I write this sat on the edge of my bed, pretty tired after the early start this morning and the traveling – an act that never ceases to make you tired. I was remembering this morning when Malka and I were filming the Nightingales that I was telling you about – the ones that were […]
Malka knocking out a shot At 7am Malka and I were trying to stuff scrambled egg and a weird vegetable concoction down our throats in double quick time as we were meeting Gerard Gorman at 7am. We eventually linked up with him 15 minutes later. Thereafter, we visited his local patch in the Buda Woods […]
Day two in Hungary was truly stupendous! Malka, my camera woman and I met with Gerard Gorman and his client Joan Clark who was an amazing octogenarian with an incredible world list of over 6700 species. She has spent many years traversing every continent in the world to accumulate this grand total. Indeed, she has […]
The view from my hotel balcony I arrived in Budapest with Malka, my camera operator, under dark rainy skies – a far cry from the solid hot sunshine that I had originally imagined. In fact, a friend of mine had just returned from this city raving about the weather. Thankfully, the rain soon subsided to […]
Sheena Harvey (Bird Watching Magazine editor) & I What a gorgeous day today was. The hottest day of the year so far. Just the way I like it. My twitching instinct continue to grow within me unabated. If I wasn’t obliged to be at the Spring Birdwatchers Fair at Middleton Hall in Tamworth, I would […]
Yesterday, I became a cover boy for the first time in my life. I was interviewed by Brent Magazine who are doing a feature on me for their July issue under the banner of ‘Citizen of the month’. You see, I was a London Borough of Brent resident during my formative years – despite being […]
We came, we saw and we bloody lost! I’ve just returned from a couple days in majestic and hot Rome after witnessing the slaughter of Manchester United at the hands of Barcelona in front of 70,000 baying fans in the Stadio Olimpico. It wasn’t a pretty sight as United were reduced to a shadow of […]
Addressing the masses at The Scrubs Dawn Chorus Yesterday’s bird walks were a resounding success with over 40 attendees. The Dawn Chorus was surprisingly good despite many birds having already fallen silent. We still managed to see singing Willow Warbler, Lesser & Common Whitethroats plus I also managed to show the group displaying Meadow Pipits. […]
Had a good game of footie this morning. We lost 8-7, although the official score was listed as 7-7. Being a goalkeeper, you tend to know how many times you had the scoop the ball out of the back of the net! For once the sun shone today and it was reasonably warm. I took […]
As I sit here listening to some vintage Herbie Hancock on Spotify I am praying for some fine weather over the weekend, because Sunday morning will see me leading a group of fellow foolhardy early risers around my beloved Wormwood Scrubs on a quest to hear nature’s finest west London singers. More on that dawn […]
Me aged 11 in front of the first birdtable I ever made! This morning was spent in the BBC Radio 5 Live studios in the company of Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogerty talking about birdsong. Nicky asked me to identify a Chaffinch, Blackbird and Robin for the nation. I had a very pleasant time. The […]
Today was quite interesting. For once, I spent a lot of time answering and sending emails that I should have sent about a thousand years ago. I also heard that I had received my European Cup Final tickets in the club ballot. The bad news is that I have to journey up to Manchester to […]
Me and a young birder who came all the way from Harrow to meet me Did the Lee Valley day today. Unfortunately, the weather was not too kind initially with lashing rain and wind. Although there were sunny spells later, the damage had been done and far fewer people attended than originally hoped for. Met […]
Good day for footie today! We drew 18-18 this morning and United won the league! Today was an industrious day working on my talk for my stint at the Lee Valley Wildlife Weekend tomorrow. If you’re around pop by!
Early morning saw me at The Scrubs under incredibly bleak skies. The highlights were a Mistle Thrush and nothing much else. I received the news today that my trip to Portugal next week was been postponed apparently because of a cock-up from the tourist board’s end. The annoying thing was that I had to chase […]
I love this shot of a female Golden Oriole (D. Stanic) Yesterday’s twitch was just the tonic I needed. I sprung out of bed with renewed vigour and optimism. As I travelled to The Scrubs, I remembered one of the several Urban Birder motos; ‘Go out expecting everything or nothing. Then you’ll never be disappointed.’ […]
The Black Lark Twitch on Angelsey I finally had to succumb. I could take it anymore. I had to reach out take the drug. I went on a twitch. On a whim, I headed over to Staines Reservoir near Heathrow Airport as a White-winged Black Tern had been hanging around there for the past three […]
The weather’s been a bit weird lately. Quite windy and nippy, despite the sunshine. I woke up at 5am with the intention of going to The Scrubs. I’m still a bit dispirited at the moment and I blame it on a mixture of the embarrassment of avian riches in Poland and the lack of anything […]
After knocking out my Bird Watching article last night in double-quick time I’m now riding the crest of the creative wave, rearing to write. So much so, that I called my potential future publisher to chivvy up the process of writing my first book. Anyway, that will be another story. I’m looking forward to going […]
I had a great day shooting my segment on urban countryside for ITV’s Countrywise in Kensal Green Cemetery. It was a beautiful day and the shoot ran fairly smoothly with great images captured of a Green Woodpecker emerging from its nest hole, dandy Stock Doves, not so loveable Rose-ringed Parakeets and some loafing Cormorants. Perhaps […]