Mark Fisher
@selfwilledland.bsky.social
Advocate for unfettered wild nature
Pinned
Noticing nature is not about counting species. I notice nature for what it tells me about how it lives, how it distributes, and what space it needs away from the disturbance of people. It’s a purposeful absorption that fills my days
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
Reposted by Mark Fisher
My letter on the UK Government’s recently-published animal welfare strategy - in the @theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 7:16 PM
My letter on the UK Government’s recently-published animal welfare strategy - in the @theguardian.com
Unusually, a beadlet anenome hanging upside down with its tentacles mostly retracted as the sea level falls and rises with each wave. Note the blue beadlets that contain stinging cells
December 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Unusually, a beadlet anenome hanging upside down with its tentacles mostly retracted as the sea level falls and rises with each wave. Note the blue beadlets that contain stinging cells
Purple sandpiper enjoying the sun today, but with one eye on the waves
December 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Purple sandpiper enjoying the sun today, but with one eye on the waves
Turnstone searching for food at the base of West Pier, Whitby, this morning at low tide
December 20, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Turnstone searching for food at the base of West Pier, Whitby, this morning at low tide
Fulmars allopreening as a means of pair bonding. Sandstone ledge, West Cliff, Whitby, this morning.
December 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Fulmars allopreening as a means of pair bonding. Sandstone ledge, West Cliff, Whitby, this morning.
Redshank feeding on the low tide estuarine mud of the River Esk before it flows into the inner harbour, Whitby
December 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Redshank feeding on the low tide estuarine mud of the River Esk before it flows into the inner harbour, Whitby
Noticing nature is not about counting species. I notice nature for what it tells me about how it lives, how it distributes, and what space it needs away from the disturbance of people. It’s a purposeful absorption that fills my days
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
December 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Noticing nature is not about counting species. I notice nature for what it tells me about how it lives, how it distributes, and what space it needs away from the disturbance of people. It’s a purposeful absorption that fills my days
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/not...
The fulmars have returned to the sandstone ledges on West Cliff, Whitby - 31 this morning.
December 3, 2025 at 10:11 AM
The fulmars have returned to the sandstone ledges on West Cliff, Whitby - 31 this morning.
"Stop waking me up!" Couple of cormorants on arocks at low tide near West Pier, Whiby, this morning
November 23, 2025 at 5:43 PM
"Stop waking me up!" Couple of cormorants on arocks at low tide near West Pier, Whiby, this morning
Statement of the obvious - "woody species richness decreased with herbivore species richness at the site scale"
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Statement of the obvious - "woody species richness decreased with herbivore species richness at the site scale"
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Turnstone turning stones this morning amongst the rocks below the point of extension of West Pier, Whitby
November 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Turnstone turning stones this morning amongst the rocks below the point of extension of West Pier, Whitby
Went to see the turnstones this morning, but none there. Small bird flew in amongst the rocks just as I was leaving. Once this purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima) realised I wasn’t moving, it got on with looking for food. Fortunately, the yapping dog was oblivious to its presence
October 22, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Went to see the turnstones this morning, but none there. Small bird flew in amongst the rocks just as I was leaving. Once this purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima) realised I wasn’t moving, it got on with looking for food. Fortunately, the yapping dog was oblivious to its presence
A common starfish (Asterias rubens) is slow moving, but that is still faster than its relatively immobile prey of marine molluscs like mussels, as well as barnacles, sea snails and sea urchins
October 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
A common starfish (Asterias rubens) is slow moving, but that is still faster than its relatively immobile prey of marine molluscs like mussels, as well as barnacles, sea snails and sea urchins
The sensitivity of turnstones to human disturbance on the NE coast varies, their Flight Initiation Distance being shorter in disturbed areas. These turnstones near the harbour wall at Whitby show a degree of habituation to disturbance, or maybe they just want their photo taken
October 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The sensitivity of turnstones to human disturbance on the NE coast varies, their Flight Initiation Distance being shorter in disturbed areas. These turnstones near the harbour wall at Whitby show a degree of habituation to disturbance, or maybe they just want their photo taken
"Are you collecting fungi too?" asked a lady with a big basket. "No, I'm here for a walk" was my reply. Here are some fungi I "collected" with my camera in the birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor
October 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
"Are you collecting fungi too?" asked a lady with a big basket. "No, I'm here for a walk" was my reply. Here are some fungi I "collected" with my camera in the birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor
Reposted by Mark Fisher
Homo sapiens hunted much megafauna to extinction... then domestication and agriculture/livestock went on to cause yet more harm:
"Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species."
"Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species."
Fossil evidence from six continents indicates that human agriculture and livestock have fundamentally altered global mammal communities, disrupting natural patterns established during the Ice Age. doi.org/g95dzg
How humans reshaped the animal world: Research traces 50,000 years of change
New fossil research shows how human impacts, particularly through the rise of agriculture and livestock, have disrupted natural mammal communities as profoundly as the Ice Age extinctions.
phys.org
September 30, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Homo sapiens hunted much megafauna to extinction... then domestication and agriculture/livestock went on to cause yet more harm:
"Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species."
"Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species."
Biggest chicken of the wood (Laetiporus sulphureus) I've ever found. Unnamed woodland near Fitts Steps on the Whitby-Ruswarp Trod Path
September 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Biggest chicken of the wood (Laetiporus sulphureus) I've ever found. Unnamed woodland near Fitts Steps on the Whitby-Ruswarp Trod Path
Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) as big as side plates in secondary birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor yesterday. Such autumn colour
September 29, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) as big as side plates in secondary birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor yesterday. Such autumn colour
Reposted by Mark Fisher
This shows the challenge of livestock as 'wild animals'. Another question is if it is appropriate or necessary to maintain livestock - however wild - on St. Kilda now that the people are gone? Deep questions really, about what authenticity means in nature. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Fresh call from Uist vets for controls on remote St Kilda's sheep
Two vets say numbers of Soay sheep need to be reduced to prevent animals from starving in winter.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 29, 2025 at 10:51 AM
This shows the challenge of livestock as 'wild animals'. Another question is if it is appropriate or necessary to maintain livestock - however wild - on St. Kilda now that the people are gone? Deep questions really, about what authenticity means in nature. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Pod of dolphins heading east along Filey Brigg at 3.40pm today
September 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Pod of dolphins heading east along Filey Brigg at 3.40pm today
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) at low tide on the rocks near the pier, Whitby
September 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) at low tide on the rocks near the pier, Whitby
Fungi seen yestreday in secondary birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor: blushing bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) brown cup fungi (Otidea spp.)
September 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Fungi seen yestreday in secondary birch woodland on Ugglebarnby Moor: blushing bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) brown cup fungi (Otidea spp.)
Eyelash pixie cup (Scutellinia scutellata) growing on dead wood lodged in a natural dam on Stainsacre Beck in Cock Mill Wood near Whitby. If you look closely, you can see the very short black eyelashes around the perimeter
September 21, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Eyelash pixie cup (Scutellinia scutellata) growing on dead wood lodged in a natural dam on Stainsacre Beck in Cock Mill Wood near Whitby. If you look closely, you can see the very short black eyelashes around the perimeter
Good waves at Saltwick Nab, Whitby, this morning
September 21, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Good waves at Saltwick Nab, Whitby, this morning
Purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima) on rock exposed at low tide this morning at Saltwick Nab, near Whitby
September 21, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima) on rock exposed at low tide this morning at Saltwick Nab, near Whitby