Red-Breasted Merganser
I’d never seen a Red Breasted Merganser before and yet I knew instantly what this was. The name came bubbling back to …
I’d never seen a Red Breasted Merganser before and yet I knew instantly what this was. The name came bubbling back to …
Black Headed Gulls know how to dress: those understated grey wings; not-white undercarriage; the eye shadow detail; and the accessories to die …
Walking along the Bay of Tafts I’m sad to see the body of a Gannet. Its fragile ribs and delicate feathers are …
When I was a child a group of retired gentlemen naturalists took me under their wing. I went on weekly countryside walks …
Forty years ago I drew a Greenfinch. It may have been from a photograph or it may have been from a stuffed …
The mini-boulders on Westray’s beaches are a never-ending source of stripes and spots of beautiful muted colours.
Heron in the mist
There’s a routered Robin portrait at the park which I’m admiring for its child-like simplicity. An then there’s the real thing. Utterly …
This Redshank appears to walk with high-heels on as it potters busily on the tideline.
Gulls are confusing. They all look superficially the same with their big bills, grey backs and beady eyes, but there are some …
It’s forty years since the very first time I saw a Bullfinch. I’ve seen them since and always appreciated them as a …
Forty years ago I spotted a Great Black Backed Gull and noted it down in my nature notebooks: Today I’m in Dartmouth …
All it takes is one broken window and the birds get in. When the birds get in they need a perch. And when the birds perch they leave fertiliser.
There’s a flock of geese heading my way. As they come closer they get darker and darker. Brent Geese come in light-breasted …
To me, Cormorants are proof, if proof be needed, that birds are descended from Dinosaurs. They are just so… reptilian!
The woodcarver who made this pair of birds in St Magnus Cathedral had a smile on their face. They look like lovebirds to me.
Finally a bit of sun and a return trip to Exminster Marshes is rewarded by a Red Breasted Merganser so curious it …
There are lots of Nettles at Einar. Their scientific name is Urtica dioica, with urtica meaning to burn. They certainly do.
I could stand and stare at the stone Orkney beaches for hours; and I sometimes do.
Treecreepers are one of those common but hardly seen species of birds; they take being elusive to another level. Seeing them from …
I’m photographing the beautiful, delicate and precise Black Headed Gulls this morning when I see this monster approaching. I’m so used to …
I love these ornate hinges on the doors to St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.
I’ve only ever seen a Bohemian Waxwing once and it was happily gorging itself on berries on a busy urban road which …
This routered portrait of a Grey Squirrel in the park is a cartoon exaggeration of their actual characteristics. They do look beautiful …