Swift, Swifter, Swiftest
Swifts are one of the last migratory birds to arrive in the UK and one of the first to leave. They are …
Admit it
You’re just a little bit in love with Long-Tailed Bushtits, aren’t you?
Every once in a while
You need to stop and appreciate a Robin. And I did.
And then there was one.. again!
I’ve loved watching Coots have ugly-beautiful chicks and the dedication of the parents to raise them. One of the pairs on Stover …
Woodpigeon portraits
Woodpigeons have a very strange iris in their eye. It looks like it’s egg-shaped or a couple of overlapping circles, but it …
Gadwall
Duck identification isn’t my specialist subject for Mastermind. So when this handsome chap flies past I have to resort to Professor Google, …
Brambling
Brambling. Beautiful, aren’t they? In the UK, they are birds of our winter and their breeding numbers are 0-2 nests per year. …
Stock Dove portrait
I recently photographed a Stock Dove flypast and admired how the iridescent neck changed colour from baby-pink to bottle-green with the angle …
Walking the walk
Magpies are one of the most difficult birds to photograph. The human eye sees light and shade in a completely different way …
The Aylesbeare Kestrel
I do love a good Kestrel flight shot. Don’t you? Every time I see one when I’m driving I wish I could …
Who? Me?
It’s a look which says it all.
Grey Heron flypast
A Grey Heron flies past me from left to right at Stover Country Park. I don’t notice it until it’s too late …
The Chocolate-Headed Gull in breeding finery
There’s a Black-Headed Gull, with its chocolate-coloured-head, above me, in all of its breeding finery. I wish it well, but silently. I …
A Peedie Whaup
Eurasian Whimbrels are large waders, although they are not as large as Eurasian Curlews. As soon as I spot a group of …
Brown-capped Blackcap
There’s a female Blackcap in this lichen-encrusted tree. Here’s what the male looks like, together with my thoughts on how ridiculous descriptions …
Squirrel hunt
Grey Squirrels take their food as seriously as Italian people. This one has its eyes on a prize: Those eyes are huge …
Orange and yellow
This Orange-Tip, Anthocharis cardamines, is a beautiful spring sight, especially when feeding on an intense yellow dandelion. Have you seen its tongue? …
Yellow Bellied Slider
I’m taking photographs in Daisy Nook Country Park, near my old haunts as a child, when a woman walking a dog asks …
Hides and garden birds
In Italy we visit Lago di Alviano and enjoy their small birds’ hide. The hide is large and L-shaped, there’s furniture in …
You can’t take your eyes off it for a second, but I did
There’s a Heron in the pond at Pennington Flash. It’s having what seems to be a lazy morning, except it’s rigid and …
Lambs
What’s the difference between bleating and baaing? Lambs are a joy. They’re fresh to the world and still surprised by it. They’re …
The egg thief
Carrion Crows don’t just eat carrion. This one has found an egg. I don’t know where the egg came from. The Crow …
Recreating Tunnicliffe’s Stonechats
Ever since I discovered Stonechats and Charles Tunnicliffe’s portrait of them, I’ve wanted to reproduce his painting in a photograph. Here’s the …
Excavation
The local Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have been excavating a new nest. They are a rare species and people are sensitive about revealing …
Bird portraits at Daisy Nook
Birds have evolved a wide range of faces. Here’s a Coot with that large white faceplate: And a Mute Swan with a …
A little piece of South America in Devon
We’re walking down the River Otter looking for Otters (no, we didn’t see any) when I notice what looks like a plastic …
Duckling time
It’s duckling time and a splishy and splashy grand parade of cuteness is heading my way. I think there are seven or …
Look at the nictitating membrane on that!
Birds have several superpowers. One is that they can blink and still see, even when in the middle of blinking. Just look …
Fire! Fire!
The scientific name of the Eurasian Bullfinch is Pyrrhula pyrrhula. It means Fire! Fire! That’s certainly what I think when one appears …
When you’ve peaked too early
We had a trip to Aylesbeare Common to see the Dartford Warblers. It was successful. Just take a look at this beauty: …