New life
April and May are wonderful months for new growth. The sheep at Emsworthy Mire have been busy. This little lamb is particularly …
Making the bed
There’s a pair of Long-Tailed Bushtits at Stover Country Park. They’re busy making a nest in a Gorse bush next to the …
The Four Elements
The Classical world had four elements, earth, air, fire and water. Canada Geese seem to inhabit all four. Here’s one on earth …
Scricciolo
The Italian name for the Wren is scricciolo. When you hear just how loud they screech, that makes perfect sense:
Lesser Yellowlegs
It’s beautiful weather in Weymouth. The sun is out, birds are singing and I’m full of the joys of spring. I’m back …
Gulls in Weymouth
RSPB Lodmoor is in Weymouth on the south coast of England. I’m travelling through and have brought my camera for a few …
Reed Buntings at Seaton Wetlands
It’s a dull, misty day and the light isn’t great at Seaton Wetlands. There’s a flurry of activity and a Reed Bunting, …
Teal Green
Teal are small, very decorative ducks. The males have chestnut and green coloured heads and strange beige bottoms: The females are subtle …
Coltsfoot
Since I’m in Lincoln with an hour to spare I’m off to Whisby Nature Park. It’s a classic exhausted gravel pit which …
Don’t bark at me, deer
I’m in Lincoln today and just heading off for a brief visit to Whisby, a park with the possibility of some water …
Sheldrakes
There’s a Shelduck walking on mud at RSPB Lodmoor. It’s sinking gently, despite its webbed feet, into the black ooze. It’s a …
Skylarking
The Skylarks are busy, here at Aust near Bristol. The RSPB says, “Its recent and dramatic population declines make it a Red …
The Fallow Deer of Charlecote
This Fallow Deer has a lot to say: I’ve just spotted a brown road sign and I’ve diverted the car in the …
Meadow Pipit Parachutes
I’m paying a quick visit to Aust near Bristol. It’s on the River Severn with a clear view of the two Severn …
The most important part of a bird photograph is…
No, it’s nothing to do with the bird at all. It’s the background: This Goldfinch is spectacular, isn’t it? Especially against that …
Not a cute tummy button
She was looking at the beef steers when she said, “I love the cute tufts of hair on their bellies.” I looked …
Fluttering Dunnock
There’s a Dunnock in the gloom at Seaton Wetlands. Once you look carefully you’ll never view them as just a brown bird. …
The Upside-Down Bird strikes a pose the Right-Way-Up
There’s a Nuthatch calling like the alarm on an abandoned car, or the insistent signal of a reversing lorry, overhead. Then, with …
‘Pink!’ The nine vocalisation vocabulary of the Chaffinch
There’s a Chaffinch shouting ‘Pink!’ at me. That’s where finches got their name; from their call of ‘Fink’ or ‘Pink’. They have …
Calling Coots
The Coots at Stover Country Park are busy. I can see their nest in the bushes, barely above the water level. They …
The Lesser Yellowlegs of Lodmoor
I always feel sad when I see a bird which is so spectacularly out of place. Whether it’s an American Blackbird in …
Mallard malady
This male Mallard looks so healthy in the spring sunshine: It takes a lot of nutritious food to make the complex chemistry …
Checking for Sparrowhawks
The life of a Blue Tit is short and full of peril. Their average lifespan is between two and three years. The …
Greenfinches at Seaton Wetlands
I’ve loved Greenfinches ever since I first saw them in the back yard as a child. I drew them in my 1970s …
A Marsh Harrier harrying the waterbirds
There’s a distant Marsh Harrier across the water at RSPB Lodmoor. I’ve seen some wonderful photographs of it that were achingly close. …
Flying Godwits
I enjoyed going to RSPB Lodmoor in Weymouth so much that I decided to have another trip. I stopped off on the …
Mandarin
The RSPB say there are 2,300 breeding pairs of Aix galericulata, the Mandarin Duck, in the UK. I’m very glad about that. …
Swimming in the air
I love Woodpigeons, or, as some people would say, I love Wood Pigeons. Their faces are so characterful. The white patch on …
Black-Tailed Godwits
I’ve seen Black-Tailed Godwits before, but never this close: If I was a birder I’d describe this as not just ‘showing well’, …
Houseless Sparrows
Where have all the House Sparrows gone? In my lifetime their numbers have collapsed so there is just one House Sparrow now, …