Fieldfare – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
I’d like to get a decent photograph of a Fieldfare. That’s quite a tricky thing to achieve without spending a lot of …
Woodland gem-studded marvels
It’s 47 years ago today that I first noted down Common Puffballs in my nature notebooks. The tiny gem-like spikes on the …
‘Tis the season for Shaggy Scalycaps
It’s 47 years today since I first saw Shaggy Scalycaps and wrote about them in blue biro with a pencil sketch in …
No hedges to hog
There’s a Hedgehog trundling down the lane. I can see it from a distance, so we shelter at the roadside and wait …
Troglodyte
A troglodyte is a cave-dweller. The Wren’s scientific name is Troglodytes troglodytes. That made sense to the 12 year old me when …
A Fieldfare in my childhood nature notebooks
There’s a Fieldfare at Emsworthy Mire. It’s a thrill, as they’re truly wild and difficult to get close to. The ones which …
Sparrowhawk
I can recognise a Sparrowhawk flying now: flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide. It’s a distinctive pattern. I saw one as a child from a train …
Diadem Spider
I’m at Bovey Heathfield. It’s not quite Dartmoor and the heath is a lowland heath. There are plenty of spiders blocking the …
White Wagtails
White Wagtails are fascinating birds. In the UK we call our darker sub-species the Pied Wagtail. Even though it’s a common bird …
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 …
Searching for Little Owls
It’s been a dream of mine to see a Little Owl again. When I was a young teenager my friend Michael had …
A Spotted Flycatcher – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
We’re driving round Italy with telephoto lenses and the windows down. There’s a tiny brown bird on a branch beside us. It’s …
Reed Bunting
Skills grow like children; imperceptibly. It’s over forty years since I saw my first Reed Bunting and went home to draw it …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Brambling
Forty years ago I saw a Brambling for the first time and noted it down in my childhood nature notebooks: Fringilla montifringilla. …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #12 The Goldfinch
What’s changed for the Goldfinch since this 1950s Ladybird book was published?
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #10 The Blackbird
What’s changed since this 1950s Ladybird Book of British Birds was published?
Kestrel then and now
We are driving along a dusty road in Italy with telegraph poles alongside it. Every few hundred metres is a Kestrel, or, …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #9 The Magpie
It’s Day 9 of turning the pages in this 1950s Ladybird book to see what’s changed in the past 60 years: “The …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #6 The Bullfinch
I’m leafing through my copy of The First Ladybird Book of British Birds and their Nests this month. Turning the page today …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #5 The Long-tailed Tit
Turning to the next page in this 1950s Ladybird book shows the Long-tailed Tit: I prefer to call them Long-Tailed Bushtits because …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds – #4 The Blue Tit
Leafing through this 1950s Ladybird book is fascinating. Today I’ve come to the Blue Tit: Here’s my childhood sketch of Blue Tits. …
The First Ladybird Book of British Birds #3 – The Robin
I’m leafing through this 1950s Ladybird book when I come across the page for the Robin: Everyone knows the Robin Redbreast At …
2017 highlights of a wilder Devon life
2017 was when I embarked upon my quest with gusto. Which quest? To find all the animals, plants and fungi I wrote …