Snow upon snow
Snow is a problem for people when you don’t prepare for it. It’s also a problem for wildlife. I’m wearing boots, waterproof …
Blue Tit in the snow
Snow has been falling all afternoon and delicate powdery flakes have been cushioning the world into a different, eerie, soft and soundless …
Seal haul
In Pierowall on Westray in Orkney, the seals haul themselves up onto the rocks in the Bay. They lie scattered like the …
The Snare of the Fowler
I’m enjoying leafing through a copy of Lilliput magazine from February 1955. ‘Lilliput is a man’s magazine’, it declares on the cover. …
Face like a shovel
There’s a deluxe duck in a flooded field in Exeter: It’s a Northern Shoveler: It has a face like a shovel. It’s …
Egrets, I’ve had a few
I recently saw Little Egrets in Italy: Little Egrets Today I’m in Exeter and there’s one hunting on the Exe: Egretta garzetta …
Curlew wading
I recently saw a flock of over 100 Curlews on the fields at the side of the River Exe. They seem to …
Revisiting Black-Tailed Godwits on the Exe
It’s a week since I visited the Exe estuary and saw Black-Tailed Godwits in large flocks. They are very distinctive in flight, …
Avocets on the Exe
We once killed all the Avocets in Britain. We destroyed their habitat by draining their salt marshes and we killed them for …
Edwin and the shipwreck cabin
Westray is a small island and has some really interesting characters; Edwin Rendall is one of them. My theory is that everyone …
Sunstar seedheads
Whenever it’s winter, it’s hard to imagine summer and whenever it’s summer, it’s hard to imagine winter. Whenever it’s spring, it’s hard …
Udal Law
The law on who owns what land isn’t as simple as you might think. Living in a country with a name like …
Black-Tailed Godwits on the Exe
There are large flocks of Black Tailed Godwits on the Exe estuary at the moment. It’s winter and they’re probably here from …
Putchers and their Privileged Engines
What’s happened to the Salmon of my childhood? Pollution, habitat destruction and overgrazing of livestock. Here’s a story of Putchers and their Privileged Engines catching Salmon on the Wye.
Stonechatting
I’ve seen Stonechats before, most recently on Trendlebere Down in South Devon. They are very handsome birds, and their insistent habit of …
25 pairs of Pintail
There’s a pair of Pintail ducks at Bowling Green Marsh near Exeter. I’ve seen one before in the West Midlands when a …
Greenshanks and Redshanks
Good weather is in short supply in February. A bright day is a rarity, so after a view of clear blue sky …
Windows
I love the windows of the old buildings on Westray in Orkney. The stonework is wonderful, the walls are so deep and …
Pink Zebras and Ginger Swans
In Devon everything in the countryside takes on the colour of the soil; and that colour is often red. The Devonian red …
The haunting last sound of the British wilderness
Curlews. The very last authentic sound of the British wilderness.
Oystercatcher – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
It’s over forty years since I first saw Oystercatchers and noted it down in my nature notebooks: I was probably on a …
Tentative
Arriving at Einar, the cattle are always keen to see what’s happening. They approach me with tentative noses:
The Bay of Skaill
On a glorious day on Westray this boat on the Ouse on the Bay of Skaill makes a beautiful scene:
Curious wet nose
Westray is a farming and fishing island, with wildlife largely confined to the edges and margins. It is a very productive island with green fields and very healthy-looking cattle.
Here’s a curious wet nose:
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #16 The Black Headed Gull
It’s Day 16 of turning the pages of this 1950s Ladybird book of British Birds to see what’s changed since it was …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #15 The Moorhen
It’s Day 15 of turning the pages of this 1950s Ladybird book to see what’s changed since it was published. Today; The …
Stop the vigilante ivy cutters
There’s something very deep within our animal brains that comes from our inner ancient ape that compels us to interfere, to tidy, to arrange and to act upon nature.
Mute
Photographing Swans is as difficult as photographing snow. They often appear bleached and featureless. Or bedraggled and dirty. Getting the exposure just …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #14 The Pied Wagtail
It’s Day 14 of turning the pages in this 1950s Ladybird book of British Birds. “…it does like to be fairly near …
The secret sex life of the Dunnock
Dunnocks are often unfairly overlooked. They are stunningly beautiful in close-up. You just need to get close: Here in Italy the beautiful …