It had been a foul night as Storm Deidre swept into the UK. For many it brought snow and very strong winds. For us in Norfolk it was a night of wind and rain. The morning however dawned calm and bright, with a beautiful blue sky. After the nights battering the forest was soggy. Droplets … More Winter Checks
The garden was resplendent, a vibrant palette of autumn colours. The oak tree was ablaze with reds, oranges and yellows. The leaves on the shrubs, bushes and trees varying from deep greens to bright reds. Many of the smaller trees had dropped their leaves, leaving twisted dark branches except for the silver birch whose striking … More Feathers wagging
It was July 2018 and I had just finished my first evening of catching storm-petrels on Sule Skerry. As dawn had broken, lightening the sky from dark velvet black to deep blue, rain had moved in and the dark rocks, capped white with the guano of seabirds, had become slippery and treacherous under foot. The … More One little petrel
Night on a working farm is not quite completely quiet or completely dark. The surrounding fields are cloaked in darkness and the sky above is filled with stars. Across this nightscape we hear the ‘seep’ of calling redwing, returning for the winter. Tall buildings loom out of the black, their angular lines and features illuminated … More The Owl of Athena
I have taken a leap of faith. While sat at my desk a couple of weeks ago I happened across a Facebook post advertising Terra Icognita’s Wildlife Blogger of the Year 2018. Sponsored by Swarovski Optik the competition calls on bloggers from around the world to put their favourite wildlife moment into the spotlight. It’s … More Wildlife Blogger of the Year 2018
The afternoon sun was low in a blue sky with just a few wisps of white cloud. Sunbeams slanted through the trees and bushes, turning the tops of the reeds, heavy with seeds, golden yellow. It was the last weekend in September and with the final early start at our reed bed site the following … More Pretty in Pink
It felt like history repeating, and I had an ominous feeling of de ja vu. It is mid-September and the first storms of the autumn are sweeping across the Atlantic heading for the UK and Ireland, and once again I am heading out on the ferry to Santander across the Bay of Biscay with the … More Changeable Bay
Night has come to the island. Although the darkness is not absolute and will only last for a brief couple of hours at this time of year. The skies overhead are for once still. It is eerie not to see it filled with racing puffins, marauding gulls and pirating skuas. All are settled for the … More Little Sea Dancers
On the sheer cliffs and geos of Sule Skerry there are hundreds of guillemots. The rocks are white with their guano as the birds perch on precarious ledges overlooking sheer drops into the churning water below. Sitting near a colony is an assault on the senses. Everywhere you look there are hundreds of these dark … More Guillies and Razors
Across the top and down the steep slopes of the southwestern geo on Sule Skerry is a bustling gannet colony. The harsh grating calls of the adult birds is a continuous noise. Years ago, when monitoring of seabirds started on the island in the 1970s there were no gannets nesting. When they first started breeding … More Gannets of Sule Skerry
Wild Barley 