A quick turn around the Chayne with the rifle at first light this morning provided one of the most spectacular, dizzying, almost life-affirming engagements with nature that I can ever remember. More to come in due course, but lying out in the dew above an astonishing “cloud inversion” at dawn this morning, I was able… Continue reading

With the curlew’s return, I’ve been able to spot one individual bird that made his presence felt last year. Without artificial aids like leg rings or wing tags, it’s not easy to reliably tell birds apart in the field, but this one cock has a crippled leg which sticks out below him when he flies and… Continue reading

As part of a series of video projects, I’ve recently had to buy a new microphone for my camera. There will be much more on this to come, but suffice to say for now that I had some success recording skylarks and snipe yesterday on the Chayne, and I think the results are quite impressive.… Continue reading

Going through some photographs from last month, I couldn’t resist posting this picture of a Manx chough taken during my visit to the Isle of Man a few days ago. This bird helpfully chose to mob a raven over the cliffs at Peel Hill, and the resulting picture provides a handy sense of scale (below). It’s… Continue reading

Amidst all the excitement of spring, it was a rather gloomy experience to see the lapwings’ return to fields which were drained during last summer. Lapwings always provided a ready distraction on this ground, and for eighteen months I lived within earshot of their tumbling displays down on the low ground near the Chayne. Their… Continue reading