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Ian Carter

@iancarter67.bsky.social
1.8K followers 784 following 333 posts

Galloway-based naturalist and author: Rhythms of Nature | Human, Nature | The Red Kite | The Red Kite’s Year | The Hen Harrier’s Year | Wild Galloway pelagicpublishing.com/collections/i… www.whittlespublishing.com/Wild_Gal…

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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
We have one of these in the bay at the moment. A Sowerby’s Beaked Whale. A new one for me, more like a large dolphin than a typical whale, slim, with that distinctive long beak and dark patches around the eyes. Post-mortem being carried out today apparently. (The lone ‘tooth’ is a periwinkle!)
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Ian Parsons @ianparsons.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
And still it goes on... If you don't know what I mean, read this and weep. @markavery.bsky.social @georgemonbiot.bsky.social @alexanderlees.bsky.social @iand777.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The human is on the path I always use. How am I supposed to get back to the wood?
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James Gilbert @jamesgilbertmr.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Recently read this—a fine book exploring our attitudes to nature. An excellent, engaging read—informative, honest & balanced. Had myself wishing Ian lived near to me; regularly over a coffee, we could cheer & console each other on the state of British wildlife & wild places. @iancarter67.bsky.social
Front cover of the book “Human, Nature” by Ian Carter.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Evidence of breeding, finally! They nest in a little roof space of the house above the downstairs toilet. You can hear them shuffling around above when paying a visit.
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Mark Avery @markavery.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Sunday book review: A Galloway Year by @iancarter67.bsky.social & Karen Menarry Publisher: Whittles Review: markavery.info/2026/06/28/s... 'A celebration of Galloway through tales of interesting walks with wildlife and gorgeous illustrations of the landscape' #Galloway #wildlife
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kevguttridge.bsky.social @kevguttridge.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
My weekend reading arrived today A Galloway year by @iancarter67.bsky.social 😁 #wildlifebook
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Steve Hill @stevehill.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
@iancarter67.bsky.social having read Ian’s Wild Galloway, & two of his birds books, I am looking forward to reading this. Thanks to indie bookshop Sherlock & Pages for getting it for me.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
I’m reading these two at the same time. Polar opposites in their approach to nature, both approaches having considerable merit as is so well argued in the respective books. I think I’m more JC than GL in outlook but both are brilliant, thought-provoking books.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
After two years working on Wild Galloway (a solo project) it has been a real pleasure to join forces with Karen for our new book (coming soon). Her magical prints capture the varied landscapes of Galloway so perfectly. Writing about the wildlife these places support has been a year very well spent.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
After two years working on Wild Galloway (a solo project) it has been a real pleasure to join forces with Karen for our new book (coming soon). Her magical prints capture the varied landscapes of Galloway so perfectly. Writing about the wildlife these places support has been a year very well spent.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
A sneak preview, and not necessarily the final cover. But a fantastic project to work on over the last year or so. Coming soon!
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Another one for the extensive collection @ruthtingay.bsky.social. A brace of shot Pheasants, tied at the neck and given to a shooter. Only to be wrapped in plastic and hurled into the nearest river before washing up here on a remote Solway beach. They are bred as living targets rather than as food.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Little clusters of 11-spot Ladybirds all along this exposed metal fence in Oxfordshire. Seems an odd place to overwinter with so little shelter. Attracting the attention of walkers on the footpath as the cars roared by.
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Raptor Persecution UK @raptorpersuk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
THREE satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagles disappear in suspicious circumstances in England, Wales & Scotland - two tags had been cut off. Press release from Isle of Wight WTE Project Team & additional commentary from me ⬇️⬇️ #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/12/17/t...
raptorpersecutionuk.org
Three satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagles disappear in suspicious circumstances in England, Wales & Scotland – two tags had been cut off
Press release from Forestry England (17 December 2025) THREE WHITE-TAILED EAGLES DISAPPEAR IN SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES The public are being asked to help the police investigate the suspicious disap…
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Kerrie Ann Gardner @kerriedoodles.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Day sixteen of #ArtAdventCalendar. Here’s a soft pastel painting of my local river in the depths of winter.
