Great blue heron If you ever go to Florida, you should spend a day or two on Sanibel Island on the coast of the Mexican Gulf. It is beautiful on a number of fronts. First, you’re hard pushed to find even a scrap of litter. The landscape is tended…
Aurora Borealis It’s 1.30pm and, after about 3 hours ‘daylight’ it’s now dark again. This is winter in Hamnnes, northern Norway, about 50 nautical miles east of Tromso and overlooked by the Lyngen mountains. Few residents of this small hamlet are stirring today. The shop and museum open for an…
To all of those who have attended my talks, bought calendars etc etc, thank you once again. This year, I have sent £821 to Zarach.org, who provide beds for children in poverty across the city of Leeds, and an unknown donation direct to WaterAid.
Yesterday, a Thai lady told me that she was unaffected by mosquitos. They only bit certain people. I’m not sure whether the words ‘certain people’ were lost in translation or whether they had a particular meaning, for example, ‘tourists’ or maybe even ‘wimps’. But I’m definitely one of them. And…
If you have read my ‘about’ page, you will have seen that I have created a presentation called ‘Inspiration’, specifically for the Embroiderers’ Guild, the purpose being to highlight some of my more interesting and colourful subjects and, thereby, to encourage members to make a place for nature and wildlife…
Banded demoiselle If you’ve looked at the dragonflies and damselflies in the ‘On the pond’ post, you’ll already know that we have this amazing little nature spot close to our house. It’s pretty special just to sit and watch the activity on the ponds, particularly at this time of…
Sail boat in fog, Illulissat, Disko Bay We’ve just returned from Greenland courtesy of CMV’s ship, Marco Polo, out of London, Tilbury dock. This is a company we’ve never used before so, first, a quick comment about our transport. CMV has a good following with plenty of returning clients who,…
Nuthatch in our garden One of my wildlife talks is entitled ‘A Yorkshire Mixture’. It centres on our garden in the village of Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield and you could be a little surprised at how long it takes to run through the wildlife that visits here. Of course, I then…
One day these youngsters were snuggled up in the nest. The next day the nest was empty. I’m thinking magpies but I guess they always get the blame and the culprit could be one of a number of predators. Whatever, they’ve gone and while this is nature, I can’t help…
You’ll be pleased to know that my young tawny owl is still around the garden. I’m fairly sure he roosts in a tree in next door’s garden but the tree is so dense, he’s practically impossible to find. He still gets a day-old chick every night for his supper (when…