Shaftesbury Cuckoo Day: An evening with Conor Mark Jameson

Finding WH Hudson The Writer Who Came to Britain to Save the BirdsConor Mark Jameson is a writer, ornithologist, campaigner, conservationist and enthusiastic communicator. His books include Silent Spring Revisited (2012), Looking for the Goshawk (2013), Shrewdunnit: The Nature Files (2014), and Finding WH Hudson The Writer Who Came to Britain to Save the Birds, (2023).For the annual Cuckoo Day talk, Conor will share the story of W. H. Hudson, the once-famous campaigning naturalist, ornithologist and author, who loved and visited Dorset and even hoped to live here. Conor's illustrated talk will highlight Hudson's love of springtime, and its songbirds not least the cuckoo and his work with his mostly female colleagues to end the over-exploitation of wild birds.Conor will also refer to his book Silent Spring Revisted which celebrates the influence of Rachel Carson in taking conservation to another level, in the mid 20th Century.Hudson's and Carsons examples are an inspiration, giving us hope for the future.
Conor Mark Jameson has written for the Guardian, BBC Wildlife, the Ecologist, New Statesman, Africa Geographic, NZ Wilderness, British Birds, Birdwatch and Birdwatching magazines and has been a scriptwriter for the BBC Natural History Unit. He is a columnist and feature writer for the RSPB magazine and has worked in conservation for 20 years, in the UK and abroad.Image credit: St Evans