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Fledgling Chaffinch calls for parents
Continuing my wildlife adventures with my iPhone, I caught this charming Chaffinch calling for its parents yesterday. My gut feeling was that a parent would soon show up, which is exactly what happened; however, I’m frustrated to report that I didn’t manage to film the parent (a male Chaffinch) appearing on the very same garden…
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Wildlife adventures with an iPhone
I filmed this at the weekend by attaching my iPhone to a sunflower heart bird feeder using an elastic band. Why didn’t I think of this before? Within a few moments, our friendly neighbourhood Goldfinch was on the feeder and busy extracting some of Haith’s bird foods finest. Isn’t it super to get this close…
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Photos of the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace yesterday
I asked my wife to pinch me yesterday as we walked through the gates at Buckingham Palace on our way by foot to The Royal Garden Party. We’d panicked for weeks about the weather (we needn’t have). As we stepped onto the camomile infused lawn – it was certainly infused with tea after several thousand…
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World Pheasant Association cover the Maxwell Knight Symposium in WPA News
The World Pheasant Association’s WPA News, Spring 2019, includes a lengthy report on the Maxwell Knight Symposium (MKS) and looks super. We’d like to thank www.pheasant.org.uk for including the three photos (credit Margaret E Cooper) and allowing FFON to share a snippet of their spring newsletter here. Administrators at the WPA have also been kind enough…
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Is the climate finally right for a change?
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The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Her Majesty to invite me to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. (It turns out I’ll be walking in Maxwell Knight’s footsteps…).
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Maxwell Knight Symposium coverage in the IAT Bulletin
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Maxwell Knight Symposium – commemorating the original “Nature Detective” and Second World War MI5 agent by Victoria J. Burton (12253)
Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society Maxwell Knight (1900-1968) was an all-round naturalist and friend of AES founder Leonard Tesch. Maxwell Knight’s writings and his radio and television broadcasts influenced tens of thousands of people, especially youngsters. The Maxwell Knight Commemorative Symposium was held on Saturday 24 November 2018 at Birkbeck College in London, and marked the fiftieth anniversary of…
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Plummeting decline: ‘may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world’s insect species over the next few decades.’
The report, published in the journal Biological Conservation, says ‘intensive agriculture is the main driver of the declines,’ particularly the use of ‘agro-chemical pollutants’ combined with urbanisation and climate change. The scientific review reports that over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction over the next few decades. Highlights: Over 40% of insect species are threatened…
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John and Margaret Cooper would like to express their personal thanks to Simon King
“Our friend Simon King has been a constant source of encouragement and support in the recent investigations into the life and work of Maxwell Knight (MK). Simon offered to take, temporarily to store, and then to catalogue, the contents of Maxwell Knight’s filing cabinet. This was an enormous undertaking; the undertaking was greatly expedited by the enthusiastic…
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Happy New Year!
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At the DIT Christmas International Trade Reception at Lancaster House
I thoroughly enjoyed attending the DIT Christmas International Trade Reception at Lancaster House (London) on 5th December at the invitation of the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox; it’s been wonderful to represent Haith’s as a Board of Trade award winner and spend 2018 as a Northern Powerhouse Champion.…
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Maxwell Knight, John Bingham and John le Carré by award-winning crime writer, Martin Edwards
Before he earned fame and fortune writing under the name John Le Carre, David Cornwell earned pocket money from part-time artistic work – such as illustrating Maxwell Knight’s Talking Birds. Cornwell, like Knight’s friend and trusted subordinate John Bingham, was then working for the secret services. The three men had something else in common: they…
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Thanks for your encouragement and support for the Maxwell Knight Symposium
A message from John E Cooper, Margaret E Cooper and Simon H King: Thank you for your encouragement and support for the Maxwell Knight Symposium (MKS). The day went well and the audience participation and encouragement was fantastic and we hope you enjoyed it. If you couldn’t attend the event, you can get a good feel for the…
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Living Planet Report 2018: a warning sign for our planet
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Maxwell Knight Symposium 2018 video invitation from Prof. John E. Cooper.
MAXWELL KNIGHT SYMPOSIUM 2018 THE BRITISH HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY (BHS) COMMEMORATIVE SYMPOSIUM London, Saturday 24th November 2018. Birkbeck College, 43 Gordon Square (“School of Arts’ annex”), London WC1H 0PD Organised by the British Herpetological Society (BHS), with support from the British Chelonia Group (BCG), the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES), the Institute of Animal Technology (IAT), The Frightened…
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The International Trade Banquet
Given by The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor Alderman Charles Bowman at The Mansion House on Wednesday 17th October 2018. It was my pleasure to attend this inaugural Banquet recognising the importance of The City – better known as ‘the square mile’ – and its connections with the Department for the International Trade and the…
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Commemorative Symposium – Maxwell Knight, nature detective and MI5
This year, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Maxwell Knight, OBE, FLS. A symposium in November will provide an opportunity for veterinary surgeons and others, especially those interested in conservation, captive-breeding of endangered species and public education, to learn more about “the spy who loved nature”. To listeners of his BBC radio…
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Kenya presentation: “Gorillas in the midst of war” – Saturday, 18 August 2018
FFON contributors John and Margaret Cooper share their two years’ experience working with mountain gorillas in Central Africa, discuss the history of the discovery, and the role played by Dr Louis Leakey and others, in learning more about the biology of these usually gentle and elusive great apes. Bookings: info@kenyamuseumsociety.org
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“The mysterious Mr Knight: spymaster to be celebrated.” – Cage & Aviary Birds magazine July 18.
Thanks, Cage & Aviary Birds for the article “The Mysterious Mr Knight: spymaster to be celebrated” in this week’s publication. Registration for the Maxwell Knight Symposium is via The British Herpetological Society website Organised by the British Herpetological Society (BHS), with support from the British Chelonia Group (BCG), the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES), the Institute…
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Registration is now open for the 2018 Maxwell Knight Symposium
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LATEST NEWS: Venue/date confirmed for Maxwell Knight Symposium
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Simon H King Future of Global Trade Delegate – Expert Forum
The Future of Global Trade – Expert Forum, Whitehall Suite, Royal Horseguards, Wednesday 27th June 2018 Event Overview The Future of Global Trade – Expert Forum (27th June 2018) was a small, senior-level roundtable, which was hosted by the Secretary of State for International Trade, Rt. Hon. Dr Liam Fox at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, Westminster.…
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David Attenborough calls for advertisers who feature animals to contribute to their welfare
Around one in five ads we see feature animals because animals in adverts capture viewers’ attention. But what’s in it for the animals? Little, or most likely, nothing. In the meantime, many of the world’s animals are under threat and habitat loss and degradation of habitat are key reasons for declines. If only these animals…
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Stop garden bird feeders from spreading disease
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) issues guidelines for disease prevention at bird feeders and recommends bird food is purchased from accredited resources – but what on earth do they mean by ‘accredited resources’? The BTO is “calling on everyone who feeds wild birds to be aware of their responsibilities for preventing disease. Simple steps…
