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
They are known as the ‘clowns of the sea’ and are one of the UK’s favourite birds. Instantly recognisable with their formal black and white ‘dinner jacket’ plumage, bright orange feet, and colourful orangey red bill. The blackish grey skin that forms a triangle shape round the eye gives them an appearance of wearing makeup … More Little Brothers of the North
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
Sule Skerry is a remote island 40 miles west of Orkney. Uninhabited by humans but home to a multitude of seabirds. The island is known in the folklore of both Orkney and Shetland, captured in the tale of the Great Selkie of Sule Skerry, which tells the story of a woman whose child was taken … More The Island
Minsmere: 1,000 hectares of nature reserve managed by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds. A mosaic of habitats from woodland and open grassland which gently slopes to extensive areas of rustling reed beds and marsh, opening out into pools and shallow coastal lagoons with exposed areas of mud, to a shingle beach onto which … More Minsmere
The river moves slowly, its dark surface broken by the occasional ripples, swirls and eddies created by the unseen current. Trees, in full brilliantly green foliage, stand on its banks shading the water, their leaves trailing and branches creating a tangled trap for any debris floating by. On the near bank stinging nettles and grasses … More The Not So Ugly Ducklings
Last week our little corner of the world, along with almost all of Britain and Ireland, froze as the ‘Beast from the East’ swept in. Temperatures plummeted to well below freezing and then snow fell. And then fell again, building up to a few inches, covering the landscape in its soft white blanket that delighted … More The Beast, Emma and Thaw
The wind tears through the reeds and tall grasses along the margin of the pool. Their heads, heavy with seeds, buffeted one way and then the other as blasts of frigid air sweep through the chilly fen. Inside the hide the wind is a muted roar, the large windows and heaters providing a most comfortable … More Wonderful Whoopers of Welney
Sitting on the cool stone of New Quay harbour and although a strong breeze tugs at coats and hats, the greyish green ocean in front on me is relatively calm with just the occasional little crest of white tipping a wave. The wind is coming off the land, sheltering the coastal waters from its ire … More Dolphins at New Quay
Wild Barley 