2020 certainly has shaped up as a year to remember for everyone, everywhere. And for mostly the wrong reasons, or perhaps “reason.” A two-week trip to Spain was cancelled earlier in the summer (first-world problem) with all the uncertainty of what was going on, but we were fortunate to be in a position in July…
Tag: nature
Danish Finches & More
After years of working for a certain Danish toy company and travelling to Denmark very regularly, I finally managed to invite myself to a friend’s home to photograph their bird table. Not so much the table as what visits it every winter. Each year, as the temperature drops, the table sees incredible winter visitors arrive…
Tawny of Christchurch
I’d been reading about a tawny owl that roosts out in the open in the middle of an urban park for some time. Well, the story goes that an owl called Mabel took up roost in 2007 but was last seen in 2017. So… is this Mabel? Unlikely sadly given the life expectancy of wild…
A Thrush Visits from Asia
I’m not one really to “twitch”, but when a bird turns up from Asia or similarly far afield, and it’s not too far away, I’ll always pop along out of interest and maybe get some photos along the way. Most vagrants don’t show well enough to get decent photos, so when I heard a black…
The Owls of Serbia – December 2019
For a long time, I’ve really wanted to see the Long Eared Owl roosts of Serbia and finally my father and I made the pilgrimage. And we weren’t disappointed. We flew into Belgrade one late winter afternoon, picked up our hire car and started our hour long journey to the only hotel that ever seems…
Spoonbills at last
The last two weekends I have spent a bit of time at a nearby spot called Abberton Reservoir. The main reason being two spoonbills showed up and have been most accommodating with where they decided to hang out I.e. not miles away from a hide but right in front of a road going over a…
Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina – July 2019
A family holiday took us to Croatia this summer for an albeit short sprint of a break spent between Split and Dubrovnik, but mainly of the latter. As the title suggests, we also made it to Bosnia & Herzegovina for a couple day-trips, though any kind of wildlife watching was restricted to one site. In…
Adder Love
I love reptiles in general but the adder holds a special place. Yes, they’re incredibly beautiful with their zig zag patterns and the male’s silver appearance post-shed. Their red eyes contrasting against the browns and greys of their skin. Maybe it’s the danger element too, the fact that you’re so close to Britain’s only venomous…
North Yorkshire Cliffs – May 2019
I finally managed to get up to the seabird sites of North Yorkshire in May, over 25 years since my last visit. Perhaps a few metres less to see thanks to coastal erosion 😉 but was great to be back. We started at Bempton Cliffs where thralls of gannets, razorbills, kittiwakes and guillemots clung to…
Thursley Common – May 2019
GI’d heard a great deal about Thursley Common and how incredible the habitat there was for reptiles and birds, not to mention invertebrates. So, one long bank holiday weekend, I decided to head over. It was clear that, with a dip in temperatures that week, any reptiles would be few and far between. Nonetheless, I…
Wildlife Wander 