikely that they would ever be reintroduced (legally or illegally) again. We will miss a miraculous chance to kickstart the landscape-scale restoration of nature in Britain.

Wild Boar piglets running across the road in a national park park with the sun out. — Wild Boar Sus Scrofa, by Björn, via flickr.

Finally, what is occupying your time at the moment? Are there plans for further books in the pipeline?

I work full-time as a science communicator, which does narrow my research and writing windows! But I am currently working on a proposal for book number two. It’s intended to be something of an evolution of Groundbreakers, picking up a thread that often emerged during my research interviews with people, but which I couldn’t possibly have fitted into this first book…

Groundbreakers is available from our online bookstore.

Author Q&A with Robert Wolton: Hedges

In Hedges, Robert Wolton brings together decades of research and personal experiences from his farm in Devon to explore the ecology, biology, nature conservation and wider environmental values of the hedges in the British Isles. Containing over 300 photographs and figures, this latest addition to the British Wildlife Collection offers a detailed commentary on hedges and their importance in our landscape.

Robert is an ecological consultant and writer specialising in the management of farmland and associated habitats for wildlife. He is a former hedgerow specialist for Natural England, the founder, chair, editor and lead author of the Devon Hedge Group, has been involved in Hedgelink since it began, and has written a number of reports and articles specialising in hedges.

Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be contributing to the British Wildlife Collection with a book on hedges?

I’ve had a life-long interest in natural history, even as a schoolboy I was a very keen birdwatcher. Later, at university, I trained as a zoologist with a strong interest in mammals, although subsequently I have been more involved with insects, especially moths and flies. It was perhaps inevitable that I should pursue a career in nature conservation. My passion for hedges was awakened when we bought a small farm in the heart of Devon, my wife, Paula, looking after the cattle and sheep while I went to the office. Initially it was the flower-filled meadows that drew me to the land, but I soon realised that the many thick hedges, full of different trees and shrubs, were glorious and just as special, particularly when I discovered that those small spherical nests I kept finding were made by Hazel Dormice. At that time, 30 years ago, hedges were very under-appreciated in the nature conservation world – there was a gap waiting to be filled and I was able to persuade my bosses in English Nature to allow me to become a part-time national hedge specialist, a role I continued to fill after the organisation morphed into Natural England. Partial retirement gave me the opportunity to write a book on my beloved hedges. I’d always dreamt of having a volume in the British Wildlife Collection, much admiring the series, so when Bloomsbury offered me the chance I jumped at it.

Robert Wolton, author of Hedges, photographed stood by a large pile of thin trees being used to construct a man-made hedge. — Robert Wolton making a hedge.

I tend to think of hedges as being man-made. But is there such a thing as a natural hedge? And if so, how do these come about?

Most hedges in Britain and Ireland are indeed man-made. Some, though, have grown up naturally along fence lines and ditches – these are termed spontaneous hedges and I think they are becoming more frequent, especially along the sides of roads and railway lines. Trees and shrubs, their seeds carried by wind, birds and mammals, can colonise strips of rough grassland remarkably quickly, often protected to begin with by brambles. It does not take many years before there’s at least a proto-hedge present, and after a decade or two it may be difficult to tell it was not planted. Another way hedges have come into being is through strips of woodland being left when land is cleared for agriculture. These are called ghost hedges. Their origin is often given away by the presence of unexpectedly high numbers of trees and herbs characteristic of ancient woodland because they have poor dispersal abilities.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter in your book on the origins and history of hedges. Do you think that the study of hedges can give us an insight into the natural and social history of our country?

Without a doubt. Throughout our countryside, away from the open moors and fens, the pattern of fields, as defined by hedges and sometimes drystone walls, allows the history of the landscape to be read, often going back centuries, even sometimes millennia. We are so fortunate in these islands still to have this landscape continuity – it has been lost over much of continental Europe. In places like Dartmoor, which I can see from our farm, layer upon layer of history can be unpicked through studying the networks of field boundaries, most of which are banked hedges. Some can be traced back to the Bronze Age, 3,500 years ago. This may be exceptional, but even so, most of the hedges in Britain, and many in Ireland, probably date back to Medieval times. They are a hugely important part of our cultural heritage. We love our hedges. This is evident not just in the countryside, but across our villages, towns and cities, in our gardens and parks. Hedge topiary is, after all, a national pastime!

