Tawny Mining Bee
We enjoyed a lovely walk at The Highams Park and Epping Forest today. The sun was shining, birds were singing and we discovered a cluster of Tawny Mining Bees nest holes in the ground....
Category: Short Snippets
May is for Mayflies
River surveying in the Thames today we found several mayfly nymphs; aquatic juvenile mayflies equipped with gills for underwater living. Mayflies spend most of their lives in this form. The adult life of a...
Parakeet’s dusk performance
Ring-necked Parakeets flying in to roost at Wormwood Scrubs park. A total of over 1000 birds roost communally in trees here each night. The parakeets first gather in a pre-roost sites, where they arrive...
New life on a miniature scale
Today I felt very privileged to witness a Small White butterfly laying an egg. The tiny yellow package of life in this picture had been in existence for less than a minute. What a...
Nesting Parakeets
Spring is here and the race is on to breed. Ringed-necked Parakeets are early breeders and they are normally well on their way before many of our native species begin thinking about where to...
When Gorse is out of flower….
When gorse is out of flower, kissing is out of fashion. So goes the old saying. Thankfully for romantic types, there is usually some gorse in flower somewhere whatever the season. This gorse plant...
Battling Moorhens
The timid seeming Moorhen is actual a highly territorial bird. Keep an eye out for their battles at this time of year, as they establish breeding territories and fight over mates. The Moorhen attack...
Catkins in the wind
The hazel catkins, or lamb’s tails, are looking good at this time of year. Jan and Feb are the best time of year to see catkins, as they develop before the tree’s leaves....
Is love in the air for the Robin?
I am meant to be doing office work right now, but I keep being lured to the window by the antics of three Robins. They chase one another along the fence line, hop...
Moments spent with Swans
Over the past couple of weeks, I have enjoyed some really lovely moments with London’s most graceful resident; the swan. We are very lucky that such a beautiful and charismatic bird is happy to live...