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1970s Nature Notebooks

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

Woodland gem-studded marvels

It’s 47 years ago today that I first noted down Common Puffballs in my nature notebooks. The tiny gem-like spikes on the …

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

No hedges to hog

There’s a Hedgehog trundling down the lane. I can see it from a distance, so we shelter at the roadside and wait …

Wren - The Hall of Einar - photograph (C) David Bailey (not the)

Troglodyte

A troglodyte is a cave-dweller. The Wren’s scientific name is Troglodytes troglodytes. That made sense to the 12 year old me when …

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

Sparrowhawk

I can recognise a Sparrowhawk flying now: flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide. It’s a distinctive pattern. I saw one as a child from a train …

Diadem Spider - Bovey Heath - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Diadem Spider

I’m at Bovey Heathfield. It’s not quite Dartmoor and the heath is a lowland heath. There are plenty of spiders blocking the …

White Wagtail - Caffarella - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

White Wagtails

White Wagtails are fascinating birds. In the UK we call our darker sub-species the Pied Wagtail. Even though it’s a common bird …

Common Seal - 1970s Nature Notebooks - (c) David Bailey (not the)

Common Seal in the 1970s

Leafing through my childhood scrapbooks I come across a drawing of a Common Seal. It has all the characteristics of a Common …

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

Searching for Little Owls

It’s been a dream of mine to see a Little Owl again. When I was a young teenager my friend Michael had …

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

Reed Bunting

Skills grow like children; imperceptibly. It’s over forty years since I saw my first Reed Bunting and went home to draw it …

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

House Sparrows

The car park of the out of town shopping centre is empty apart from my car. I haven’t bought anything and the …

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

Blackbird

There are Blackbirds at the top of many trees at this time of year. Their beautiful singing fills the air and gladdens …

Dacrymyces déliquescents - Dunster - the Hall fo Einar - photograph (c ) David Bailey (not the)

What a difference a lens makes

Forty years ago I kept detailed nature notebooks. I wrote down everything I saw and identified with enthusiasm, including the smallest of …

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

The secret sex life of the Dunnock

Dunnocks are often unfairly overlooked. They are stunningly beautiful in close-up. You just need to get close: Here in Italy the beautiful …

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

Brambling

Forty years ago I saw a Brambling for the first time and noted it down in my childhood nature notebooks: Fringilla montifringilla. …

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

Kestrel then and now

We are driving along a dusty road in Italy with telegraph poles alongside it. Every few hundred metres is a Kestrel, or, …