Farmland hedge leading towards a forest at the end of a farm track along the right-hand side of a field. — Hedge, by Damien Walmsley via Flickr.

As you describe early on in the book, there are many different types of hedge, from those that consist of just a single species to very diverse multi-species ones, even ones that have been allowed to mature into lines of trees. Is there a type of hedge that is best for the surrounding wildlife and environment and that we should be trying to replicate or maintain as much as possible?

If you put me on the spot, I’ll answer this question by saying that thick, dense, bushy hedges are the best for wildlife, preferably with margins full of tussocky grasses and wildflowers. But really we should be thinking about what networks of hedges look like, because there’s no such thing as a perfect hedge. Different birds, mammals and insects like different conditions, and in any case you can’t keep a hedge in the same state for ever, however carefully you manage it. Basically, the trees and shrubs are always trying to reach maturity, and as they do so gaps develops beneath their canopies and between them. That’s when laying or coppicing are needed, to rejuvenate the hedge and make it more dense and bushy. A lot more research needs to be done on this, but probably, from a wildlife point of view, at least half of all the hedges in a network, say that covering a decent-sized farm, should be in this condition. On the other hand, from a climate perspective, where we need to capture as much carbon as quickly as possible, tall hedges with many mature trees are best. You can see there are tensions here, all part of the challenge of managing hedges well. Who said it was easy?

A dusty track running in a straight line with hedges on both sides and tall, narrow, straight trees behind the left hand hedge. — Into the Distance, by Dave S via Flickr.

As both a farmer and an ecologist, I’m sure you are more attuned than many to the conflicting needs of making a living from the land and managing hedges for the benefit of wildlife and conservation. Do you think financial incentives are the only way to encourage landowners and farmers to both plant more and maintain existing hedges?

Financial incentives like government grants will always be important to landowners and farmers because good hedges benefit society at large just as much as those who own and manage them. Things like plentiful wildlife, carbon capture, reduced risk of homes flooding and beautiful landscapes rarely bring in any income to offset costs, let alone profit – it is right that they are supported from the public purse.

Still, hedges can be of direct financial value to farmers through serving as living fences, preventing the loss of soil or providing logs and wood chips for heating. They can also increase crop yields through boosting numbers of pollinators and the predators of pests. To some extent, these direct benefits to farm businesses have been forgotten in recent decades in the drive for increased food production regardless of environmental cost, but they are now being appreciated much more as new ways of working the land, such as regenerative farming, catch on.

And we should not overlook the fact that more and more landowners and farmers are prepared to bear at least some of the costs of good hedge management simply because they gain huge satisfaction from healthy hedges and all the wildlife they contain. The pleasure of seeing a covey of Partridges or a charm of Goldfinches, or hearing the purring song of the Turtle Dove, cannot be priced.

A narrow, windy track going through a high sided hedge into the distance in a circle. — by Oli Haines.

Finally, how did you find the experience of writing this book, and will there be other publications from you on the horizon?

This is my first ‘big’ book, and I was apprehensive to say the least when I started writing it, in 2022. But with a lot of encouragement from my wife and friends I soon got into the swing of things. Challenging for sure but personally most rewarding – exploring new facets, checking information and trying to find the best way to pass on my enthusiasm for the subject. Above all, it felt good to share knowledge collected over many years. Bloomsbury’s support was invaluable, there’s no way I could have self-published. As to whether there are more books in me, I’m not sure. Perhaps one on hedges in gardens? There again, I have a passion for wet woodland, another habitat that’s been much neglected. It’s all too soon to say.

Hedges is available to order from our bookstore.