It was not what I expected on a Sunday morning dog walk. Knowing the heat of the day was to come, I headed out earlyish to walk Barley. All was normal as I wandered down the long grass of Melford Common, down the gentle slope that leads to a small road that splits the field … More Swan Rescue
We have been colour ringing the Mute Swans in Thetford for a few years now. I say we. Its the Royal ‘we’. Lee does all the catching and ringing, although I have helped on occasion. But the benefits of adding a colour ring are really started to show, and its revealing a story that could … More A Swan Soap Opera
‘Just seen this’ came the message, accompanied by a still photograph, a screenshot from a video, of some dry, shriveled up, brown plants in front of some generic green foliage and the water of the river behind, just the odd group of bubbles in the right-hand corner. Despite this rather nondescript photograph I knew exactly … More Morning mustelid moment
A hot summer’s day. The sky a blazing blue. The tang of saltwater wafting on a slight breeze. A short distance away there are steep crumbling cliffs that overlook an azure sea lapping at golden sands of the North Norfolk coast. In our immediate vicinity the sun beats unrelenting on dense bramble and scrub that … More Oh how I love these birds of many colours
It has been a long time since I wrote a blog. With a bit of a shock I realise it is almost 6 months. The entire winter. It is not that we haven’t been out amongst wildlife and nature, ringing or exploring, although our winter ringing sites were comparatively quiet this winter. I did get … More A great year for owls
Sitting on a plastic chair cuddling my youngest as he finally succumbs to sleep, darkness surrounds me with a cold cloak. The surrounding trees and little wooden house, lose their colour disappearing into black silhouettes. The sky still holds some light, varying shades of dark blue rather than black yet. My other senses take over. … More Reflecting
It has been a very dry April in our corner of the world. Cold too. Unseasonably cold and dry. There has been little sign of any April Showers and I don’t remember the last time I felt, saw or heard a deluge of rain drops. The lack of rain may not only be causing consternation … More To Catch Crossbills
It had been a while. Home schooling a five year old with a 1 year old running around and into everything, resuming work and settling into doing that from home, all meant lockdown 3 has been a completely different kettle of fish to last year. Except from some limited ringing in the garden we had … More We’re back
It was one of those winter days where soft light suffuses the air. The golden light from a sun still low in the sky despite the late hour of the morning, softened even further by hazy white clouds. Standing at the top of of a dune, spiky green grass poking up through the sand, I … More Christmas Seals
We are living in challenging and unusual times, and in the space of a few weeks life has changed in so many ways. For over 6 weeks we have been in lockdown, only leaving the house for essential reasons, daily exercise or food shopping. We are now homeschooling a 4 and half year old, looking … More Lockdown
Wild Barley 