The big story of the Little Egret
Little Egrets are beautiful snow-white herons. They love rivers and ponds. People are led to believe that Little Egrets are recent arrivals …
There’s no such thing as a seagull
Herring Gulls are one of our most familiar birds. They are the ‘seagull’ of a thousand stories and even more stolen seaside …
A Dipper on the Lemon
The River Lemon is beautiful at the moment, with clear water, leafy banks and the sounds of water bubbling and birds singing. …
Two for Joy
Magpies are currently building their nests around the parish. Their nests seem like great untidy bundles of sticks in trees; the truth …
Old Man’s Beard
Look closely at hedges and bushes in forgotten corners at this time of year and you may see the fluffy seed heads …
J1P4 is back again
I was enjoying some local exercise at Newton Abbot Town Quay, when I spotted a Black-Headed Gull with a ring on its …
Dunnock
Warm winter light on orange fallen leaves. Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s even better when a Dunnock is fossicking in them. The closer …
Hatching nuts
Nuthatches don’t actually hatch nuts, they hack them. However, just try saying Nuthacks and you’ll see why Nuthatch is so much easier …
Kittiwake in winter
There’s a beautiful gull with a yellow beak in Brixham harbour. I can see it diving and fishing in the distance. I …
Bringing home the sausage
This Blue Tit is a thrill in this light: It has a wonderful crest with a beautiful powder blue iridescence. Blue Tits …
Male Chaffinch
Chaffinches are one of my favourite birds. I’ve taken many photographs of them and blogged about them before. Here’s my most recent …
Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight
I’m working at the moment, so time is precious, and every moment of light is a marvel in these dark, short days. …
Hello my friend, I didn’t recognise you dressed like that
There’s a Common Guillemot in Brixham, just off the breakwater. It takes a while to get a shot of one. I have …
Dive! Dive! Dive!
A joyous trip to Brixham breakwater was rewarded with a procession of diving Northern Gannets. Marvellous, aren’t they?
Glossy Ibis
I’ve seen Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus, before, in Italy. I’ve heard that there’s one in Paignton at the playing fields and so …
Galletti
Chanterelles are delicious. Firm-fleshed, beautifully orange and occasionally smelling fruity, similar to apricots, they are a delight to find. I love them …
Rainbow gulls
A small trip out and there’s the joy of changeable weather, with an intense rainbow. These Black-Headed Gulls were perched on the …
Snowdrops
A trip to London and a cold walk around Hyde Park. There are Snowdrops amongst the fallen leaves. Small green reminders of …
A plain Plane
I love the colours of this tree along the River Tevere in Rome. It looks like a Plane tree, familiar from the …
Chatting
Returning to a chatting Stonechat. They really do love the highest perches available.
Cork Oak
It’s one of the most important plants ever known to humans. It’s the Cork Oak, Quercus suber. It’s a beautiful medium-sized tree …
A Pallid Harrier
If I had a spirit animal it would be a Hen Harrier. I love to see them. They appear, they go; they …
Hooded Crows and koinophilia
Hooded Crows are far more sociable birds than Carrion Crows. Here in Rome we can see 300 of them in an evening …
Sus scrofa
I think I know what left this behind: Yes, there’s one now. Massive, aren’t they? I love their delicate trotters. Humans captured …
In volo
Black Redstarts are lively. More lively than me this morning. They’re flitting in an elaborate pattern across the scrub in this park …
Getting your ducks in a row
Three Common Pochard fly across the lake. They make a lovely pattern against the azure Italian sky. There are two males and …
Hooded Crow
Crows are some of the most observant and attentive of birds. They are quick to calculate the opportunities and find avoiding dangers …
A great Greater Flamingo
It’s the evening and a single young Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus is doing its thing in the lake. It’s beautiful, ungainly, magical, and …
Murmur
Urban Starlings. Winter. Rome. A park. All the perfect ingredients.
When Kingfishers attack
There’s a flash of electric blue and a Kingfisher arrows past on its intensely important mission. Coots beware!