Cley – 15th May 2013 – Spring is often interrupted by a brief return to colder, inhospitable weather on the North Norfolk coast. Wildlife seems to take this anomaly in its stride, but for us fragile humans it can be frustrating. More articles in this series can be found here. Just as you think things…
Another walk around the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Cley – 27th March 2013. It is an ever changing scene on this stretch of coast at this time of year, but despite the best efforts of winter to extend its season, nature will, as always, plough on regardless. Other articles in this series can be…
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…
We crested the ridge overlooking the reedbed, finding before us an open area beloved by basking adders in spring, now being heated by an autumnal sun shining from a sky of purest blue across which a pair of birds arrowed hither and thither. Hobbies: young birds, not yet fully enthused with the urge to move…
I haven’t blogged for a while, and it’s been even longer since I’ve spent a whole day birding, a situation that needs remedying on both counts. I should explain that the main reason for this lapse has been due to an awful lot of time being expended on writing my book, (click this link or…
It may only be February, but in the bird world the urge to set up territory and foster a new generation is already strong. I’ve spent time at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen over the years watching the various water birds on the Broad go about their business of staking a claim to a slice of this…
Southern Pantanal 2 – The Mad Mad Moonlight News came half way through our evening safari of a Jaguar kill. We drove directly to the site where biologists from the local conservation team were staking out the half devoured carcass of a cow; they were hoping to identify which particular cat was responsible. In the…
A couple of spare hours between meetings led me, (not for the first time) to Jarrold’s department store here in Norwich, more specifically their basement book store. I love books, and it was whilst perusing the biography titles that I happened upon a compendium of essays by various famous people originally featured in Big Issue…
15th/16th November 2016 – Southern Pantanal The head of the ocelot, such a cryptically patterned beast, could just be seen behind a screen of grass as it sat motionless beside a shallow pool. It’s white ear patches reflected the light shone by our guide who, ever alert, had spotted the cat from his vantage point…