My friend, Steve, just celebrated his 66.666th (recurring) birthday. He has decided he will live until he’s 100 so from now on he is keeping a daily diary entitled, ‘The Final Third’. I’m way past that birthday but, from next March, if I was so inclined, I could begin to…
A couple of weeks ago, a baby bullfinch flew into our window and I found it lying on the ground. We nursed it overnight and, although she was quite chirpy next day and able to fly, she couldn’t stand. Apparently, severely concussed birds can often suffer immobility in their legs…
If you’re retired like me, you’ll know that this later phase of life has its ups and its downs. Usually you’ll be a little bit older and therefore a bit slower and, maybe, you’ll have picked up an ailment or two along the way. And, ask anyone, retirement isn’t all…
‘No mow May’ has been and gone and if, like a friend of mine in the village, you couldn’t wait to tidy up when June came along, your garden will now be pristine and lovely to look upon. Which got me thinking that beauty is still in the eye of…
Four spotted chaser I must admit I’ve been a bit busy lately and have only just got around to checking out the ponds near my house. Someone has put fish into the one nearest, which is not good news for the great crested newts which, apparently, will desert that pond…
Short-eared owl As I write this, I’m watching a video of hundreds of mice running around a barn in Australia. There’s a plague of these little critters there which is causing havoc in communities and causing millions of dollars of damage to farming produce and even to domestic habitats. Some…
Wren What’s in a name? Quite a bit you might say if you’ve just had your first child and you’re wondering what you’re going to call them for the rest of their life. I have been photographing wildlife for around 12 years and watching wildlife for a bit longer. During…
For those who were interested in the story of the nesting tawny owls in my Huddersfield garden last year, you might be interested in the news that they’re back (in fact, he never left) and they’re raising chicks. My trail cam picked up the male owl visiting the nest box…
It’s ‘Hedgehog Awareness Week’ 2nd – 8th May 2021 and there is a great article about these beautiful little animals in the spring special issue of BBC Wildlife. For those of you who do not have access to the magazine, here’s a few snippets of what it is saying: The…
A couple of weeks ago when I was suffering from serious man-cold, I took to reading Bill Bryson’s ‘The Road to Little Dribbling’, which is about this American/Brit author’s adventures pottering about the UK. It’s an interesting and amusing read, and one of those where you can easily have a…