A soft pastel painting of a river overhung by many spindly trees in winter. The sky is grey, the water is silver and the trees are brown, some of them delicately lined with verdant green moss.
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Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Well, this is quite extraordinary! Lovely Ian being so kind & generous about my book, but also, what a connection! Reunited with the memory of a dear, much-loved pony, in the galloped woods above Reading…
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
@nicolawriting.bsky.social has written a wonderful, stirring book, weaving together her knowledge of the landscape with those who have come before - the ghosts that haunt her local walks. I met a ghost too. My sister’s old horse Padjo gets an unexpected mention! Here he is over 40 years ago.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
The usual assortment of litter on the tideline and, ironically enough, an intact plastic litter bin washed up by the recent high tides. (Lucozade the most common plastic bottle on the beach, as it almost always is -- why is that?)
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Kerrie Ann Gardner @kerriedoodles.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Day fourteen of #ArtAdventCalendar Here’s a rook, painted with black ink. Unfinished as yet.
A painting of a rook in black ink. The bird is flying from the right to the left with its wings up and its feet lifted and pointing forwards, as if it is coming in to land.
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Ian Parsons @ianparsons.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Even their heartland is rejecting them... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @iancarter67.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social
bbc.co.uk
Tiverton council votes to declare Boxing day hunt 'unwelcome'
Motion passed saying
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Chris Townsend @christownsend.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Review of a mountaineering classic www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2025/11/book...
christownsendoutdoors.com
Book Review: Everest The Hard Way by Chris Bonington
Fifty years ago Chris Bonington led the first expedition to climb the South West Face of Everest, a phenomenal achievement. A year later h...
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Mark Avery @markavery.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Ian - many thanks! Nice shelves!
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Steve Hill @stevehill.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I enjoyed @iancarter67.bsky.social and Dan Powell’s The Red Kite’s Year so I have got a copy of this!
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
For a handful of nature writers, I want to read all that they write. The common traits? Knowledge, understanding, clarity of thought, and a knack for transferring it all to the page with humour and enthusiasm. Mark is one of them. And his co-author is very good too. @markavery.bsky.social
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
For a handful of nature writers, I want to read all that they write. The common traits? Knowledge, understanding, clarity of thought, and a knack for transferring it all to the page with humour and enthusiasm. Mark is one of them. And his co-author is very good too. @markavery.bsky.social
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Ian Parsons @ianparsons.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Very excited to share this! My new book, published by @pelagic.bsky.social is out June 2026 pelagicpublishing.com/products/tar... Tarka Revisited - 100 Years of Rivers & Wildlife @iancarter67.bsky.social @markbirdingpinoso.bsky.social @drtonygillie.bsky.social @nicwilson.bsky.social
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Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Tonight's my 14th & last book-related event for the term. So grateful my limited energy has lasted (with many recharge sessions). I've spoken in bank vaults, museums, libraries, bookshops, rewilding sites & round the fire in an Iron Age roundhouse. It's been a ball! @summersdalebooks.bsky.social
A group of people in a bookshop listening to a woman in a white shirt and navy trousers give a talk at the front.Nic wearing an orange top and navy trousers showing her book, Land beneath the Waves. She is sat in a beige armchair in a bookshop.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
The noisy early morning commute between the Solway and the fields where they feed. As I soon discovered, there were two wildfowlers hidden away directly below the flight line. Had these been Pink-feet rather than (non-shootable) Barnacle Geese, the spectacle would have been rudely interrupted.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Badger paths run across all the different layers of habitat in the glen. Across the fields, through gaps in the stone dykes then up and away into the hills where they make useful routes through the Bracken - narrow but just about walkable lines for humans through otherwise impenetrable vegetation.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
I can’t help but pick up these fishing lures whenever I find them. These are mostly from the Solway strandline, at the edge of our Galloway glen. Our cocker spaniel once found, and almost swallowed, a baited hook, and the sorry story…
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Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
My nature writing-historical-memoiry mash-up, about pioneering, forgotten women & queer farmers has been out a month! Holed up with a broken leg (will be at Romsey Waterstones & Folde) but I’d love some cheer, shares, a review or stars on that Amzn site to help things along! #GhostsoftheFarm x
Me on two legs with my book in the fields Miss White of Manor Farm, & I, worked in, beneath Gallows Down My books piled up in Newbury Waterstones! Hurrah! Book spotted at Stanford’s, Bristol
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Steve Hill @stevehill.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
@iancarter67.bsky.social really enjoyed this. Interesting facts, engaging writing, lots of references and beautiful artwork and stories to the art (can’t find Dan on here to tag).
