Nuthatch – “A haunter of dead trees.”
There’s a Nuthatch sounding off like a car alarm above me. It comes down to a nearby branch and I’m able to …
More Stonechatting
A few days ago I went looking for Stonechats on Trendlebere Down and met this female: Stonechats on Trendlebere Down and Tunnicliffe’s …
Taking the three kids out for dinner
I’m out at my local country park when I notice something below the bird feeder which isn’t a Grey Squirrel. It’s a …
Wood Pigeons and Tunnicliffe’s Brooke Bond Bird Portraits
There’s a Wood Pigeon in my local country park. They seem such heavy birds: Back home I look Wood Pigeon up in …
Willow Warblers on Trendlebere Down, my 1970s nature notebooks and Tunnicliffe’s Brooke Bond Bird Portraits
It’s a beautiful day up on Trendlebere Down, an area of heathland on the east of Dartmoor in Devon. There’s a lilting …
Stonechats on Trendlebere Down and Tunnicliffe’s Brooke Bond Bird Portraits
There’s a female Stonechat, Saxicola torquata, on Trendlebere Down on Dartmoor. It’s flying to the highest perch in this low scrubland. It’s …
Bullfinch bookends and Tunnicliffe’s Brooke Bond Bird Portraits
Bullfinches are exceptionally beautiful. They are also elusive. It’s a pleasure when I see a pair at Yarner Woods on Dartmoor: I’ve …
Roe Deer on Dartmoor
Stumbling through the undergrowth on Trendlebere Down, part of East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, I find a complete Roe Deer skeleton. It’s …
Colour on a grey day
There are Dartmoor ponies on Trendlebere Down on East Dartmoor: It’s a heathland habitat which was largely destroyed by fire, caused by …
House Sparrows
The car park of the out of town shopping centre is empty apart from my car. I haven’t bought anything and the …
Blackbird
There are Blackbirds at the top of many trees at this time of year. Their beautiful singing fills the air and gladdens …
The Tail of the Turkey
Turkey Tail fungus, Trametes versicolor, is everywhere: Here it is in Fungorum qui in Bavaria et Palatinatu circa Ratisbonam nascuntur icones, nativis …
Great Tits
I’m going to let these photographs speak for themselves: Great Tits are such attractive birds: A description is unnecessary: So I ought …
Ancient names: Parus capite nigro: vertice albo, dorso cinereo, pectore albo
Coal Tit is such a nice, short, simple name. It’s also in English, and despite Britain’s best efforts in the past, not …
Mining Holly leaves
Out in the woods I’m surrounded by the familiar shape of Holly bushes, Ilex aquifolium. It’s also a familiar feeling as the …
Long-Tailed Bushtits
It’s raining and the weather is dull. It’s not great light for photography, but it is great light for observation. These Long-Tailed …
What a difference a lens makes
Forty years ago I kept detailed nature notebooks. I wrote down everything I saw and identified with enthusiasm, including the smallest of …
A Coal Tit record breaker
Coal Tits are record breakers. Not for their size, their distribution or their number of eggs. It’s because a pair of Coal …
Finding the Fluted Bird’s Nest fungus
There’s a fungus I’ve never see before at my feet in the woods of Orley Common in South Devon. It’s tiny, almost …
Chaffinch
This female Chaffinch is in bright sunshine against a sky like a painting: This male has wonderful bright colours. He’s in full …
Violet Oil Beetles
In Dunsford Wood there are glades and clearings full of wild daffodils. As I meander around them, stepping on Ramsons and sniffing …
Oop oop, Oop oop, Oop oop
It’s a noise like no other. I know it isn’t a pigeon or a dove. It’s a loud insistent “Oop oop.” I …
Mandarin
There’s a male Mandarin Duck, Aix galericulata, steaming towards me over the lake: It’s hard to imagine the evolutionary pressures which have …
Robin Orange-Breast
Robins don’t have red breasts; they are orange, surely? Maybe they are called red because it’s alliterative with Robin. Maybe they’re called …
Great Spotted Woodpecker
There’s a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the tree in front of me. It knows I’m here because it’s keeping to the other …
Blue Tits
Blue Tits weren’t always called Blue Tits. They were once called Titmice or Titmouse. The mice or mouse in their name doesn’t …
Seaton Wetlands
Sunshine; warmth; the feel of spring in the air. It’s a while since I’ve felt that; and that’s also true for wildlife. …
Dry rot’s wild cousin
I’ve owned a house which had dry rot. It’s not something I’d wish on anyone. Having the fungus, Serpula lacrymans, creeping through …
Groatie Buckies
On the table in the Groatie Buckies cafe on Westray, run by Stewart and Marian Groat, is a jar of Groatie Buckies. …
A solitary Goosander on the canal
Goosanders are such wonderful birds. They have amazing sawtooth bills to grip slippery fish underwater. I can see the solitary individual still …