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

Performing background checks

It might come as a surprise that I nearly always select the background of the photograph before I select the bird. I …

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

My favourite fledglings

A trip to Dartmoor at this time of year is a great opportunity to see Stonechat fledglings. They’re slightly uncoordinated and unaware …

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

Pale Blue Eyes

Eurasian Jackdaws, Corvus monedula, have pale silvery-blue eyes due to the structure and pigmentation on their irises. But why do they have …

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

Common and very, very blue

The Common Blue Damselfly, Enellagma cyathigerurm, is flying and perching now, skimming low over freshwater ponds and lakes or dodging the air …

Devon Square Orthodontics - Sketching Newton Abbot - The Hall of Einar - (c) David Bailey (not the)

Teeth-straighteners

I’m never that keen on using Latin or Greek when good-old Anglo Saxon words will do fine. Orthodontics means ‘ortho‘ – straightening, …

Great Spotted Woodpecker - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The chick appears

Back in Somerset I’m delighted that the Great Spotted Woodpeckers have successfully raised a chick so it is large enough to appear …

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

Jumping pond skaters

There are Pond Skaters on Ducklington Lake. It’s a beautiful place, even if you do have to indulge in wild parking on …

Penn Inn Underpass - Sketching Newton Abbot - The Hall of Einar - (c) David Bailey (not the)

Splash in the underpass

There’s an art project which fascinates me next to a Sainsburys, the A380 flyover and a small stream called Aller Brook. There’s …

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

How many notes in a call?

Collared Doves make a three-note call. “Coo-COO-Coo”. Woodpigeons make a lower pitched, more gravelly five-note call. “Coo-COO-Coo Coo-Coo” Neither of them are …

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

Red Kite hunting

We’re having a walk around Farmoor Reservoir in Oxfordshire. It’s Oxfordshire’s largest body of open water. We have Anna the dog with …

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

Ground-nesting Herons

One of the things I thought I knew was that Grey Herons are colonial nesters in large heronries in trees. I’ve seen …

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

Tumble and glide

Jackdaws are fascinating to watch. They fill the fields here in Oxfordshire with their calls, scurrying and bounding across the ground and …

Old Forde House - Sketching Newton Abbot - The Hall of Einar - (c) David Bailey (not the)

Olde Forde House again

I’ve already sketched Olde Forde House. It’s a lovely place to spend an hour wandering the gardens, despite the noise of the …

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

More Red Kites

Each morning here in Oxfordshire, over breakfast, after we’ve let the eleven chickens out of their bedtime quarters into their expansive run, …

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

Three flavours of warble

Yes, I know you’ve seen it before. This Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis, is singing again in the garden of my friend’s house. …

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

Streptopelia decaocto

There’s a Collared Dove cooing in the garden. Coo-COO-Coo. Again and again. Those three syllables again and again. Coo-COO-Coo. The Collared Dove’s …

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

The flame-coloured sun worshiper

It’s summer and it’s sunny. In the garden here in Oxfordshire, as we house-sit for friends, there are insects aplenty. Many are …

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

Singing again

Our resident Common Whitethroat is still singing for as much of the day as he can manage. The garden at the house …

Yellow Umbrella Gifts - Sketching Newton Abbot - The Hall of Einar - (c) David Bailey (not the)

Yellow Umbrella

Yellow Umbrella Gifts is a gift shop in Newton Abbot that I’ve enjoyed sketching on a postcard. It’s full of hand crafted items with a dizzying array of skills and materials.

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

Spectacular Starling

We have a few visitors to the garden at the house we’re house-sitting in Oxfordshire. A Starling is a welcome one in …

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

Milvus milvus

Here in Oxfordshire there are Red Kites over the garden. They come particularly low in the early morning, looking for food to …

Great Spotted Woodpecker - The Hall of Einar - photograph (courtesy of) David Bailey (not the)

Woodpecker work

The female Great Spotted Woodpecker seems to be in their nest hole a great deal. When she ventures out I can appreciate …