This heavily streaked, Canary-like member of the Finch family may well have travelled a couple of miles in order to feed in my garden. Even during the breeding season, Siskins will travel large distances from the pine or mixed forests they choose to call home in order to find food. I think it’s a deceptively pretty little bird, while the male of the species (below) is even more attractively marked with his black crown and bib and greeny-yellow rump and breast, though I think that the…

A fully naturalised plant of damper places becoming increasingly common along many a British water margin, this particular Balsam beauty was growing beside a small stream near Hereford.

The Horned Poppy is a relatively scarce shingle beach-loving plant to be found almost exclusively in coastal areas. I found this particular example still flowering on Loe Bar, Cornwall in mid-October. It’s a close relative of the more familiar red Common Poppy that grows in national significance as we move into the month of November and, with Remembrance Day almost upon us, it’s vitally important to start thinking about what we’re supposed to be remembering….

When it comes to creating what, to a Common Garden Spider, is simply a means to an end (ie catching your next meal), not all Araneus diadematus are blessed with equal skills in the actual spinning department. The effort above is a good example of a completed, but far from perfectly orchestrated web design….“10” for effort and a “9” for artistic interpretation (especially with the addition of the frost droplets), but points would certainly be withheld by the German…

You may find it difficult to believe, but this shot was taken smack-bang in the middle of a very depressed and typically run-down inner-city housing estate. I took lots of other shots as well that day, none of which provide even the slightest clue as to where they were taken. You see, I just happen to believe that there’s natural beauty to be found almost anywhere. It’s just that, sometimes, you have to be prepared to look that little bit harder to find it. Sadly however, as I…

Stronger and more resilient by the hour, Tess seemed to think nothing of the seven mile walk I took her on today (20th December) around several of the Cotswold Water Park lakes (there are more than 130 of them in total to choose from) and along a stretch of the River Thames close to its source near Cricklade.

Looks like a variation on Xysticus cristatus. It’s unusual in that it has no venom, preferring to immobilise its prey using its ultra-fine silk.

I noticed this very hairy little fella on the 9th October, 2009 making his way quite happily along a dirt track on the Upton Ham, a massive (60 hectare) SSSI-designated site situated alongside the river close to Upton-upon-Severn. I’ve added it here simply because I’ve managed to get a good close-up shot of his teeth, ideally suited as they are for chewing vegetation.As for which species it is….there’s a general rule of thumb maintaining that if a caterpillar is quite…

Jenny Wren, Jenny Wren
Losing patience yet again
Should your husband dare to rest
Instead of building you that nest....
the one you'll choose from several made....
the best in which your eggs are laid 
So panic not....it wont be long
He's starting now to sing his song
Just cast about and make your choice
To the glorious rhythms of his voice

(Daisy W, June 1940)

The Summer of 1940 was a particularly worrying time for the people of Great Britain…the German invasion of Europe was all but…

“….’s funny? According to this, there should be one right here in front of me!”

just a few miles from Padstow on the north Cornish coast . They were quite small (about half the size of my little finger nail), but were extremely quick and agile….I watched as the unfortunate Hover Fly below was ensnared and paralysed to the point of complete immobility in less than thirty seconds! Their MO seemed to be quite simple (and probably very effective because of it)….Spin a few strands of sticky, trip-wire-like web at strategic points around and about your chosen hiding…

Unbelievably cute, this young Falco tinnunculus sat very obligingly in a conker tree for me to take this picture from about 40 metres away. The tree was towards the edge of a very large and open garden near Toddington and the bird made repeated attempts to swoop down and grasp with his claws a number of strangely “threatening” Jackdaw feathers blowing across the lawn! In this respect, he reminded me of a kitten chasing a piece of wool. It was obvious however, that the Kestrel, just…

I finally decided that this is probably a juvenile Mandarin rather than an adult male in eclipse plumage. I took the shot on the banks of the Gloucester/Sharpness Canal about a mile or so from Slimbridge WWT. This exquisitely marked little duck was playing the usual “can I be your friend if I tag-along” with a group of Mallard….It’s funny how they do that, but given a total lack of their own species for company, I suppose it’s better than being lonely and more…