Redstart
There’s a flashy Common Redstart on Dartmoor. The Old English word steort means tail. Redstarts are Red Tails.
Nestbuilding Gannet
Gannet nests aren’t really nests. They’re a messy accumulation of sea plants, used for marking nesting territory as much as any other …
Razorbill
It’s normally Puffins I see over the west Westray waves. This time a Razorbill is coming fast and low over the waves. …
The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #53
Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon …
Hello Mr Punch
What is it that makes Puffins so immensely comical? What features in their faces do we see human attributes in? I don’t …
Boomtown Fair portrait #3
I love watching the joy on people’s faces in a crowd.
Turquoise
Turquoise is called turquoise because it was imported through Turkey. The Atlantic Ocean on the wild west Westray coast is as turquoise …
Newton 76
Sketching my home town in Devon is a joy. I’ve discovered so many buildings, so much history and so many great memories …
A Stonechat consolation prize
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, …
A symbol of endurance and wonder – the Bar-tailed Godwit
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 …
More Oak Apples
Are there more Oak Apple Galls this year, or am I spending more time under oak trees looking upwards? Probably the latter, …
Mandarin
A male Mandarin Duck is always a cheerful sight. They are a constant reminder of just how much thought goes into choosing …
Redstarts
Redstarts are a joy to watch. Whenever I’m lucky enough to find a pair and see them feeding their chicks, I can …
Hannah’s
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 Stonechat
Sunbathing is appealing to birds. This stonechat is lapping up the sunshine here on Dartmoor. It could be sunbathing because it’s a …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
The tinkling of gold on a grey day
Sometimes it’s just too dull for bird photography. Then I find a Goldfinch and even the greyest of grey days tinkles with …
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 …
The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #52
Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon …
A male Blackcap screaming from the treetops
Sunny intervals. Bright between light showers. I love this time of year, apart from the hay fever. Here’s a remarkable photograph of …
The class system is rife whenever we describe nature
I’m frequently baffled by the birdsong people appreciate. I hear people using words like mellifluous to describe the song of the Blackcap, …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …