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Matera

Pigeon in Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Precision

Just how precise is this feral Pigeon with its tiny twig? I’m not sure it’s going to be that much use as …

Italian Wall Lizard - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Ruined

Ruin Lizards. No, that’s not an instruction. Ruins are where these Italian Wall Lizards live. In Italy there are civilisations’ worth of …

Forester Moth - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Forester

There’s a bright blue iridescent moth flying in the middle of the day in the south of Italy. I have no idea …

Bertolini's Bee Orchid - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Bertoloni’s Bee Orchid

Bee Orchids are the rubber sex doll of the plant world. I can’t really believe I’ve just written that sentence. Please forgive me.

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spotting chafers

We’re walking in the heat through pungent herbs, surrounded by butterflies and day-flying moths with Lesser Kestrels overhead. We’re in Matera in …

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

Longhorn on the Giant Fennel

Out in the countryside in Matera in Italy, the dry heat and the scent of herbs surrounds us. I particularly love the …

Thomisus on flower - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spiderbombing

I don’t know how long photobombing has been ‘a thing’. Spoiling someone’s photograph by appearing in it unexpectedly must have appeared very …

Lesser Kestrel - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #9

There are Lesser Kestrels before breakfast, Lesser Kestrels on the way to breakfast, a break from Lesser Kestrels for breakfast and then Lesser Kestrels after breakfast. In Matera, there are Lesser Kestrels everywhere.

Lesser Kestrel - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #8

It’s five o’clock in the morning and she’s calling immediately outside our window. I think she wants her mate. The tone is …

Lesser Kestrel - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Lesser Kestrels of Matera #7

We’re having close encounters of the wildlife kind: There are Lesser Kestrels all over Matera. I’m sure the locals must become immune …

Mediterranean Spotted Chafer - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Mediterranean Spotted Chafer

It’s taken me a while to identify this beetle I saw in Italy this summer. It really shouldn’t have taken me this …

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

Surrounded by Giant Fennel

We are out in the nature reserve which occupies the opposite side of the gorge on which the ancient city of Matera …

Lesser Kestrel - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The meaning of Sickle

The word falco, from falcon, means sickle. We’re watching Lesser Kestrels hunting in the fields outside Matera. It’s a breathtaking spot: Across …

The Bee-Hive Beetle

That’s bright! It’s got bright red and black striped warning colouration. It’s the Bee-Hive Beetle, Trichodes alvearius, named by Johan Christan Fabricius …

Lesser Kestrel - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Grillaio in Matera

The Lesser Kestrel is such a disappointing English name for such a fantastic bird. The Italians call them Grillaio, after their main …

Lesser Emporer Dragonfly - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Lesser Emperor of Matera

We’re in Matera in the south of Italy. It’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, with palaeolithic caves on …

Jackdaw - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) david Bailey (not the)

Jackdawning realisation

As well as all the Lesser Kestrels, there are Jackdaws everywhere in Matera in southern Italy. They’re on the rooftops, on window …

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

Swallows in the air

We are wandering around Matera, a city in the south of Italy watching the Swallows. The city is vast and seemingly empty, …

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

Could it be a Canary?

I can see a tiny yellow bird at the very top of a house resting on the TV aerial in Matera in …