Atlantic Puffin (Russell F Spencer) Being an urban birder invariably means that I don’t get to see Puffins unless I go to where they are hanging out. This is the classic time of year to visit the colonies dotted up and down the country to marvel at their very interesting look. Whirring wings, big bright […]
Meadow Pipit (Tommy Holden) I don’t know about you but I find it very difficult to suss juvenile Meadow Pipits from their identical parents. This morning at 5.30am I was surveying the grassland at The Scrubs trying to ascertain the number of broods at large. Judging from the number of singing males in April I […]
Sorry for not keeping regular updates of late, but I’ve been toiling as ever. Add to that the fact I’m still catching up with my sleep after 6 darkless nights in Iceland last week and I guess that you’ll be beginning to get the picture! The highlight bird for me were undoubtably the Gyr Falcon […]
Words tomorrow.
Common Kestrel (Bill Black) Snowy Owl (Bill Black) I quite like these shots from Alderney including the famous Snowy Owl of January 2009 that eventually ended up in Cornwall.
TUB and his group Why is it that when you leave your inbox untouched for a few days, it takes a few days to get back to the point when you stopped tending your emails. When you reach the point of catching up, there’s a ton more to replace them. Furthermore, they all need essay […]
I can’t think of any other superlatives to use to describe my experience of Alderney and it’s people last week. It’s funny, I’ve been telling everyone here in London about Alderney and most people that I spoke to thought that the isle was in the Orkneys! Clearly some work to be done here! Roland Gauvian […]
Alderney was a surprisingly stunning island. I’ll talk more about it tomorrow, as I’m a tad too tired right now!
I saw Sir David speak at the London Wetland Centre tonight and all I can say is that the man is a DUDE! He had the room in raptures as he recounted stories about Sir Peter Scott’s life and the history of the London Wetland Centre – which is 10 years old today. Later, we […]
TUB admiring the orchids! (Penny Hayhurst) Sanjika Perera Director of Sri Lanka Tourism with TUB (Penny Hayhurst) TUB & Sanjika (Penny Hayhurst) Now you may be wondering why an urban birder was stalking the decidedly middle class haunt known as the Chelsea Flower Show. Well, it was at the behest of the ultimate gentleman, Sanjika […]
Red Kite – photographed in Wales (Russell F Spencer) After years of waiting, years of quietly feeling extreme jealousy towards all the sites that surround Wormwood Scrubs scoring regular Red Kites, we finally broke our duck and produced not one but two separate birds during the London Natural History Society bird walk that I was […]
Northern Lapwing chick (Phill Spamer) Ahh, at last some proper sunshine kicking out some proper heat. I was strolling around town in shirt sleeves for the first time this year in the UK. Had a couple of review books sent to me today including the Wildlife Trusts ‘152 Wild Things To Do’ which is a […]
Honey Buzzard (Stephen Daly) After speculating over a suspect raptor seen whilst on my travels in Derby, it was great to be reacquainted with the real thing whilst on a vigil on Tower 42 today. The jizz was unmistakable; floppy though powerful flight in long broad wings that were held flat whilst gliding with downturned […]
Buzzard? (Russell F Spencer) This has been bugging me for the past 2 weeks. What is this raptor that I saw flying at very high altitude over Derby? Any ideas?
Design by Yvette Spencer A lot has been said recently on other blogs about the London Bird Race sponsored by Transport for London. Needless to say, me and the Beddington boys managed to come second beaten by just 4 species by the London Wildlife Trust All Stars. But I think that we definitely won on […]
Had a great day hanging out with the readers and staff of BBC Wildlife in Slimbridge WWT yesterday. It was also fun to be with the WWT guys and of course awarding winning photographer, Danny Green – what a lovely man he was! Dominic Couzens – writer, Sophie Stafford – editor & TUB (Russell F […]
A limping male Pheasant in Kensington Gardens (Collin Flapper) It’s been a couple days of nose to the grindstone with various deadlines reached and words wrenched from my tired mind. I was particularly pleased to have finished my RSPB ‘Birds’ piece on RSPB Groups. I found writing that especially difficult. I was beginning to worry […]
Mute Swan (Jakub Puskas) After arriving in Derby late last night to the sights and sounds of a party city, Russell Spencer and I slipped into our hotel, Cathedral Quarter Hotel, a quite sweet boutique hotel that recently played host to the Queen who apparently popped around for lunch recently. I didn’t get to sleep […]
Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. I was left feeling very disappointed after two separate incidents involving two separate individuals. It’s disappointing when you offer people kindness and they mistake it for stupidity.
Today was a fabulous day and I didn’t even lift a pair of binoculars! I called the PR agency who looked after the Oman Tourist Board to tell them that I couldn’t take up their generous offer of a press trip to Oman later this month. My reason was that it clashed with my trip […]