I summed up my first Birdfair experience pretty well in a previous post but wanted to focus in a little more detail today on the various talks we attended across the weekend. For me these were the real highlights of the event, a chance to listen to and learn from Read more…
Quite why it’s taken me until Birdfair’s thirtieth year to put in an appearance I’ll never know but, in the words of those great philosophers i.e. our mothers, better late than never. For those who may be unfamiliar with the event it’s essentially Glastonbury for birders with hundreds of talks Read more…
You may recall my recent review looking at Wunderbird’s new range of clothing tailored specifically for birders (if not it’s well worth a read). The feedback I’ve received since has been incredibly positive, none more so than from my partner herself. She loved the Gyrfalcon hoodie in particular and being Read more…
In my league table of Friday night’s, last week’s rates pretty near the top. Why I hear you ask? Let me set the scene. We’d arrived in Barmouth at dusk and after meeting up with old friends it was on to our base a couple of miles further north. Quickly Read more…
Well I’m calling this heatwave officially over and last week it was so nice to get out on a couple of evenings after work for what seems like the first time in ages. Our first port of call on Wednesday found us alongside the upper Loughor estuary where despite overcast Read more…
The Cotswold Water Park as a whole is not somewhere I’d describe as truly wild but amongst its one hundred and fifty lakes there’s plenty of wildlife to be found and a number of excellent nature reserves worth exploring. Formed as a by-product of gravel extraction the numerous pits left Read more…
It seems like a lifetime ago right now but back at the beginning of the year we were enjoying a fortnight’s break on the fabulous Isle of Mull. As always there was plenty of walking and wildlife watching to be had despite one of the coldest winters for many years Read more…
Every hobby has its stereotypes and bird watching is no exception. Asked to conjure up an image of your typical birder for instance and I’m sure a lot of us would include someone dressed head to toe in camo gear. In fact I can go one better and confirm numerous Read more…
Way back in February of last year we embarked on a photographic venture along the route of a proposed access track to the then still recently approved wind farm atop Mynydd y Gwair. As one of the few large remaining expanses of wilderness bordering Swansea the prospect of sixteen huge Read more…
It probably says a lot about our lives that standing on Oxwich beach at a little after two o’clock this morning, looking for plankton, seemed perfectly normal. Others may of course choose to disagree, imagining instead some lonely vigil shunned by the greater part of society, self-elected purveyors all of Read more…