This blog has passed a bit of a milestone today – it has reached 50,000 views. I know it’s not much compared to some of the big bloggers like George Monbiot or Mark Avery, but for me, doing this in my spare time, I’m really pleased to have got here.

So with the heady scent of hubris swirling around me, I thought it would be a good moment to take a look at the most popular posts of the last year.

Number one by quite a long way is last December’s blog about the new Natural England chair Andrew Sells, with 1796 views.

Number 2 is Keeping a Level Head, one of my blogs about last Winter’s flooding on the Somerset Level, with 1587 views.

I’m delighted that Held to Ransom: Solar Farms, green or greed, which I wrote only 6 weeks ago, is already up to number 3 in the blog-charts, with 1460 views. This one is still getting 15 views a week so I expect it will climb the chart before too long.

Lost in the drainage Maize, the previous blog about the Somerset Levels to Keeping a Level Head, is at number 4 with 1320 views.

A political blog that had been gestating for quite a while, the unholy alliance between UKIP and the marxist libertarians, is at number 5 with 1121 views.

At number 6, my most recent blog (of many) on biodiversity offsetting, about the Thaxted wildflower meadow case, proved popular with 1086 views, 954 on the first day.

One of my most personal blogs is number 7, about my late brother Simon, which has received 1023 views. Simon died a year ago last week and is still very much in our thoughts.

A story Simon would have enjoyed (as an angler and wildlife expert), and one that no doubt would have stimulated a long conversation with him, was that of Defra’s plan to evict the Beavers of the River Otter, and the appalling stance taken by the Angling Trust. I blogged about this in June and it is currently number eight with 1018 views. I will return to this story soon.

At 9 is the first blog about the Somerset Levels, On the Level, which I wrote on World Wetlands Day. This has 934 views.

Finally in the top ten is my review of George Monbiot’s book Feral, which I published a year ago tomorrow. This has steadily accrued views over the past year and is up to 835.

So that’s the top ten. I’ve really enjoyed writing these blogs, and it’s become a bit compulsive to be honest. I have really missed writing over the past 6 weeks, but it seemed the right thing to do (to have a proper break).

I will continue writing regularly, as much as I can, fitting in with the day job, volunteering and the family.

So it just leaves me to thank everyone who has read my blog over the past 15 months, and special thanks to the commentators, regular or occasional.

Which were your favourites, and which ones did you think were rubbish? Let me know.