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, …
The Deceiver
The Deceiver. It’s such a great name for a mushroom. It’s has depth, a backstory and a certain presence. I love it. …
Acrobats
This doesn’t look like a finely tuned athlete to me: There’s nothing to give you the impression of suppleness or strength or …
Brown Blackbird
Blackbirds are stunningly attractive. The plumage of the females is exceptional. It’s so subtle. Unlike the males. The males are definitely dressed …
The Three Ravens
We’re at RSPB Lodmoor in Weymouth. It’s a grey day. It’s the perfect dramatic atmosphere for Ravens. There are a group of …
Hairy Curtain Crust fungus – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
There’s a Hairy Curtain Crust fungus on this fallen wood: That’s not the name I knew it by as a child. Back …
Spring
Early in the morning the light is a cool blue There are signs of spring everywhere: The light warms to an amber …
Purple flash
This female Mallard duck is showing a very distinctive wing patch. It’s called a speculum. No, not that kind of speculum, it’s …
An ‘Upside Down Bird’ the right way up
Nuthatches are sometimes called Upside-Down Birds because of their ability to walk down trees upside down. It’s all in the power of …
Is this the most invisible bird in Britain?
Some birds are showy and you see them all the time. Some birds make a spectacle of themselves and gather in their …
Frisky Tufties, nasal saddles and schemochromes
There are Tufted Ducks at Stover Country Park. They are a little wary but I manage to get a few photographs: I’ve …
Nuthatch
Nuthatches rarely find huge quantities of food in the wild. It’s only when they find a treasure-trove of fabulous food left by …
A Blue Tit master of chiaroscuro
Bird photography is all about closeness and light. Sometimes the two arrive together and provide the perfect combination. This Blue Tit shows …
Marilyn
It’s not 1am. It’s not New York. It’s not 1954. I’m not Billy Wilder. There aren’t 100 male photographers here. There aren’t …
Chaffinch warts and dirty bird feeders
Feeding birds artificially doesn’t just change their behaviour, it changes their lives completely, from the number of eggs they lay, the chicks …
Marsh Tits
I usually only get to glimpse Marsh Tits. They are small, quick, beautiful and elusive. Unlike other Tits they seem to be …
Four species of bat in one cave
When I tell you that I’ve been invited to a bat cave, your reaction is likely to be, “How great!”, “How awful!”, …
Willow
Spring is everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean in this bit of the northern hemisphere. This willow is bursting full of …
Swans’ ankles
There’s a Mute Swan upending itself on the lake. It’s giving me clear views of its ankles, or ‘backwards knees’ as many …
Blackthorn
Last night I was sitting in the pews in a church with a 14th Century tower in a Devon village, waiting for …
Travelling family
There’s a Long-Tailed Bushtit family moving through. I can hear them calling their strange ‘Zeee’ contact call overhead. Aren’t they fabulous? Everyone …
The Buzz #2
I’m still admiring the Stover Country Park Buzzard. It’s a glorious bird and seems oblivious to the crowd of people on the …
The Buzz #1
The legendary frog-eating Buzzard is back at Stover Country Park: Apparently it ate a mouse this morning: That won’t feed it for …
Stonechat
I’ve seen Stonechats in Devon. They’re a bird I didn’t see as a child so they always appear exotic to me. It’s …
L’airone cenerino
The Grey Herons at Lago di Alviano are studious. Nothing disturbs their concentration: They are tense, waiting for that exact moment when …