Mandarin
There’s a male Mandarin Duck, Aix galericulata, steaming towards me over the lake: It’s hard to imagine the evolutionary pressures which have …
Robin Orange-Breast
Robins don’t have red breasts; they are orange, surely? Maybe they are called red because it’s alliterative with Robin. Maybe they’re called …
Great Spotted Woodpecker
There’s a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the tree in front of me. It knows I’m here because it’s keeping to the other …
Blue Tits
Blue Tits weren’t always called Blue Tits. They were once called Titmice or Titmouse. The mice or mouse in their name doesn’t …
Seaton Wetlands
Sunshine; warmth; the feel of spring in the air. It’s a while since I’ve felt that; and that’s also true for wildlife. …
Dry rot’s wild cousin
I’ve owned a house which had dry rot. It’s not something I’d wish on anyone. Having the fungus, Serpula lacrymans, creeping through …
Groatie Buckies
On the table in the Groatie Buckies cafe on Westray, run by Stewart and Marian Groat, is a jar of Groatie Buckies. …
A solitary Goosander on the canal
Goosanders are such wonderful birds. They have amazing sawtooth bills to grip slippery fish underwater. I can see the solitary individual still …
Knowledge is over-rated
There’s a Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris, on the tree in front of me: That’s very exciting. I creep a little closer to the …
King Alfred’s burnt his cakes
There’s a seriously weird fungus growing on this fallen tree trunk. It looks the shape of bubbles, as if it’s been forced …
Spring and the Prime Rose
We’re walking along the gushing river in Dunster in Somerset. It was snowing last week. This week the English Primroses are in …
Cherries growing on Oak trees
There are Cherry Galls, Cynips quercusfolii, on the fallen Oak leaves here in Bridford Wood. They are the tree’s defensive reaction to …
Searching for an unusual Easter egg
Easter Sunday was spent with my Hungarian friends going on a fungus hunt. As you do. Or should that be, as I …
Mute
I never get bored of Mute Swans, Cygnus olor: There’s something about their size, their poise and their steady pace that enthrals …
A Bloody-Nosed Beetle on the march
If ever a beetle gave the impression of being a wind-up clockwork toy, it’s the Bloody-Nosed Beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa. Today they are …