Blushing
One of the most common fungi in UK woodlands is The Blusher. I’ve just found this photograph I took of one back …
Herring Gulls
Herring Gulls are fabulous to watch. I’ve enjoyed taking photographs of them in urban areas. There’s something quite alien about their presence. …
There are no words
If you ask this swan what species it is, it won’t tell you. It’s Mute.
Black-Headed Gulls at the Quay
Staying local for your exercise is difficult if brownfield sites are built upon, public spaces are full and green spaces are privately …
The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #29
Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon …
Grotesque
It was my birthday this week and unusually I’ve been able to see my birthday present being made in front of me. …
Sexton
This summer in Orkney we met up with two friends and fellow enthusiasts for a moth-trapping evening. I loved setting up their …
Staying local
In the first lockdown it was revealing just how much nature was all around me. I didn’t need to spend ages preparing …
The Overconsumption Chronicles – Volume 1
When people complain about overconsumption there’s an inalienable truth at play. It’s the same truth that governs people’s attitudes to income. The …
A world of joy
If you can possibly manage it, get a magnifying glass. It turns the world into a magical one full of joy. Just …
The woman with sausages
Listen to artists. It doesn’t matter that you don’t understand them yet. Listen to them; then do what they suggest. They have …
Kitchen drawer wildlife
Woodlice. There are 3,500 species in the world and between 35 and 40 in the UK. They’re animals which many children know. …
Puffin icon
It was a very Puffin Christmas here. I received a Puffin Icon from the Puffin Whisperer. She used a solid wooden block …
The tortoise and the hare
We’re watching a kayaker paddle across Pierowall Bay with his fishing rod safely stowed when a motorboat comes past. Which one would …
There’s more wildlife on industrial estates than in the countryside
Last April I took a cycle ride with my son. We went up some of the toughest hills in the area, and …
A Fulmar at the skeleton house
A Fulmar from summer, sitting pretty on the top of a wall in the skeleton house. Its beached carcass and exposed ribs …
Slip
It’s hard to see that cliffs are dangerous from the top of them. Seeing the Island from the sea gives a completely …
2020 highlights of a wilder Italian life
I spent most of 2020 on my own. The two trips I had booked to Italy were cancelled and I clearly wasn’t …
2020 highlights of a wilder Devon life – part 2
In July I went walking with my son on Dartmoor and he took a rare portrait of me Walking the Hunters’ Path: …
2020 highlights of a wilder Devon life
2020 is a year which will be difficult to forget for those of us lucky enough to still be alive. For me, …