September has passed in a blur of school runs, playtime, pureeing food and walks in the forest with the dog. The weather has swung from a short final blast of warmth and sunshine to persistent wind and deluging rain. The leaves in the forest were turning as autumn began, changing to yellow, orange and brown. … More An Autumn of Upset Williams
It was not just around the Lodge at Taricaya Ecological Reserve that we encountered wildlife. Each day whether we were walking to and from observation platforms, flower cutting, weeding, maintenance or even clearing trails, we were immersed in jungle wildlife. Of course we also went out on specific walks looking for wildlife. The first of … More Wild Barley Rewind: Jungle Trails
After arriving at Taricaya Ecological Reservein the Peruvian jungle back in 2006 we quickly settled into a routine. Each morning breakfast was at 7:30am. 8am and we would head off in teams to undertake one of the projects, planting and weeding flowers, maintenance, building or looking after the animals in the rehabilitation programme. Three days … More Wild Barley Rewind: Jungle Lodge
Under a big bright blue Norfolk sky. A strong breeze blows across the marshes and lagoons. Grass and reed heads bend and flex, small waves ripple across the water. A flock of Brent Geese passes overhead, with a gargling call, moving from marsh to pool. Beautiful, elegant, smoky black geese with white crescents on their … More Birding with babes
It has been a while since I last posted, what with life, school, Christmas, New Year and the arrival of my little boy Toby. 19 days early but healthy and happy. Today, 3 weeks on, and I have returned to my routine and daily river walk. The tail end of Storm Ciara was still making … More River Walk
The cliffs towered above the small boat as it rolled gently in the waves at their feet, its sandstone face honeycombed into multiple shelves and crags smoothed by the elements and painted in the white wash ubiquitous with seabird colonies. All available space on the ledges was taken up by nesting seabirds. The bulk of … More Seabirds of Noss
Early morning mist still clings to the depressions in the gently undulating landscape of the Brecks. Trees on the slight ridges rise above a sea of opaque white, that is tinged pink and orange by the morning sun, like island mirages. Driving through this foggy landscape, one moment the scenery stretches out on either side, … More Night Songstress
An unseasonably warm February had brought out pockets of beautiful spring flowers, adding splashes of yellow and purple to the white clusters of snowdrops. Bees buzzed around patches of purple and white heather, and I caught glimpses of my first brimstone, comma and red admiral butterflies of the year. The sky was an impossible shade … More A river ramble
Winter had arrived with temperatures plummeting overnight. Ice gripped the landscape. Frosted white, minute crystals clung to every blade of grass and any leaf that dared remain on dark branches. Standing water had become locked under a lid of ice that was clear like a mirror, a miniature world trapped beneath, and opaque where it … More Snow ‘drops’, fire ‘crest’ and ice ‘everywhere’
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
