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Nature Notebooks, Page 20

Kittiwake - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Kittiwake in winter

There’s a beautiful gull with a yellow beak in Brixham harbour. I can see it diving and fishing in the distance. I …

Blue Tit - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Bringing home the sausage

This Blue Tit is a thrill in this light: It has a wonderful crest with a beautiful powder blue iridescence. Blue Tits …

Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Male Chaffinch

Chaffinches are one of my favourite birds. I’ve taken many photographs of them and blogged about them before. Here’s my most recent …

Gannet - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dive! Dive! Dive!

A joyous trip to Brixham breakwater was rewarded with a procession of diving Northern Gannets. Marvellous, aren’t they?

Glossy Ibis - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Glossy Ibis

I’ve seen Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus, before, in Italy. I’ve heard that there’s one in Paignton at the playing fields and so …

Rome Fungi - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Galletti

Chanterelles are delicious. Firm-fleshed, beautifully orange and occasionally smelling fruity, similar to apricots, they are a delight to find. I love them …

J1P4 - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Rainbow gulls

A small trip out and there’s the joy of changeable weather, with an intense rainbow. These Black-Headed Gulls were perched on the …

Snowdrops - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Snowdrops

A trip to London and a cold walk around Hyde Park. There are Snowdrops amongst the fallen leaves. Small green reminders of …

Rome - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A plain Plane

I love the colours of this tree along the River Tevere in Rome. It looks like a Plane tree, familiar from the …

Stonechat - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Chatting

Returning to a chatting Stonechat. They really do love the highest perches available.

Cork Oak - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Cork Oak

It’s one of the most important plants ever known to humans. It’s the Cork Oak, Quercus suber. It’s a beautiful medium-sized tree …

Pallid Harrier - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A Pallid Harrier

If I had a spirit animal it would be a Hen Harrier. I love to see them. They appear, they go; they …

Hooded Crow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Hooded Crows and koinophilia

Hooded Crows are far more sociable birds than Carrion Crows. Here in Rome we can see 300 of them in an evening …

Wild Boar - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Sus scrofa

I think I know what left this behind: Yes, there’s one now. Massive, aren’t they? I love their delicate trotters. Humans captured …

Black Redstart - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

In volo

Black Redstarts are lively. More lively than me this morning. They’re flitting in an elaborate pattern across the scrub in this park …

Common Pochard - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Getting your ducks in a row

Three Common Pochard fly across the lake. They make a lovely pattern against the azure Italian sky. There are two males and …

Hooded Crow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Hooded Crow

Crows are some of the most observant and attentive of birds. They are quick to calculate the opportunities and find avoiding dangers …

A great Greater Flamingo

It’s the evening and a single young Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus is doing its thing in the lake. It’s beautiful, ungainly, magical, and …

Starlings - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Murmur

Urban Starlings. Winter. Rome. A park. All the perfect ingredients.

Kingfisher - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

When Kingfishers attack

There’s a flash of electric blue and a Kingfisher arrows past on its intensely important mission. Coots beware!

Kestrel Composite - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Take-off

I had great fun with this pair of Common Kestrels in Rome last year. They were an endearing couple. The tree in …

Starling - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Storno

There are only a few Swallows left in Italy in November, so it was fascinating to see Starlings taking their place as …

Marsh Harrier - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Circus aeruginosus

The last time I saw a Marsh Harrier it was a perfect silhouette against the light and gave me no chance to …

Little Egret - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Yellow feet

These yellow feet are very distinctive. They belong to a Little Egret, Egretta garzetta. They enjoy paddling in the water. I don’t …