Major White Airplane
Great White Egrets, Ardea alba, are impressive birds. They’re much bigger than a Grey Heron and stunning in flight. Just look at …
It only takes one crow to make a mob
They just can’t help it. If Hooded Crows see a raptor they’ll chase it, harry it, mob it and otherwise make its …
More Black Redstarts
Are you tired of seeing my photographs of Black Redstarts yet? I’m beginning to feel like one of those 1970s dads with …
Zitting Cisticola – or, It’s all about the pixels
There’s the most ridiculously-named bird in the rough grass in this wasteland in Italy. It’s a Zitting Cisticola. Here it is, perched …
Urban Kestrels
I’ve been enjoying the company of the local Common Kestrels here in Rome. I’ve watched them hunt, be chased by the resident …
More Black Redstarts
It’s time for another trip to the nearest waste ground, which counts as the natural world these days, to see the Black …
Gheppio
There’s a Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus, here. In Italy their name is Gheppio. I’ve seen it perched in the distance: Then I …
Codirosso Spazzacamino
The Italian name for the Black Redstart is Codirosso Spazzacamino. It means red-tailed chimney sweep. I love their ash-grey plumage. This week …
Wall Lizard
I love the look on this Italian Wall Lizard’s face. I appear to have interrupted its sunbathing. It’s November but it’s 18 …
Jump-on-a-Pole
There’s a Saltimpalo in this area of greenery in Rome. That’s the Italian name for the Stonechat. Saltimpalo means Jump-on-a-Pole, which Stonechats …
Serins
The Serin’s scientific name is Serinus serinus. Serins; so good, they named them twice. The scientific name serinus comes from the French word serin, meaning …
Monk Parakeets
These Parakeets are meant to be in South America. They’re quite at home in the parks of Rome. They appear to appreciate …
Cornacchia
There’s a Hooded Crow flying past us in this wasteland in Rome. Their Italian name is Cornacchia. I wonder what trinket or …
Chimney Sweeps
Here’s a handsome Italian chap: He’s a Codirosso Spazzacamino, a male Black Redstart. What fine plumage he has. Spazzacamino means chimney sweep …
Piggy Cows
Suillus bovinus means Piggy Cow. It’s the scientific name of a common fungus of coniferous forests and commercial pine woods. They pop …
Delicious Saffron Milkcaps
The Saffron Milkcap is a beautiful fungus species with bright orange gills and flesh. It may look a little unprepossessing from the …
The biggest gull in the world
Hunter, pirate, scavenger, the Great Black-Backed Gull is a curious opportunist. It is the apex predator unless a White-Tailed Sea Eagle appears. …
A Sand Plowman’s lunch
The name Sanderling is from the Old English sand-yrðling, or ‘sand-ploughman’. I’m enjoying watching them eating their ploughman’s lunch. Still photographs may give you …
Eider/Or
There’s a Dunter, Somateria mollissima, commonly known as the Eider Duck, on the waves. I particularly like the chick’s hairstyle. When it …
Wet Gannet, shaking
This Gannet was very wet after a dive. As it flew past it decided to shake itself dry. I suspect it’s the …
Slugs on the draining board
The disadvantage of being without a shell is that you’re less well protected. The advantage of being without a shell is that …
Sandy Laverock
This juvenile Ringed Plover is a wonderful bird. In Orkney the Ringed Plover is called Sandy Laverock. The UK conservation status of …
Trees bursting into flower
At this time of year it’s import to remember that spring will come again, birds will sing, trees will blossom and days …
The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #14 The Stonechat
I’m currently reading the third volume of the Ladybird Book of British Birds and their nests from the 1950s. Times have changed, …
Whale
There’s a whale corpse in the car park at Taftend. It takes up the space a car would, or even a little …
The glories of Woody Nightshade
Once there were purple flowers here with protruding yellow stamens. Now there are berries: It’s Bittersweet, also known as Woody Nightshade, Solanum …
Sulphur Tuft
They’re an unearthly yellow colour. They sprout at the bases of decaying trees. They grow in tufts and tight bundles. They are …
Captain James Cook, warmonger, colonialist, kidnapper and wildlife criminal
I’ve been suspicious about the truth of what I’m taught ever since I was a child. At primary school I learned all …
Autumn Parasols
One of the exciting finds at Killerton on our fungus foray with the Devon Fungus Group is a Parasol Mushroom. Our leader …
The most beautiful bouquet of Killerton Waxcaps
Killerton is one of my favourite National Trust places in Devon. It’s one of the ones which was sold to the National …