Two thirsty Swallows make it Summer in Spring
It’s clearly thirsty work flying from Africa to the UK. I pop into the Devon Wildlife Trust Reserve at Bovey Heathfield for …
A world within a world
What type of organism has 20,000 species, covers between 6 to 8% of the Earth’s land surface and has some of the …
The child within
There are the remains of a small tree on Bovey Heath. It’s started to disintegrate and the trunk has shattered. Deep within …
Birch Brackets and extinct elephants
This Birch Bracket fungus is Piptoporous betulinus. It looks like a bicycle saddle here. I almost expect it to have springs underneath like …
Pottering amongst the potters of Bovey Heath
In early autumn I visited Bovey Heath to meet John Walters, a fabulous entomologist, artist and speaker. He’d promised to show me …
Jewels in autumn leaves
There are warty jewels hidden amongst the leaves on the woodland floor. These are Common Puffballs, Lycoperdon perlatum. It’s always an impressive …
Baby pink mushrooms which smell of radish
There’s a beautiful baby pink fungus on the Heath. I suspect it might be Mycena rosea, the Rosy Bonnet: It’s hard to …
Fly Agarics
There are Fly Agarics in abundance on Bovey Heath at the moment. It’s tricky to find one which hasn’t been partially eaten …
2019 highlights of a wilder Devon life
2019 has seen me explore Devon a little more. I’ve been out onto Emsworthy Mire on Dartmoor a few times to enjoy …
Fly Agarics at Bovey Heathfield
Amanita muscaria; the Fly Agaric. Magical, aren’t they?
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 …
Sunset at Bovey Heathfield
I’ve finally managed to have a trip out to Bovey Heath. It’s a tiny remnant of the heathland which would have covered …