articles

...appearing in this month's and next month's Bird Watching magazine- a feature on starlings, and a review of Simon King's autobiography... A little nervous about the latter!

Fowlmere

Today went on a perfect autumn walk in Fowlmere. And by perfect, I mean the weather was summery (not a big fan of the other seasons). Inside the hides it was positively stuffy, and couldn't resist dangling my arms out into the sunshine...even at the risk of scaring birds!

Plenty to see, despite not having bins with us. Emperor Dragonflies and Common Darters, wonderfully weird Ear Fungus, tart elderberries and Brown Trout. The light catching in webs made me decide my October column should feature garden spiders. There is currently one living in my left wing mirror, which could well be one of Britain's best travelled arachnids....

Blackberries were already shrivelling on the branches-has this gotten earlier, or is it just me being nostalgic and old? Keep thinking I should attempt to make elderberry cordial, or perhaps sloe gin.

A Truth

There is no love more destructive than the love of a cat for cat-mint. My cat gorges her passion with hearty mouthfuls, followed by joyous rolling. The weeks go by and she is left mourning at the plant's stump.

Holiday (celebrate!)

Off to Somerset tomorrow and I absolutely CAN'T WAIT! 

Stocked up with natural history books (it's high time I got to grips with the Natural History of Selbourne) and have already arranged a visit to Secret World animal sanctuary.

I'm also taking Simon King's autobiography with me, which I'm reviewing for Bird Watching. I'm about half-way through it and already thinking he ought to have written a book purely about wildlife stories, as the autobiographical side is a little lacking. I suppose it's jealousy on my part, but the man never seems to have met with any resistance. Everyone in his life is far too nice.

Sigh.

Where has July gone?

I've barely had time to blog this month, as I've been rushing from one work experience placement to the next...as well as graduating and turning 23.

This week I've been on Bird Watching magazine, which is based outside Peterborough. I had a wonderful time...as I have always said, wildlife enthusiasts are the nicest people in the world. The small team on Bird Watching were welcoming, wry and full of knowledge. I got to write a piece about wildlife friendly farming- looking at places like the RSPB site Hope Farm. They've added more grass, wildflowers, hedges and lark plots (bare patches of earth for ground nesting birds). It was interesting how similar wildlife gardening is to wildlife farming, really both are just about small changes and using one's common sense.

Stick Insect Drama

I have done something bad for a greater good...

The nursery that I've been working at for the last few weeks recently got in some Indian stick insects for the pre-schoolers to admire. Needless to say, not only were the children not bothered, but neither was anyone else. I came in to find them in an unsuitable cage, full of poo, with two of the insects lying dead at the bottom. The cage was bone-dry and the leaves inside were brittle and curled. The trouble is, that none of the plants they will eat (bramble, hawthorn, roses, privet) grow anywhere near the nursery, so feeding them had become a hassle for the staff.

I couldn't stand to leave them there, so I offered to take them home and clean them out. Here's the bad bit, I lied, and told the nursery they had died. But I just couldn't have brought them back.

Since then they have been happily munching fresh, damp leaves, and most have perked up.

The only other drama was when one escaped, and although he was recovered, the shock of the outside world seems to have killed him. This is a big shame, but at least the other three have happy little insect lives ahead of them....

Pleasures

Since being back in Cambridge (end of May) I've seen more wildlife than I saw in three years in Liverpool. A young, greyish fox darted into a hedgerow on Long Road as I drove to work. The undersides of a heron's wings outside my window. Starlings still inhabiting the gutter (an article starring them to appear in Bird Watching magazine) as chatty and burbly as ever. Outside the Smee of swifts having their evening meals. The cat inside, all eyes.