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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 29/10/2025
this must be so infuriating for the beaver
Two trees with beaver sign, one has already been cut by the cityTwo tree stumps, cut by the city of Minneapolis just above beaver gnaw marks
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The scat looks good for Pine Marten, and is usually the only evidence we have that they are here in our glen. On top of a stone dyke at the edge of the wood. A moulted Buzzard feather found nearby.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Interesting Fly Agaric on the Galloway cliffs today, miles from the nearest woodland. Not sure I’ve ever seen them away from the woods before.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
A ‘starburst’ print in sand where the burn rushes over the beach (Otters love fresh water for bathing). A few minutes later, one fishing in the shallows offshore, carrying a fish up onto the rocks. Rascarrel, on the north side of the Solway, a regular spot.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Just had a Barn Owl box put up. The blokes installed it the wrong way up and had to come back to flip it round. Got there in the end!
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Common Rosefinch still at Rascarrel this morning. It has a split ring on the right leg. I wonder if it has been ringed further north in Scotland earlier this autumn? If anyone knows of a ringed bird I‘d be interested to hear. It’s a juvenile so unlikely to be an escapee. @dgbirdnews.bsky.social
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Lots of Honey Fungi about at the moment. The caps are edible if well cooked.
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Juvenile Common Rosefinch. Feeding along the strandline by bushes in front of the old beach cabins (not the new rentals) at Rascarrel this afternoon. Usual vast numbers of Common Scoter offshore, some close in. @barryodowd.bsky.social @steverutt.bsky.social
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Perfect little group of Field Mushrooms in rough pasture near the cliffs. Hestan Island and the Solway in the background. Birding and sorting lunch rolled into one.
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
May 2015. David Cameron was Prime Minister, UK an EU member, Barack Obama was US President, and this male Marsh Tit hatched in Monks Wood. Colour-ringed 28 August 2015. Photo 2 April 2016. Observed every year since. @martamaziarz.bsky.social & I saw him again today, 10 yrs 5 mo old, still surviving.
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James Aithie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @jamesaithie.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Today at #WigtownBookFestival 📚 @iancarter67.bsky.social - Wild Galloway: From the Hilltops to the Solway, a Portrait of a Glen Robert Twigger's End of The World Survival Guide @davidgraham-clarke.bsky.social - Epiphanies and Robberies cont.. tickets.wigtownbookfestival.com/sales #Wigtown
tickets.wigtownbookfestival.com
Home
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British Wildlife @britishwildlife.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
The latest British Wildlife newsletter is now available, our monthly round-up from the magazines featuring exclusive book reviews, highlights from the back catalogue, and conversations with our authors. You can read the September newsletter here: mailchi.mp/britishwildl...
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Ian Parsons @ianparsons.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Read my review of Renaturing by James Canton, a book that provoked a few thoughts. @iand777.bsky.social @rewildscotland.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @irishrainforest.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social @landethics.bsky.social - you even get a mention Steve #Rewilding
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Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
It’s book publication day for #GhostsoftheFarm! It’s been a lifetime’s companionable & instructional haunting, & I’m thrilled to bring these women from out the shadows, honour them & raise & address my own rural ghosts. Love & thanks to @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social & my early readers too x
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Raptor Persecution UK @raptorpersuk.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Gosh, what a mystery. Whatever could have happened to them? No bodies, no tags, no prosecutions, no accountability, no deterrent. This will continue. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/29/t...
raptorpersecutionuk.org
Two Golden Eagles ‘disappear’ in south Scotland – Police appeal for information
Press release from Police Scotland, 29 September 2025: APPEAL FOR MISSING GOLDEN EAGLE Detectives are appealing for information after a satellite-tagged golden eagle disappeared in the hills to the…
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
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Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Good haul of hazenuts yesterday. And lucked into these perfect field mushrooms on the way home. The heather-clad slopes of Bengairn as a backdrop.
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