Smew
A trip to London for half a day’s work means I can pack my camera, change out of my suit into outdoors …
Black Guillemot with a beautiful fish
Give Black Guillemots a respectful distance and they carry on their lives as normal, including displaying their fresh catch for all to …
Meandering
It’s not just the River Irk which meanders through Chadderton Hall Park. It’s the path too. Having a simple meander to the …
Cobbles at Park Bridge
As a child I remember walking alongside the cobbled streets of Oldham. Some streets had been roughly covered in tarmac and I …
Austins
Austins was previously a hotel called the Globe Hotel and was the venue for the horribly delayed reception for Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s failed Atmospheric Railway journey to Newton Abbot.
A Common Guillemot’s ramphotheca
The coast of Westray is a great place to see the skeletons of birds. In particular, there are skulls littered across the …
Patience
If patience is a virtue, Kingfishers are very virtuous birds. This one sat watching for ripples and underwater silhouettes for five minutes. …
Kelp! I need somebody
I’ve often wondered what kelp-burning pits looked like on Westray. There was a huge industry here, exporting the ash from burning seaplants …
Near and far
I love to see a Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. This female is stunning even though she’s far away in the reeds. And she’s …
First flight
I watched an Arctic Tern colony struggle to raise chicks over the last summer. There was plenty of food, although maybe not …
The Saracens Head
I particularly liked the reviews which mentioned, “Wendy’s baps delicious!” and “My partner loved the Proper Job”, which may well confuse any of my readers outside the UK.
Fish from a stranger
What happens when your colony collapses, your numbers are too low and you can’t protect your chicks from predators? What if there’s …
Rochdale Canal
Britain is full of decaying infrastructure. Whether it’s disused railway lines, abandoned after Dr Beeching’s report, or stagnant canals filling slowly with …
It’s Goosanders all the way
I’m having a trip to Stover Country Park in cold weather when I’m delighted to see there are Goosanders on the lake. …
Hartshead Pike
Hartshead Pike is a familiar landmark to anyone from Oldham or Ashton. It’s a monument on top of a hill with commanding …
Nuthackers
This Nuthatch had a lot to say at Stover Country Park. The noise they make is just like an insistent car alarm. …
St Paul’s Church
St Paul’s Church is named after Paul, or Saul as he was frequently known, who wrote a quarter of what became the New Testament of the Holy Bible. He was a Jewish man whose job was to persecute Christians and who had a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.
Goosey Goosey Goosander
I’m fascinated by Goosander. Just take a look at the ‘teeth’ on this beak. They first bred in the UK in 1871 …
Talkative acorn-eater
The crow family clearly has more than mourning clothes in its genetic wardrobe. This pink Jay with electric blue wing flashes is …
Marsh Harrier at Greylake
We’re on a trip to RSPB Greylake in Somerset. There’s a male Marsh Harrier harrying the marshes. I love its grey go-faster …
Goosander
There’s a Goosander on one of the ponds at Daisy Nook. What a fabulous experience. I have to lie down on the …
Queenfisher at Medlock Vale
A lovely, cold, New Year walk in Daisy Nook Country Park was brightened even more by a flash of emerald green. It’s …
Sneezing
We’re on board the Kelly’s Hero out of Brixham when a loud sneeze echoes across the water. This Grey Seal has a …
Common Guillemots on the turn
This is a Common Guillemot in its non-breeding plumage. Some of them, however, are getting frisky. This one is in breeding plumage …
The Lone Kayaker
The Lone Kayaker is the name of Rupert Kirkwood’s blog about his life kayaking around the coast. It’s well worth browsing because …
Blubber
The pontoons in Brixham harbour are the dry dock for up to forty Grey Seals, Halichoerus grypus, at the moment. They’re curious …
Velvet-stemmed Little Flame
December is the best time to find Velvet Shank fungus, Flammulina velutipes. It’s a species I found as a child: And here …
Artificial Rubbish – part 4
I decided to ask Chat GPT to give me a summary of my blog. According to an Artificial Intelligence summary provided as …
Merlin at Greylake
When I hear that there’s been a Merlin at RSPB Greylake in Somerset I decide I’ve just got to pay it a …
Fresh food
When a micro-moth laid an egg in this Beech leaf it infected the leaf with a bacterium. That bacterial infection disrupted the …