The female Common Redstart is often less easy to photograph. It’s more camouflaged and stealthy in its behaviour. It’s just as beautiful as the showy male. I really do seem to have far more photographs of the male. Here he is calling: And providing food for the chicks with a …
We all need to eat to survive and most of us now rely on farmers to produce our food for us. Without …
The Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis, is a long-distance migrant, migrating to spend our winter in Africa or southern Asia. This open woodland and scrub on …
There’s a flashy Common Redstart on Dartmoor. The Old English word steort means tail. Redstarts are Red Tails.
Gannet nests aren’t really nests. They’re a messy accumulation of sea plants, used for marking nesting territory as much as any other …
It’s normally Puffins I see over the west Westray waves. This time a Razorbill is coming fast and low over the waves. …
Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon …
What is it that makes Puffins so immensely comical? What features in their faces do we see human attributes in? I don’t …
I love watching the joy on people’s faces in a crowd.
Turquoise is called turquoise because it was imported through Turkey. The Atlantic Ocean on the wild west Westray coast is as turquoise …
Sketching my home town in Devon is a joy. I’ve discovered so many buildings, so much history and so many great memories …
I don’t normally ‘twitch’ for birds. If there’s a rarity somewhere I’ll usually go about my business as normal, without driving off, …
The Remarkable Life of the Bar-tailed Godwit The bar-tailed godwit is a long-distance migratory bird. It is known for making the longest …
Are there more Oak Apple Galls this year, or am I spending more time under oak trees looking upwards? Probably the latter, …
A male Mandarin Duck is always a cheerful sight. They are a constant reminder of just how much thought goes into choosing …
Redstarts are a joy to watch. Whenever I’m lucky enough to find a pair and see them feeding their chicks, I can …
Time for a quick postcard-sized sketch of Hannah’s, a charity shop in Newton Abbot. It’s a place I regularly give items to …
Sunbathing is appealing to birds. This stonechat is lapping up the sunshine here on Dartmoor. It could be sunbathing because it’s a …
It might come as a surprise that I nearly always select the background of the photograph before I select the bird. I …
A trip to Dartmoor at this time of year is a great opportunity to see Stonechat fledglings. They’re slightly uncoordinated and unaware …
Eurasian Jackdaws, Corvus monedula, have pale silvery-blue eyes due to the structure and pigmentation on their irises. But why do they have …
The Common Blue Damselfly, Enellagma cyathigerurm, is flying and perching now, skimming low over freshwater ponds and lakes or dodging the air …
I’m never that keen on using Latin or Greek when good-old Anglo Saxon words will do fine. Orthodontics means ‘ortho‘ – straightening, …
Sometimes it’s just too dull for bird photography. Then I find a Goldfinch and even the greyest of grey days tinkles with …
Back in Somerset I’m delighted that the Great Spotted Woodpeckers have successfully raised a chick so it is large enough to appear …
Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon …
Sunny intervals. Bright between light showers. I love this time of year, apart from the hay fever. Here’s a remarkable photograph of …
I’m frequently baffled by the birdsong people appreciate. I hear people using words like mellifluous to describe the song of the Blackcap, …
There are Pond Skaters on Ducklington Lake. It’s a beautiful place, even if you do have to indulge in wild parking on …
There’s an art project which fascinates me next to a Sainsburys, the A380 flyover and a small stream called Aller Brook. There’s …