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 …
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 …
Caterpillage: The Lackeys and Emperors of Matera
Caterpillar. I love the word. Caterpillar. Isn’t it a strange one to pronounce? Here in Matera there are huge moth caterpillars on …
Swirling Swifts mating in Matera
It’s the morning we leave Matera and we want to squeeze every last drop of joy out of the place. It may …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #10
When a Lesser Kestrel lands on a wire outside our bedroom window I know what I want to do. I want to …
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.
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 …
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 …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #6
Matera. Just look at it. Isn’t it magnificent? What a city! The ancient heart of the stone city of Matera is where …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #5
We’ve just been on a brief trip to one of my favourite places. It’s Matera, in the south of Italy. It’s the …
Grillaio in Matera
The Lesser Kestrel is such a disappointing English name for such a fantastic bird. The Italians call them Grillaio, after their main …
The Lesser Emperor of Matera
We’re in Matera in the south of Italy. It’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, with palaeolithic caves on …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #4
Photography still includes the principal fields of taking and developing images; it’s just that now they are digital and the development is …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #3
We’ve already said our goodbyes to the ancient city of Matera when a need for Italian coffee and a sit down overcomes …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #2
Matera is a city in southern Italy; an ancient city in the heel of Italy’s boot. It has been continuously inhabited since …
The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #1
It was late at night, at a depressing motorway service station somewhere off the M25, and in an anonymous branch of WH …
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 …
Owlfly
I wish we had Owlflies in the UK. They fly like a combination of dragonflies and butterflies, and perch with their massive …
Barn Swallows
Wandering the ancient pedestrian streets of Matera in the heart of the Medieval village is a fabulous experience. There are stone troughs, …
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 …
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 Swifts
I love seeing the Swifts swirling overhead in Matera. There are screaming chases, flights which end in mating while clinging to buildings, …
Arco Naturale
The rocks are massive, towering over nearby trees, and giving glorious glimpses of turquoise seas far below.
The Enchanted Shirt
I’ve enjoyed John Hay’s poem, The Enchanted Shirt ever since I bought a slim volume of his poetry, Pike County Ballads, printed …
Biodiversity – a glossary #2
Biodiversity is a pretentious term used by people who want to sound as if they understand something that you don’t. Usually, using …
An early Start Point
I’ve been to Start Point before. I came here with my son one morning, very early, and took photographs in the fog. …
The Hall of Einar Sunday Review #18
Sule Skerry by Erland Cooper and Run Wild Magazine.
2019 highlights of a wilder Italian life
My Italian life in 2019 started in January with a whale of a murmuration with a raptor on its tail. Just click …
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 …
Ruined
Ruin Lizards. No, that’s not an instruction. Ruins are where these Italian Wall Lizards live. In Italy there are civilisations’ worth of …