The paddocks were shrouded in thick fog. Beyond the fences the shadows of a small copse of trees were just about visible. The horses in the paddocks look up, curious, as the unusual threesome start setting up nets in the garden beyond their fence line. They wander over, a little cautious, but mainly curious of … More Foggy Comforts
The New Year dawned slowly and drearily in North Wales. Low cloud and rain obscured the view from the hill side, rivulets of rain drops ran like miniature rivers down the window so it was almost impossible to see out. It was not the kind of morning you wanted to head outside, but rather one … More The New Year
The big, wide sky that stretched overhead looked like a water colour painting. Layers of cloud ranging from various shades of grey to bluish purple. Swirling and billowing, streaky and smooth all at once. Over the horizon a curtain of dark purple swept past where rain deluged the scrub and dunes of the North Norfolk … More Eastern Promise
The pale golden light of dawn was stealing across the sky from the eastern horizon, the trees below still dark from the night. In the west clouds were building, bluish grey in the morning light, while the leading edge of the front gleamed golden. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees and the hedgerows … More Hang on just a Linnet
Autumn had arrived. The blistering heat of the previous week had been replaced by more seasonal temperatures, although it was still warm and a little muggy with the cloud cover. At Cranwich the monotonous grey sky, occasionally broke to reveal patches of pastel blue and the occasional ray of pale gold sunshine. The smell of … More Roosting in the reeds
It was the end of a hot September day, one of the hottest in over 100 years in fact. The brilliant blue sky overhead became gradually more washed out as the sun sank behind trees and houses, tinging the wisps of white cloud golden yellow. Under this sky a small group of people head across … More September Owlets
They sit rather upright, like they are sitting to attention, alert and ready. Their eyes are large, and their short but broad bill has whiskers around the base to help catch the flying insects they feed on. These agile little birds take their prey on the wing, dashing out from a branch, snatching prey mid-air … More Catching the flycatchers
Finally a dry, sunny, warm Sunday morning. Through a bright blue sky with only a few white fluffy clouds soar numerous, small, dark pointy winged birds with forked tails. As they twist and turn against the sky a brilliant white belly and rump flash against the dark back and wings. Their calls fill the air. … More The House Martins
Nope we didn’t have to go in disguise and there were not all the teddy bears having a picnic, but this time we were definitely in for a big surprise. Sunlight from a golden evening streams through the trees, the dried crunchy leaves and needles scattered on the forest floor glow in the dappled sunlight. … More If you go down to the woods today…
On 31st May 2014, on a very misty, very early morning, I caught my first adult cuckoo. He was a stunning bird, and as well as having a metal ring with a unique number this cuckoo was also fitted with a satellite transmitter as part of a BTO project. I wrote a story about that … More Stanley
Wild Barley 