The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #4 The Coal Tit
A pair of Coal Tits had the largest number of bird fleas ever reported from a single nest: that’s 5,754 fleas.
The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #3 The Meadow Pipit
We’ve killed over one in three Meadow Pipits in the UK in the last 45 years.
The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #2 The Redshank
Redshanks declined by 38% from 1995 to 2015.
The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #1 The Corn Bunting
The birds of my childhood books have been almost eliminated from the British countryside in my lifetime.
Tortoiseshell
There’s a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly which has settled in front of me: I’m thrilled because I hardly ever see them. I took …
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 …
The Bird by Edwin Muir
Here’s another of my favourite poems by Orcadian poet Edwin Muir. The Bird Adventurous bird walking upon the air,Like a schoolboy running …
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 …
Swallow over the rainbow
I’ve seen some spectacular rainbows on Westray. Some have been fleeting. Some have been intense. Some have been full arcs which split …
Location of injury
Walking in the garden at the back of Einar I can see a mess of rotten wood painted green, tangled with chicken …
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 …
The most persecuted bird in Britain
I’m hoping to see a Hen Harrier today. I’m going to visit the Eddie Balfour hide on the mainland of Orkney. The …
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 …
“…beside the lake are stones high and broad, in height equal to a spear, and in an equal circle of half a mile.”
At Stenness stands a stone circle over 4,000 years old. The stones are surrounded by a ditch cut into the bedrock. The …
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.
The Battle of Bere Bannock
The Battle of Bannockburn is a famous Scottish victory in the first Scottish War of Independence. Equally as momentous is the Battle …
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.