Common Seal in the 1970s
Leafing through my childhood scrapbooks I come across a drawing of a Common Seal. It has all the characteristics of a Common …
Mediterranean Spotted Chafer
It’s taken me a while to identify this beetle I saw in Italy this summer. It really shouldn’t have taken me this …
Shelduck
Whenever I see Shelducks walking and eating in the mud I wish I could join them. Well, the walking bit anyway. Maybe …
Banded Demoiselle
Here’s a Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) from this summer: They get better the closer you look: If you have any children in …
Purple Pigeon
A quick trip out to one of the bridges on Brunel’s Great Western Railway in South Devon means a great view of …
What did Barn Swallows do before barns?
Our UK Swallows are known as Barn Swallows in the USA. It’s a good name because they love nesting in barns. Here’s …
United Monopolies – How much are we paying water companies for our wildlife drought?
Can you remember the last time you spent a day without drinking water? Without cleaning your teeth? Without washing your dishes? Without …
Life begins at the Hops
There’s a plant which normally grows in a place which is at the end of our walk. I’ve been looking forward to …
Gadwall at Ham Wall
There’s a group of five Gadwall making a racket as they fly in ridiculously close formation at RSPB Ham Wall. Close up …
A short tale about a long tail
The Long Tailed Tit’s name is misleading. Just because its name is ‘tit’ people always assume that it’s related to the Blue …
Nature’s Velcro
The tiny hooks on the ends of Burdock burrs are waiting patiently for me to brush past them. Why use the wind …
Haws
Hawthorn – one of the gifts of autumn.
Woodpigeon
Have you ever had a close look at a Woodpigeon? They are such extreme birds. Just look at those strange features: Now …
There are stars in the daytime sky
There are Starlings in the sky. Their plumage sparkles like stars that twinkle in the daytime. Their green and purple iridescence is …
The Secret Purple Sandpiper
Back in July I saw a wader on the rocky coast. I didn’t recognise it so I knew I had to get …
I’m not the only one who finds ducks faintly ridiculous, am I?
Exhibit A: The Red-Crested Pochard: Surely this one takes the biscuit for the most ridiculous duck in the UK? The UK breeding …
A Hen Harrier in my back garden
When a Hen Harrier came to visit
Westray Coast 50 – Day Five
My adventures on the fifth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four and a Half
My adventures on the four-and-a-half-th of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four
My adventures on the fourth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Three
My adventures on the third of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Two
My adventures on the second of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day One
My adventures on the first of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Knots landing at the Peedie Sea
I’m wandering the shore at Kirkwall Harbour for an hour before the ferry takes me to Westray. I’m loving the complex singing …
Kestrel in Hyde Park
I’m back in the UK after a trip to Italy looking for Little Owls. We didn’t see them apart from a brief …
The Earth is having its features rearranged
This tweet from the RSPB South West caught my eye: “Due to climate change & improvements to the way our land is …
The bird with the coolest name ever
The bird above us is a Snake Eagle. To be precise, it’s a Short-Toed Snake Eagle, Circaetus gallicus. If only it would come …
More more
There are blackberries everywhere in the hedges here in Italy. They taste wrong though. They’re drier, harder, less juicy and far less …
Searching for Little Owls
It’s been a dream of mine to see a Little Owl again. When I was a young teenager my friend Michael had …
A Harrier on the hill
I see a tiny speck of a bird circling over a ruined building in Tarquinia: We drive the car in its direction …