A Squab
There’s a big kerfuffle in the garden. Something’s happening in the pine tree. I glance out of the window and see a …
Skating on water
I always enjoy seeing pond skaters, as childhood memories flood back: Today there are some large ones on this brook and I’m …
The Sundews of boggy pools and peaty moors
We’re having a trip to Dartmoor and I decide to stop off for a quick fungus forage. Down by the bridge there’s …
An early Start Point
I’ve been to Start Point before. I came here with my son one morning, very early, and took photographs in the fog. …
The Drumstick Truffleclub
There’s a fungus which is barely visible on the forest floor. It’s Tolypocladium capitatum, the Drumstick Truffleclub. It’s a parasitic fungus which …
The Wasp Spider
Walking around Bovey Heath we spot a Wasp Spider. It’s a fantastic specimen. Just look at it: I manage to get between …
Challacombe Chickens
These chickens at Challacombe Farm have the look of an ancient painting about them. The farm is owned, like 52,760 hectares of land and …
Boring beetles
Beetles are never boring, unless they’re tunnelling, of course. How fabulous are these tunnels under the bark of this tree? I’d love …
Late Swallows walking the high barbed wire
A few months ago we had a trip to Dartmoor and saw Barn Swallows enjoying some of their first weeks of flying. …
Fake is not the four letter word you were looking for…
On Christmas Day we went to the South Devon fishing town of Brixham. It was a beautiful day so we decided to …
Dolphins in Brixham Harbour
It was Christmas Day 2019 and the Puffin Whisperer and I went for a day trip to Brixham. We spent the morning …
The Top Ten ways to help wildlife (and people) this winter
Would you like to know the most effective way of encouraging wildlife this winter? Here are some of my personal suggestions which …
Air rage
Spending time in nature really helps you appreciate it. I’ve had such a great summer on the gentle hills and cliffs of …
Curlew
It’s a warm evening, bathed in orange light. I hear the call first. Then it’s the flypast. It’s a Curlew. There’s been …
A juvenile Arctic Skua flypast
I have to say it. These juvenile Arctic Skuas are… a little bit ginger. It’s fabulous to watch them sweep imperiously past. …
Arctic Skuas v Arctic Terns
I’ve seen Arctic Skuas get into quite a few scraps this summer. There was the time one chased a Raven. Then the …
Welcome to Oldham – home of the tubular bandage
Three years ago I took a trip around my old home town of Oldham. It’s the place in which I grew up. …
Wrens
There is a family of Wrens flitting along the field boundary in front of us. They’re working the margins for insects and …
Injured animal
Arriving on Papa Westray, we have to walk the full length of the island to get to North Hill and the drama …
Kittiwake, Kittisleep
There’s a Kittiwake at the end of the pier where the Papa Westray ferry arrives. It’s stunning in the early morning light. …
The pool
There’s a rock pool fed with fresh water fram a tiny waterfall on the west coast of Westray. I love how green …
Escape?
After seeing a couple of successful attacks by Great Skuas against juvenile Kittiwakes I feared the worst when this one strayed over …
If rocks could think and feel and see…
If rocks could think and feel and see then life would be very different from their perspective. These rocks are so contorted, …
Great Northern Diver
I had such a wonderful time last winter going to see Great Northern Divers in Brixham in Devon.
Juvenile Arctic Skua
Arctic Skuas come to Orkney to breed. They’re kleptoparasites, attacking birds with fish and stealing their meal. They also attack people with …
Wave rainbows and bubble-bath seals
Seeing transient rainbows flicker into and out of life on the crests of waves is a magical feeling. At the north end …
A lone Swift at Noup Head
There’s a Swift at Noup Head on Westray. Swifts are called that for a reason. Can you see the fly it’s about …
I Dream of Puffins
I dream of Puffins. I dream of being out on the soft, grassy cliffs and being surrounded by quirky birds cocking their …
Stenness sheep
We’re at the Standing Stones of Stenness when a sheep stares at me. There are only four of the twelve ancient stones …
Sunset and the whale
When you can see the horizon, on days when you can spin and see the sea and the clouds surrounding you, there’s …