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Dartmoor

Stonechat - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Stonechat chicks

I’m catching up this week with all the things I should have done months ago. One of them is to post this …

Tree Pipit - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Tree Pipit in flight

Well, it’s not the parachute display flight I was looking for, but it is a Tree Pipit in flight. So that’s something. …

Waxcap - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Cycling past Waxcaps

I’m cycling on Dartmoor when I see a Blackening Waxcap, Hygrocybe conica. It’s always a thrill so spot one, so I dismount …

Blackening Russula - Russula nigricans - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Blackening Brittlegills

There are Blackening Brittlegills here on Dartmoor. They are fungi which live in broadleaved, mixed and coniferous woodland. They really do like …

Ring Ouzel - Turdus torquatus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Ring Ouzels

It’s not very often that you can experience wilderness in England. Contrary to popular belief, we’re not lovers of wildlife and nature …

Egghead Mottlegill - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Egghead Mottlegill

There’s a beautiful domed fungus on this lump of poo on Dartmoor. Naturally I have to pick it up and have a …

Cuckoo - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Return to Cuckooville

Wild Cuckoos are truly wild birds. They don’t tolerate human presence. I’m hidden in camouflage and bracken waiting for them to come …

Horses - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Foalish

Images of mothers and children are incredibly powerful to humans. It’s even the case that we respond to other mammals: Mare and …

Lydford Gorge - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Lydford Gorge

Gabriel and I are visiting the deepest gorge in the South West at Lydford, owned by the National Trust. We’re walking along …

Wistman's Wood - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The magical forest

My son Gabriel’s coming to visit for the weekend. He’s bringing his camera and wants to have a few trips out. We …

Stonechat on Trendlebere Down - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Jump-on-a-Pole

The Stonechat is named after its call; a sound like two stones being banged together. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them …

Buzzards on Trendlebere Down - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Buzzard drama on Dartmoor

I thought that last week’s Buzzard drama over my local industrial estate was it for me. After all, how much great Buzzard …

Sheep's Tor - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Sheepstor frost

From the top of Sheepstor on Dartmoor there’s a wonderful view of long shadows and a frosted cattle field. Yes, I know …

Meadow Pipit - Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Meadow Pipits at Emsworthy Mire

There’s been an eruption of Garden Chafers, Phyllopertha horticola, at Emsworthy Mire. The bracken is covered in them. The local Meadow Pipits …

Stonechat - Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Stonechats at Emsworthy Mire

I love Stonechats. I’ve spent a couple of very happy days with them: This time I’m just passing through and get a …

Dryad's Saddle - Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dryad’s Saddle

The Dryad’s Saddle fungus is one I remember from my childhood. It can grow huge. It has a beautiful scaly skin and …

Return to Challacombe Farm

Return to Challacombe Farm

I’ve been to Challacombe Farm before: It’s teeming with animals for food and fun: I popped back to see what was around …

Cuckoo - Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Cuckoos at Emsworthy Mire 2

I’ve arrived earlier today in the hope of seeing Cuckoos. Yesterday was a success, with a high-speed chase, so I have high …

Cuckoo - Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Cuckoos at Emsworthy Mire

I’ve seen a Cuckoo before, but only the outline of a bird perched in the distance. I’d love to see one properly. …

Dartmoor - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dartmoor birds

A lockdown lifetime ago we went to Dartmoor for a walk. I say ‘a walk’, but it was more an amble from …

Stoat - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Emsworthy Mire Revisited

I try my luck again to get some decent photographs of the Ring Ouzels at Emsworthy Mire. I have a large flask …

Shaggy Parasol - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Shaggy Parasols at Emsworthy Mire

There are Parasol mushrooms in the fields at Emsworthy Mire. They are huge, but not as huge as the dinner-plate sized Macrolepiota …

Emsworthy Mire - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Lone Trees on Dartmoor

A walk from Emsworthy Mire. Dartmoor is an impressive landscape of human destruction. It’s been cut and burnt and grazed. And thousands …