Last year, when I was in Oxfordshire, chicken-sitting for my friends, a Greater Whitethroat was in the garden scratching its beautiful/ugly song all day long. They’re fascinating birds. Here’s the double-page spread on them in The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds: This year there’s not one in the garden, …
I’m surrounded by Teasel. It’s the ideal perch for Goldfinches and I’m ready to take their photograph any time they decide to …
This Dunnock was singing beautifully on top of the bursting Hawthorn this morning. What a joy to be up early in glorious …
The Red Kites over my friends’ garden here in Oxfordshire all appear to be clutching something. There’s usually a feather or a …
I’ve just spent an hour trying to get a good photograph of a Song Thrush and failing miserably. It was deep in …
I’m in the garden in Oxfordshire while on chicken-sitting duties for my friends My local Red Kite here has half of its …
The planting in Foxburrow Wood in Oxfordshire is relatively new. It started in 2010 and ended in 2014. It’s 20 acres and …
There’s a pair of birds twittering overhead. I can hear one say “Ninnet”. It must be a Linnet. Their song has far …
I’m currently chicken-sitting for my friends in Oxfordshire and enjoying an egg or two. Their enclosure is larger than my garden and …
I’m currently back chicken-sitting for my friends in Oxfordshire. Last time I was here there were eleven chickens. This time there are …
There’s a younger Dalmatian Pelican on the prow of our small boat. I’m in prime position to photograph it. It’s beautiful light, …
The early light is hitting the mountains on the other side of Lake Kerkini and bathing them in a warm orange glow. …
There’s something enchanting about birds being able to project their own shadow onto themselves. Here’s a Black-Tailed Godwit with the shadow of …
The warmth of this image is a thrill. The difference in the mood of this image because of the changing light is …
The blues and purples of this image are very restful, aren’t they? So is being out on a boat on Lake Kerkini …
It’s that time of the evening, when the light becomes glorious as a few stray rays of the sun hit the other …
Yes! I’ve heard that I’m not British Wildlife Photographer of the Year! I’ve been encouraged by my dad to enter some of …
There’s something deeply appealing about the symmetry of these Dalmatian Pelicans. There’s also something worrying about them begging for fish thrown into …
The Goth Puffin lookalikes were out in force in Lyme Bay. I do love a good Razorbill flypast, but is it only …
Having Manx Shearwaters around our coasts in South Devon at this time of year makes ever boat trip into Lyme Bay one …
Great Cormorants have a large sign, only visible in the summer, to show they are adults and ready to breed. It’s a …
I love it when Northern gannets, Morus bassanus, drop from the skies. Just look at the beautiful spread of those tail and …
The Common Guillemots, Uria aalge, are wearing formal-wear at the moment. Their smart chocolate brown heads and white bellies look very smart …
There’s a Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus, bonanza off Brixham at the moment. There was a flock of 29 out to sea and …
The old mill building at Rapness on Westray is heading for desolation, and quickly. Once you lose your roof, your walls are …
It’s breeding time again and this Shag in Brixham is all ready for action, with glossy black-green-bronze plumage, yellow lores and a …
The fluffy neck feathers of these Griffon Vultures confused me for a moment. Why would you have a feather duster for a …
It’s easy to lose track of scale when you spend time with Griffon Vultures. It’s when a group of Hooded Crows arrive …
It’s hard to identify the emotions of birds. We’re separated by 320 million years of evolution since our most recent common ancestor …
Dalmatian Pelicans are beautiful and getting more so as their mature breeding plumage approaches. Here’s one having a flap showing its wing …