The past couple of weeks has seen an unprecedented influx of alpine swifts to Britain and Ireland. These birds migrate from sub-Saharan Africa to southern Europe at this time of year, but – perhaps due to the specific weather systems of the last few weeks – many more have been seen here than is usual. …
Brenda writes: “There’s never much chance of getting out for a walk in the garden on the last day of a Benslow course but, snatching five minutes in the sun after lunch, I spied some speedwell growing among the gravel in a sunny spot and went to get my field guide. By the way, I’m …
Brenda writes: “It only takes a few warm days at this time of year for new plants to come into flower. Back at Benslow for the mixed wind and strings course, I had a walk around the garden today, noting all the plants I saw last week, as the robins sang and long-tailed, great, and …
It was a full day of coaching at Benslow today, so I didn’t get out and about at all, but I did have an idea for something to write about… So let me take this opportunity to tell you about an app I recently downloaded to my phone. It’s called Merlin and is produce by …
There was no chance for wildlife watching today: I had two online meetings, one face-to-face meeting and a physiotherapy session (for an occasional shoulder injury), and then had to pack before heading off, with Brenda, to Benslow Music Trust, where we would be coaching on a music course until Thursday! But – as so often …
Today I was conducting Norfolk Symphony Orchestra in King’s Lynn, with a morning rehearsal and an afternoon concert: Very enjoyable, but the nearest I got to wildlife was a handful of birds, including several red-legged partridges, on the drive to the concert venue….plus the clarinet and piccolo imitating gulls in an overture by Carl Nielsen! …
Today I had to visit Fakenham for a couple of things and so had a short walk at Sculthorpe Moor. It was a pretty rainy day but I still saw a fair amount of the usual birds there. There was a great egret stalking around in front of the wetland hide. There was also a …
Continuing my journey from Scotland back to Norfolk I left my overnight stay near Stockton-in-Tees at about 8am. My reason for a stop there was to head a few miles south to the coast at Redcar where a solitary male king eider has been spending the last few weeks offshore. So passing through the industrial …
I began my journey south from Scotland today, once someone had been in to survey damage from the burst pipe. I had a couple of good views of buzzards whilst the daylight lasted, but that was the extent of my wildlife encounters today. I’m hoping for more tomorrow, as I’m breaking the journey at Stockton-on-Tees, …
It was sunny this morning in Aberdeenshire and so I headed over to Fyvie castle and had a walk around the lake there. Brenda and I had visited here at New Year, and it was nice to see it again. There were good numbers of small passerines, and I watched a treecreeper for several minutes, …
