August Bank Holiday was put over almost entirely to the patch this year and would you believe it but, after a barren summer delivering exactly zero new species, we finally hit pay dirt. Given the lateness of its arrival I’ve yet to submit my new score but can happily report Read more…
Pan-species listing is certainly not a new phenomenon but it has gained a huge following in recent years as birders in particular branch out into other areas of wildlife. For those new to the term a pan-species list basically involves recording any species of animal, plant, fungi or protist seen Read more…
I was in two minds as to whether or not I should publish anything here from our visit to RSPB Old Moor. Not because we didn’t see much, far from it in fact, but rather down to the lack of decent photos I managed to take. I’m probably my own Read more…
After enduring a series of heavy deluges the day before (which we overcame in fantastic style if I do say so myself) we thought on Sunday that we may as well make use of all that fallen water. So it was that we found ourselves at Ingleton, home of allegedly Read more…
Last Saturday found us a few miles north of Castle Combe in the south west corner of Cotswold Water Park. Better known for its sporting and leisure activities the area also offers miles of walking routes stretching between several high quality nature reserves. One of these, Lower Moor Farm, is Read more…
If you’d mentioned Castle Combe to me this time last week then the only image which would have sprung to mind would’ve been the circuit on classic Playstation game TOCA Touring Cars (still one of the best racers ever made in my humble opinion – it’s a generation thing). I Read more…
There’d already been four different species of Heron at Kenfig this year when a Great White Egret turned up last week to make it five. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a twitch but this one was too good to resist so with positive reports still coming in Read more…
There are various predictions floating about which say that this year we’re in for a bumper invasion of Painted Lady butterflies. Millions of individuals have reportedly been amassing in Southern Europe just at the critical time for a mass summer migration to these shores. I mention this not purely for Read more…
The big natural event during our time away was of course the partial solar eclipse. Being so far South we were only forecast 85% coverage but even that would be better than the cloudy conditions which marred my viewing of the last total eclipse back in 1999. For some reason Read more…
Saturday morning found me on a train bound for Cardiff (environmental win) where I was to attend a course laid on by SEWBReC (South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre). The subject being covered was an introduction to Harvestmen and I was hoping that through it I’d finally gain an insight Read more…