Even Pheasants are ‘Queer’ now according to Pink News
The Doctrine of ‘Queer’ Signatures I’m not in the habit of reading Pink News, the website which is neither pink nor news. …
Rettile ittiosauro
There’s an Ichthyosaur fossil displayed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. They evolved around 250 million years ago and some survived …
Gusci di molluschi
I was immediately drawn to this arrangement of fossil shells in the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. Glorious, isn’t it? I …
It’s a carefully laid trap
Each of these seats is a carefully laid trap. It’s a system which has evolved to take €18 off each tourist who …
Tentacles
As a child I never understood why people said an octopus had tentacles. Surely they’re octacles? An octopus’s tentacles are multi-function. Just …
Trilobite con pista
‘Trilobite con pista’, it says. No, it’s not an item on the Italian menu in the restaurant at lunch time, but the …
Gay Times introduces: Tranimals!
You may know Peter Tatchell best for his views on reducing the age of consent and on sexual relationships with children. He’s …
Scala Contarini del Bovolo
Six floors, eighty steps, 28 metres and €9. That’s the spiral staircase named after snails, ‘del Bovolo’, in Venice. The Palazzo was …
The gondoliers
Gondoliers in Venice appear to earn a top salary of €100,000. For that I’d expect some adherence to uniform standards. We saw …
Fossil ferns and horsetails
I’m astonished every time I see detail in fossils. Their age, the heat and the pressure they have been subjected to, and …
The trophy room
A visit to the natural history museum in Venice can be a bit of a shock for those unprepared for a full-on …
Bridge of Sightseers
A tale of two bridges. One is the Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs, built in 1600. It’s the bridge between …
Pink lamps
It’s a foggy early morning in Venezia and the low cloud gives an eerie feel to the place as we wander around …
Chimera
A trip to Venice isn’t complete without at least two hours visiting the Museo de la historia naturale. As well as dinosaur …
Asymmetric Gondolas
On a recent trip to Venezia (Venice) I was fascinated to see that gondolas lean. They all have one side much larger …
“From the age of five I was taught how to torture, mutilate, and kill.”
From the age of five I was taught how to torture, mutilate and kill. I was instructed how to inflict the maximum …
A dull day enlivened with a sprinkle of Linnets
It’s a dull day in Somerset but it’s enlivened by the sound of Linnets in the air. There’s a mobile flock exploring …
Totes Meer – by Paul Nash
Seeing an original Paul Nash painting is always a revelation. His Totes Meer is a wonderful moonlit seascape of ruined German planes. …
A Marsh Harrier on the marsh
A trip in dull weather with Birds of Poole Harbour gave me the chance to see a very distant Marsh Harrier while …
The chase
Herring Gulls love a good chase. If there’s a chance of kleptoparasitism, they’ll take it. This one seems to have been just …
Cycad
There’s a Cycad in Kew. I love them. Just like conifers and the Gingko tree, Cycads are gymnosperms, which means their unfertilised …
Siskins in Alder
They’re noisy, tiny, green and yellow, and at the top of a tree. The Siskins, Carduelis spinus, are here. There’s a large …
The brown-headed Black-Headed Gull springs forth
It’s spring and the Black-Headed Gulls are showing us just how unobservant the person who named them was. This one at RSPB …
Tipitiwitchet
The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a fascinating plant. I’ve kept one as a pot plant in the past, but was excited to …
Marsh Harrier over the reeds
A highlight of my trips to RSPB Lodmoor is the sight of Marsh Harriers flying over the reeds. Their languid flight, interspersed …
Three Shovels
I was attempting to get my ducks in a row at RSPB Ham Wall as these Northern Shovelers had an energetic flypast. …
Robert
The white spot in the centre of the Robin’s breast is so intense, it’s often blown-out in photographs. If it’s brightly lit, …
Tinkling in the trees
There’s a tinkling I recognise in the trees. I see it as it flies down to a barbed wire fence. It’s a …
Treecreeper
There’s a small brown object in the distance doing what Treecreepers do. It’s too far away for me to see any details, …
Twittering Siskins
The trees surrounding us are full of noise. At first we can’t see what’s making the high-pitched sound, but we persist. High …