Welcome to my Identification Guide: Winter Waders Part 3, the concluding article in the current series which deals with the larger waders that are relatively easy to see in the UK during the winter period. Other guides to wintering waders can be found here (small waders), and here (medium sized waders). To support the conservation…
Welcome to my Identification Guide: Winter Waders – Part 2. Continuing with the theme of winter waders, we’ll now look at some medium sized birds that you may encounter during that season. The categorisation of waders into medium/large is somewhat arbitrary, as is the term ‘winter’. Many of these birds will be present in the…
Welcome to my Identification Guide to Winter Gulls – Part 2. In this guide we will compare the three most common large gulls you are likely to encounter in a UK winter: Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Great Black-backed Gull. As with all things birds, and particularly when it comes to gulls, nothing is…
Welcome to my Identification Guide to Small Winter Waders. I was busy feeding some Turnstones at Walcott in Norfolk a few weeks ago, where they will happily take scraps left on the sea wall, when a lady approached the car and asked in an incredulous voice “what are those lovely little birds?” I explained that…
Welcome to my Identification Guide to Winter Gulls – Part 1. Our urban spaces are regularly frequented by gulls during the autumn and winter months. They have completed their breeding cycle and have now dispersed from their summer quarters to maraud around our parks, gardens and other open spaces in search of easy pickings. The…
Welcome to my Identification Guide to the ‘Brown’ Butterflies. Most of these species are emerging in numbers now and will be seen flitting over meadows, along hedgerows and sunny woodland rides. We’ll look at seven lowland species: Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Wall Brown, Ringlet, Grayling, Small Heath and Speckled Wood. All are reasonably common and widespread,…
Let’s talk skipper butterfly identification. It’s the time of year when butterfly activity is at its peak. Grassland butterflies will be on the wing throughout July and August and frequently accompany us on our countryside walks along woodland rides and in meadows. Quite often we will see them sipping nectar from bramble, thistle and other…
Welcome to Dragonfly Identification Pt 2. In this article we will look at the key identification points for six of the smaller dragonfly species, the chasers, darters and skimmers. As with Pt 1 of this ID guide I’m going to concentrate on those species that are likely to be commonly encountered and reside in Norfolk….
This article, Dragonfly Identification Pt 1, is aimed at those folk who have an interest in nature, would love to be able to identify our colourful and enigmatic dragonflies, and could do with a little help. In this first instalment, I’ll look at the larger species that come under the umbrella of ‘hawkers’. The second…
The art of small raptor identification can cause confusion until you get familiar with their shapes and habits. We all know a hovering bird by the roadside will be a kestrel, but are less sure when we see something soaring around at height. Getting to grips with a few key features will help a lot…