Sturnus vulgaris
Sturnus vulgaris is the scientific name of the Common Starling. Its literal meaning is ‘Starling Common’. They are certainly common in my …
A Bath White, not a white bath
If you try doing a Google search for the Bath White butterfly, you get a lot of white baths. Don’t try it. …
The smell of death in the month of May
Hawthorn. I love Hawthorn trees. They are still called May-trees in places because, well, people are very literal beings. There are no …
Poppies
We drive in the heat on empty Italian roads through Apulia and Basilicata. We stop at one of the many abandoned farmhouses. …
Southern Skimmer
There’s a female Southern Skimmer, Orthetrum brunneum, flying around us. It’s not a UK species; we’re in Italy. The males are a …
The meaning of Sickle
The word falco, from falcon, means sickle. We’re watching Lesser Kestrels hunting in the fields outside Matera. It’s a breathtaking spot: Across …
Knapweed Fritillaries
I’m in a field in the south of Italy. A butterfly has settled in front of me: I know it’s a fritillary. …
Bewitched
We’re exploring the scrub and woodland verges and fields of an abandoned farmhouse in Apulia in the south of Italy. We shouldn’t …
Swallowtails
It’s unmistakable: a Swallowtail Butterfly: It’s taken us ages to get this close. It’s hot and the butterfly is very active. Here …
The Bee-Hive Beetle
That’s bright! It’s got bright red and black striped warning colouration. It’s the Bee-Hive Beetle, Trichodes alvearius, named by Johan Christan Fabricius …
Taccole – Jackdaws in the chimneys
Matera in the south of Italy is a stone city full of nooks and crannies. It’s perfect habitat for Jackdaws, or Taccole …
No need to chase
There are Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonflies in the old city of Matera. There’s one amongst the plants on a rooftop: Changing my …
Yellow belts
It’s the hour that the greyness comes, as the sun sets, shadows lengthen and a fading yellow band retreats below the horizon. …
Blue Blood and Black Veins
For a language with 180,000 words, the English language is seriously deficient when it comes to the natural world. Take the word …
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 …
Oblivious
The service has just ended and a solitary figure walks slowly, weeping, from the church in Matera in the south of Italy: …
Hound Tor sunset
I love Hound Tor on Dartmoor. I’m walking to the top from the car park. It’s not far: At the top I …
Tender moments
We are witnessing a tender moment at the lake: a Coot is feeding its only chick: It is picking morsels of food …
Mr and Mrs Mallard
The sunshine is dazzling and so is this male Mallard: The subtlety of the camouflage of this female Mallard is equally as …
Snake on the Lake
We’re sat beside the lake at my local country park when I see an unmistakable shape just in front of us, next …
A spot of sunbathing
There’s a Nuthatch sounding off like a car alarm in the old Oak tree: It’s such beautiful weather I can see every …
Marsh Harriers
We are in Somerset. The name Somerset means Summer-land, because the land was originally only inhabitable in summer; in winter it was …
Nursery Web Spider
I’d love to be wearing shorts in this heat but the likelihood of ticks and the healthy patches of stinging nettles mean …
A necklace of raindrops
There’s meant to be great weather today but it’s foggy. There’s been a clear sky last night, the ground has cooled and …
Cobalt Crust in Primley Park
Primley Park in South Devon is a large area, but it is just a part of what were the private gardens of …
Near and far, far and near
It’s wonderful sunshine and the cherry blossom is open. I’ve tried taking a close-up but need a bit more practise. I didn’t …
A lounging legless lizard
There’s something strange in the long grass between all the brown leaves in Dunsford Wood by the banks of the River Teign …
Getting close
The photographer Robert Capa once said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” It’s something I always think when …
A Spruced-up Siskin
Siskins are wonderful birds. They are tiny finches, coloured yellow and green, and the brighter-coloured males have a distinctive black cap. Their …