Edwin and the shipwreck cabin
Westray is a small island and has some really interesting characters; Edwin Rendall is one of them. My theory is that everyone …
Westray is a small island and has some really interesting characters; Edwin Rendall is one of them. My theory is that everyone …
Whenever it’s winter, it’s hard to imagine summer and whenever it’s summer, it’s hard to imagine winter. Whenever it’s spring, it’s hard …
The law on who owns what land isn’t as simple as you might think. Living in a country with a name like …
There are large flocks of Black Tailed Godwits on the Exe estuary at the moment. It’s winter and they’re probably here from …
What’s happened to the Salmon of my childhood? Pollution, habitat destruction and overgrazing of livestock. Here’s a story of Putchers and their Privileged Engines catching Salmon on the Wye.
I’ve seen Stonechats before, most recently on Trendlebere Down in South Devon. They are very handsome birds, and their insistent habit of …
There’s a pair of Pintail ducks at Bowling Green Marsh near Exeter. I’ve seen one before in the West Midlands when a …
Good weather is in short supply in February. A bright day is a rarity, so after a view of clear blue sky …
I love the windows of the old buildings on Westray in Orkney. The stonework is wonderful, the walls are so deep and …
In Devon everything in the countryside takes on the colour of the soil; and that colour is often red. The Devonian red …
Curlews. The very last authentic sound of the British wilderness.
It’s over forty years since I first saw Oystercatchers and noted it down in my nature notebooks: I was probably on a …
Arriving at Einar, the cattle are always keen to see what’s happening. They approach me with tentative noses:
On a glorious day on Westray this boat on the Ouse on the Bay of Skaill makes a beautiful scene:
Westray is a farming and fishing island, with wildlife largely confined to the edges and margins. It is a very productive island with green fields and very healthy-looking cattle.
Here’s a curious wet nose:
It’s Day 16 of turning the pages of this 1950s Ladybird book of British Birds to see what’s changed since it was …
It’s Day 15 of turning the pages of this 1950s Ladybird book to see what’s changed since it was published. Today; The …
There’s something very deep within our animal brains that comes from our inner ancient ape that compels us to interfere, to tidy, to arrange and to act upon nature.
Photographing Swans is as difficult as photographing snow. They often appear bleached and featureless. Or bedraggled and dirty. Getting the exposure just …
It’s Day 14 of turning the pages in this 1950s Ladybird book of British Birds. “…it does like to be fairly near …
Dunnocks are often unfairly overlooked. They are stunningly beautiful in close-up. You just need to get close: Here in Italy the beautiful …
Forty years ago I saw a Brambling for the first time and noted it down in my childhood nature notebooks: Fringilla montifringilla. …
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis. This magnificent bird was made extinct by humans in the 1850s. Were all those feather pillows worth their death?
The weather forecast has been for sunshine today. I’ve been checking it all week. Sunny, it says. As the day gets closer …
It’s Day 13 of turning the pages in this Ladybird Book of British Birds. I’ve been enjoying the Allen Seaby illustrations but …
I love Blue Tits. I’m used to seeing them in Devon. Here they are in Italy: This one so is immaculately groomed …
I occasionally have to go to London on business. In a small side street in Marylebone called Welbeck Street is the Holiday …
The Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major, is a wonderful bird. This is a female coming in search of food at the WWF …
These Grey Wagtails, Motacilla cinerea, are so beautiful. In Italy they are not known as Grey Wagtails, they are known as Ballerina …
This a blog post which just had to be written. I love Great Tits and I know I’m not alone. Here then …