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Matera

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

Black Kite

It’s a hazy day in Matera and the sun is already high in the sky when we see a procession of Black …

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

Barn Swallows

Wandering the ancient pedestrian streets of Matera in the heart of the Medieval village is a fabulous experience. There are stone troughs, …

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

Blackcap in Matera

It’s been a wonderful few days in Matera, but it’s time for us to go back to Rome. What an incredible place …

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

A Serin singing like a Canary

I still can’t stop laughing at this photograph of a Serin, Serinus serinus, in Matera What a face! He’s a male, with …

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

Falco naumanni

We’re in Matera to see the Lesser Kestrels. We’ve booked the room in the hotel which has three small terraces and the …

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

Pallid Swifts

I love seeing the Swifts swirling overhead in Matera. There are screaming chases, flights which end in mating while clinging to buildings, …

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

Yes, we’re in Matera again

We are in the oldest continuously inhabited city on Earth, Matera in Basilicata in the south of Italy. It’s possible to walk …

Pigeon in Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Precision

Just how precise is this feral Pigeon with its tiny twig? I’m not sure it’s going to be that much use as …

Italian Wall Lizard - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Ruined

Ruin Lizards. No, that’s not an instruction. Ruins are where these Italian Wall Lizards live. In Italy there are civilisations’ worth of …

Forester Moth - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Forester

There’s a bright blue iridescent moth flying in the middle of the day in the south of Italy. I have no idea …

Bertolini's Bee Orchid - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Bertoloni’s Bee Orchid

Bee Orchids are the rubber sex doll of the plant world. I can’t really believe I’ve just written that sentence. Please forgive me.

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spotting chafers

We’re walking in the heat through pungent herbs, surrounded by butterflies and day-flying moths with Lesser Kestrels overhead. We’re in Matera in …

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

Longhorn on the Giant Fennel

Out in the countryside in Matera in Italy, the dry heat and the scent of herbs surrounds us. I particularly love the …

Thomisus on flower - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spiderbombing

I don’t know how long photobombing has been ‘a thing’. Spoiling someone’s photograph by appearing in it unexpectedly must have appeared very …

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

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #9

There are Lesser Kestrels before breakfast, Lesser Kestrels on the way to breakfast, a break from Lesser Kestrels for breakfast and then Lesser Kestrels after breakfast. In Matera, there are Lesser Kestrels everywhere.

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

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #8

It’s five o’clock in the morning and she’s calling immediately outside our window. I think she wants her mate. The tone is …

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

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #7

We’re having close encounters of the wildlife kind: There are Lesser Kestrels all over Matera. I’m sure the locals must become immune …

Mediterranean Spotted Chafer - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Mediterranean Spotted Chafer

It’s taken me a while to identify this beetle I saw in Italy this summer. It really shouldn’t have taken me this …

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

Surrounded by Giant Fennel

We are out in the nature reserve which occupies the opposite side of the gorge on which the ancient city of Matera …

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

The meaning of Sickle

The word falco, from falcon, means sickle. We’re watching Lesser Kestrels hunting in the fields outside Matera. It’s a breathtaking spot: Across …

The Bee-Hive Beetle

That’s bright! It’s got bright red and black striped warning colouration. It’s the Bee-Hive Beetle, Trichodes alvearius, named by Johan Christan Fabricius …