Saturday 12th November 2016 (late afternoon) – Northern Pantanal It glared at us from baleful lemon yellow eyes, sat atop a tangle of fallen branches and roots. A Ferruginous Pygmy owl, one of a pair our guide had picked up calling from the track along which we had been strolling. The ability of this knowledgeable…
Sometimes you are lucky enough to discover hidden treasure. Whilst looking at various wildlife blog sites, I was fortunate to do just that; I unearthed gold. Alicia Hayden is a very talented young woman, amongst her talents are those of artist, filmmaker, poet, photographer and writer. She is a young person with a passion for…
My friend Kenneth Tumusiime works tirelessly to conserve the wild creatures and wild spaces of his beloved Uganda. Recognising the pressure being put on the local Shoebill population through disturbance from local fishermen, he has set up the Save the Shoebill Conservation Project (SSCP). A community centric project that depends on engagement with the human…
Welcome to a new series of articles which seek to explore matters of conservation importance and interest from around the world. This article, which I’ve named Petrel Stations, considers the remarkable achievements of a small team of dedicated scientists that have spent 7 years exploring the Atacama desert of Chile searching for breeding colonies of…
With apologies to any bell ringers out there, I’ve called this one Ringing the Changes. However, we’re not going to talk about that ancient art, but a rather more modern one; that of ringing birds. It came as something of a surprise when I began reading county bird reports how many bird species and individuals…
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…
A transformation took place 45 minutes from home. Up until then I had been driving through a landscape enshrouded in autumnal mist, with hedgerows and trees looming islands seen through a sea of grey murk. But as I approached Fakenham the mist simply disappeared, as though a curtain had been pulled aside to bathe the…
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…
On Saturday, 31st October, I took part in Wader Conservation World Watch (WCWW), an event organised by a UK based charity, WaderQuest. The event has been held annually since 2014 to celebrate the formation of the charity, whose original aim was to raise money to support the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper captive breeding programme at…