Autumn at Killerton
Killerton is an unusual National Trust property. Unlike many of the others its story doesn’t appear to involve slavery, death and exploitation …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #5 – The Jackdaw
If Jackdaws could talk, what would they say to us?
Dragonfly on a post
I see a dragonfly on a post at RSPB Old Moor: And then I see another dragonfly on a post at RSPB …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #4 – The Greenfinch
Here’s the page on The Greenfinch from The Ladybird book of British Birds and their Nests from 1955 from my continuing Ladybird …
A flock of Long-Tailed Bushtits just passing through.
There’s a flock of Long-Tailed Bushtits just passing through. They are just like fuzzy lollipops. I like the detail of the bright …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #3 – The Chaffinch
How are Chaffinches doing 60 years after this Ladybird book?
Bush Cricket
I loved having a magnifying glass as a child. I had one with a blue handle, with a false Parker pen clip …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #2 – The Swallow
Since this Ladybird book was published we’ve been to the moon, we’ve entered the computer age, there’s been huge urbanisation, the human population has more than doubled and we’ve caused mass destruction of habitat and extinction of species. What’s happened to Swallows in that time?
Sunshine Parasols in a huge faerie ring
There are many huge Parasol Mushrooms in this upland grassland. They are growing in a faerie ring over 60 metres wide and …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #1 – The Hedge Sparrow
What has changed since this Ladybird book was published in the 1950s?
Stony Ground
Farming is a tough business. I often describe farmers as ‘scratching a living from the land’. There’s the weather, uncertain prices, problems …
Always a Comma and never a full stop
There’s a Comma butterfly Polygonia c-album at the top of this Blackthorn tree. It’s bright orange against the still-green leaves and the …
Tree Sparrows
There’s a sparrow with a chocolate-coloured head peering at me. There’s a clue to its identity in that I’m at Tree Sparrow …
Carding, teasing and charming
At school I was taught that ‘carding’ wool is when you take the raw wool and tease it to straighten all the …
Crime Lake at Daisy Nook
I’m at Crime Lake. Apparently no crime was committed here, but having seen the six lanes of motorway built through beautiful countryside, …
The fall of the leaf, the ripeness of the fruit
The traditional English word in England for this time of year was fall, not autumn. Fall isn’t a modern American import at …
A partial eclipse of the Wigeon
When I first heard that a duck could have an eclipse I thought that it was a joke. A total eclipse of …
Parrots in the grass
I’m walking on Orley Common and there are parrots in the grass. No, not these kinds of parrots.
Sand Martins – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Forty years ago, before I was even a teenager, I started keeping detailed nature notebooks. A lined notepad and a blue biro, …
Sniff my fingers
Grey seals are very distinctive. This one was hauled out at Broughton in Pierowall. They have that famous Roman nose: I first …
Collared Doves
There are a million pairs of Collared Doves in the UK, which is remarkable because there weren’t any in the country in …
An Uncommon Darter
Looking down from the top of the valley we can see the medieval hill town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio below. It’s …
Long Tailed Bushtits in the bushes
I’m looking over the beautiful green treetops and palm-tops in Parco Villa Gregoriana in Tivoli: There’s a flock of Long Tailed Tits …
The Doctrine of Signatures
I’m walking around Villa d’Este in Tivoli. It’s the Renaissance masterpiece where hundreds of fountains flow with ornate carvings, pools, ducts and …
Temples and Lounging Lizards
I’m wandering around Tivoli with my camera. I’m in the Parco Villa Gregoriana. I expected there to be a fine house called …
Ol’ Blue Eyes is back
I love the street cats of Italy, despite the number of wild birds they kill. Today I have a day off in …
Wasp Spider on the plane and on the plain
On the high mountain plain above Calascio in Italy we stop for a picnic and I see a black, white and yellow …
Robin’s Pincushions on Wild Roses
The ability of life to survive in the harshest of climates is remarkable. We’re walking at 1,500m above sea level and winters …
From rich forests teeming with natural life…
The Earth is on a journey from biodiversity to monoculture; from rich tropical and temperate rainforests to grass with cattle and sheep …