Lapwings I’ve been asked to write an article for our Kirkheaton village newsletter, ‘Yetton News’, in January next year and to submit a blog each month for the website. Here is the first web blog submitted end of November 2020 – At this time last year, I was in Arctic…
I managed to squeeze in 5 wildlife presentations before covid put paid to the rest of my 2020 schedule. Still, from those talks plus the sale of my images and 2021 wildlife calendars, this year I will have sent £518 to zarach.org, plus US$50 which was paid to the website…
Today is Covid lockdown day – again. So for the next four weeks we’re all restricted to leaving the house for daily exercise and no unnecessary travel. There’s something about work and shopping too but that part passed me by. Those restrictions in themselves will limit my chances of posting…
Red kite In the last few weeks, it has seemed so quiet on the wildlife front, maybe because the summer migrants have gone and the winter migrants are just arriving. Around our house in Kirkheaton, Huddersfield, the best place to see wildlife is in our garden where there is such…
Last week, we embarked on a journey along part of the 127 mile Leeds-Liverpool canal on ‘Sweet Basil’, a 47′ narrowboat hired from Snaygill Boats of Skipton, the perfect way to have a short break and stay socially distanced during the renewed lockdown that our part of the country is…
Stoat Sometimes when you’re dodging the mad drivers who often use our lane as a race track, you could be forgiven for considering shooting the locals as a viable control option . There is no footpath and there are those, usually boy racers but not always, who never even dream…
Life’s decisions are never easy. Today, I woke up at 4am. My two remedies for getting back to sleep are: 1. Roll over and relax, or 2. Read my current book until I’m sleepy again. This morning, I opted for number 2. In the first chapter of Alexander McCall Smith’s…
It’s the 11th May and things have moved on since I last wrote about the owls. Now, I know there is not one but two young tawny owls in the box half way up one of our ancient apple trees. I’ve been photographing them peeping out of the entrance and…
Nothing is ever certain in life, but less so in the wild animal world. On Tuesday evening I waited for my tawny owl to appear but there was a marked difference. He arrived in the sycamore tree, silently, unannounced. There was no alarm call from the blackbirds whose strident and…
I’m reading a book given to me by my good friends in California, entitled ‘The delightful horror of family birding’ by Eli J. Knapp. It’s a great way of passing the lockdown time but it is also an excellent read. Eli is an American professor who teaches courses in ornithology…