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…
Tag: wildlife conservation
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…
Weald Amphibian Survey
A few weeks back I joined the Essex Amphibian and Reptile Group on a survey of ponds in the Weald Country Park near Brentwood. Led again by the awesome Graham Hart we met at 19:00 to lay down transects of traps at one location before making our way to another to survey the sides of…
Dormouse Survey Essex
Just before Easter 2019 I was able to join a dormouse survey in a local wood. To say I was excited… I had never seen a dormouse in the wild, let alone to prospect of getting close to one. Graham and the team were on hand to train up volunteers and get them comfortable enough…
Wildlife Wander 