Mr Wildlife

admin
, 19 June 2016
Mr Wildlife
Mike Russell / Miles Davies

Sussex Wildlife Trust says goodbye to one of its most charismatic and loved members of staff at the end of this month when Mike Russell, nicknamed ‘Mr Wildlife’ by his colleagues, retires after over 30 years.

He joined the Sussex Wildlife Trust in 1985 as warden and lived with his wife, Pauline and two sons, Liam and Niall at Woods Mill nature reserve – the house has since been converted into offices for staff working for the registered charity, the largest nature conservation organisation in Sussex.

Mike has countless memories of ‘special’ wildlife moments but says his life is inextricably linked to the nightingale – a migrant that flies 3,000 miles each year from West Africa to the South of England to find a mate and breed before making the perilous return journey. Mike’s Evening with Nightingales events are legendary and sell out every year.

During the past 31 years Mike has worked as nature reserve warden, led the Trust’s Education team and developed their People and Wildlife department. He has organised and led thousands of nature based events from 4 a.m. dawn choruses to late night excursions onto heathland reserves to introduce people to the haunting sights and sounds of the nightjar.

Mike who lives in Henfield said, ‘Over the past few years I have returned to perhaps what I enjoy most, organising our adult education programmes and particularly teaching. I find it rewarding to be able to show and inspire people about the wonderful landscapes and wildlife to be found in Sussex.

‘Retirement beckons and although I will continue to lead some courses at Woods Mill nature reserve at Henfield and throughout Sussex in the future, I will undoubtedly miss my day to day involvement with the Sussex Wildlife Trust which has been such a huge part of my life.’

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Alison Newell:

    I have been on many courses with Mike and found them all thoroughly enjoyable and educative – even the one when we failed to hear a single nightingale!

    Best wishes for a long and happy retirement.

    27 Jun 2016 13:19:19

  • Huw Jones:

    I worked with Mike as a volunteer in the late 80’s and during the legendary ET (Employment Training) year of 1991-92! Mike is a true man of nature and has inspired his passion into countless others to go forth and enjoy and protect Sussex’s wonderful nature.

    Good luck old boy!

    14 Mar 2017 13:02:46

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783623694.99810 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783623695.02550.0273Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783623695.02560.0001Server address: 216.73.217.88
1783623695.02570Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783623695.02570Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/mr-wildlife
    [s] => mr-wildlife
    [1] => mr-wildlife
)
1783623695.0260.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.02710.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783623695.02880.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22836112
1783623695.02940.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22836112
1783623695.030.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-09 19:01:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-09 19:01:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783623695.03120.0012 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='mr-wildlife')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 19:01:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783623695.03290.0017 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783623695.03340.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1150 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 19:01:00'
1783623695.03420.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783623695.0350.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783623695.03560.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=3 LIMIT 1
1783623695.03620.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783623695.03640.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783623695.03720.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 19:01:00' AND postSlug='mr-wildlife'
1783623695.0580.0207Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783623695.05850.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783623695.06040.0018Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783623695.06060.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783623695.06150.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783623695.0630.0015 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783623695.06580.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.06650.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783623695.06890.0024Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783623695.0690.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.06990.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.07040.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.07330.0029 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.07450.0012 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.07530.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783623695.07850.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.07930.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783623695.08150.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783623695.0820.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783623695.08230.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783623695.0830.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783623695.08350.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='mr-wildlife')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-09 19:01:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783623695.08550.0021 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783623695.08610.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783623695.08860.0025Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783623695.08940.0008 [2] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1150 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783623695.14130.0519 [2] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783623695.14210.0008Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783623695.14230.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783623695.14330.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783623695.14410.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783623695.14470.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783623695.14690.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.14750.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783623695.14940.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783623695.15070.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783623695.15130.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783623695.1520.0006 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783623695.15470.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.15520.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783623695.15720.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783623695.16060.0034 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783623695.16140.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783623695.16180.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783623695.16410.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.16460.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783623695.16670.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783623695.16880.0021 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783623695.16930.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783623695.16980.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783623695.17180.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783623695.17230.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783623695.17420.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783623695.17540.0012Request time: 0.1789
1783623695.17540Process time: 0.1787
1783623695.17540Memory: 1.6239