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
The house sits on a slight rise, surrounded on two sides by fields of long grass backed by tall Breckland pines. On its other side is a cool, dark woodland with trees that creak in the wind and which merge into the shrubs and flowering trees of a garden. Behind the house is an enclosed … More The Owl Family
Despite the blanket of grey white cloud overhead, soft green light filtered through the forest canopy. Among the dark crinkly leaves and branches of the forest floor the occasional green fronds of new bracken growth had begun to unfurl. It had only been a few weeks but we were back in Thetford Forest checking our … More Forest Rounds
It had been a glorious May Bank Holiday with bright blue, cloudless skies and soaring temperatures. An extended weekend of hours in the paddling pool, ice creams and for us yes a little bit of ringing, with the welcome return of many warblers to our reed bed site. Topping it all off was the return … More Adorable peewits
The forecast was wrong, the weather had changed; as dawn broke, it was not overcast skies that greeted us but streaks of white whisps across a clear and cold, expanse of deep blue. Ice covered puddles, their muddy edges solid with none of the usual squelchy give. The grass at the edge of the fields … More Smart as you like
It was like any other ringing session at the farm. The sky over head began clear and blue, welcoming a cold crisp morning with a rising sun that burnished the tops of the trees, gradually revealing more from the dark blue shadows. The trees and bushes stirred in the breeze and were bustling with birds, … More A treat in the garden
The grass crunched beneath our boots. Each blade outlined by opaque crystals. A layer of ice topped the puddles of the gravel drive. The previous days rain had been caught out by a plummet in temperatures brought on by clear skies overnight. On branches of bush and tree small droplets of water were held frozen … More Frosty Garden, Frozen Fingers, Fabulous Feathers
Mist was rising off the rippling water of the pools at Cranwich making them appear steaming hot, perhaps tempting one in for a quick dip. But this is not the time to be fooled as our breathe steams in the cold morning air. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, it’s golden rays streaming … More An Autumn Dawn
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
It was a chilly start to the morning. For the first time in a while the temperature reading was 3° and next to the time of 4 am once again it was a bit of an urgggh moment getting up. This time dense mist hung low, the tops of the trees poking out and reaching … More To catch a cuckoo
Wild Barley 