There were tears of unabated joy this afternoon. Why? Well, I picked up my computer from my agent’s office that was fixed by my new messiah, Alicia, my web designer. The computer had a seizure last week and as I reported previously, was not responding to treatment only accepting electricity. Now, were are reunited (and […]
My computer is still languishing. Last week it wasn’t responding to treatment but since then it has shown signs that it could be just a case of a hard drive transplant. So here I am in a hotel in Edinburgh. In the morning I will be on a 3 hour seabird cruise up the Firth […]
My computer is dying. I’m sitting here by its bedside remembering happier days. Hopefully, it will pull through or maybe I’ll have to buy a new machine. Either way, I will have to cease blogging for a short while. We will meet again.
A nervous bear steps out of the forest The sole Wolf that we saw The Wolf again A bear retreating ‘Paleface’ the dominate male Just got back from an amazing trip to Finland. I’m absolutely shattered after spending some 28 hours in the last 48 in a hide watching for bear, wolves and wolverines. I […]
A White Wagtail in the Helsinki Sunshine Due to traveling to the Taiga Forest I had to do without the luxury of internet whilst staying in a hotel completely on my own. There were no guests, no staff and no night as the sun didn’t ever set. More about that in a second. On my […]
My little Finnish mate Last night’s Eagle Owl stakeout was a little weird. I was standing on the 13th floor of a packed hotel terrace pressed up against a rather tall plate glass wall with a bunch of drunken Finnish revelers. I must have cut a sad figure to the guys singing joyously at their […]
Surely this is a ‘fuscus’ Lesser Black-back? Phew, it’s been a hectic few days what with Mickey J popping his moccasins, me working my nuts off to finish my debut article for BBC Wildlife magazine plus preparing for and travelling to Helsinki – from where I write this blog. Oh, and I had the worst […]
Eurasian Swift (J. Sanz) I’m really into Swifts and I’m quite alarmed about their demise in numbers over the years – down by 47% according to figures released by the RSPB. Over the years, I have actually noticed a slump in numbers. Far less birds are to be found swooping low over the grassland at […]
Picture by Kim Dixon I haven’t been in tip-top condition since the weekend, as I have been suffering from one of my ‘headache-less’ migranes that has rendered me quite hard of hearing. Most sounds I hear grate inside my head. Not pleasant I can assure you. This morning I arose early and made my way […]
I’ve been off the radar recently industriously working away here at The Urban Birder Factory. I was working on the usual things including TV programme treatments, checking out The Scrubs and general plotting and planning. Throw in a bit of football and a tad of socialising and that’s the sum total of what I’ve been […]
Canary Wharf – an urban birding hotspot I got a new bat tick last night. What we thought was a Noctule clicking was re-identified as a Leisler’s Bat. Apparently the first record for my area. Isn’t it amazing what can be found in cities. I must admit that if a Leisler’s Bat flew up to […]
The dark Kensal Green Cemetery catacombs caught in a camera flash A fairly grey day today, only relieved by the sight of a Peregrine soaring over the A40 near White City that I saw whilst driving to the car wash. Funnily enough, I saw a Peregrine yesterday drifting west over Portobello Road. They are obviously […]
This Fur Seal was nowhere near an underground station! As the Chair of the judges for the Mind The Bird Photographic Competition, I spent a lot of this evening scouring through some amazing images of birds taken near London Underground Stations. Basically, the competition has been organised by the RSPB in partnership with Transport for […]
Desert Wheatear in Korea (Sacha Barbato) I had a great day today with the main achievement being finishing my Budapest article for Bird Watching Magazine in one sitting – as opposed to a more usual protracted process involving weeks of thinking before typing. My good friend, Sacha Barbato recent sent me some pictures from his […]
TUB in Kensington Gardens This morning I lazily got out of bed at 7am and dragged myself down to The Scrubs. I counted at least 13 Common Whitethroat territories in the north western area of the site. Of interest was a solitary Mistle Thrush and a I saw a sole Sand Martin in amongst some […]
TUB (Nadia Attura) Got slaughtered today at football – 6-2. It was 4-0 after 15 minutes, but to be fair to us, we turned it on during the final quarter of the game by scoring 2 goals. You win some, you lose some. Yesterday morning, I visited the Scrubs for the first time this month […]
Crosstown traffic…….in, er Mexico City! Whilst London was crippled by the ongoing tube strike, I decided to sit it out at home. Both my book meetings (yesterday and today) were cancelled due to the industrial action. My meeting with A&C Black is now scheduled for tomorrow and we will be discussing an idea that has […]
A Peregrine with a unfortunate Feral Pigeon outside Manchester Cathedral (A. Dancy) An industrious day today. I seemed to be getting more and more emails to respond to on a daily basis. They range from Viagra through to various requests and messages from birders keen to let me know what they have seen in their […]
The past couple of days have been quite difficult in that I have had the sudden realisation that I have a lot of work to do in a relatively short period of time. I have a meaty article to write and finish by the end of this month for BBC Wildlife Magazine as well as […]
I need a hot sauna (Justine Watson) It’s always nice to come home, back to London the city of my birth. It’s not so nice to come back to a chilly climate, grey skies and rain. It’s hardly inspiring. Today, I set about household chores and replying to emails that should have been replied back […]