The Red Legged Seriema stalked away gradually to join its fellows. In an adjacent aviary, a black plumaged bird wandered around. It had a short, red bill and looked as if it had a pale blue stone perched on it’s forehead. A text attached to cage, complete with distribution map and photo, read Northern HelmetedContinue reading “Chapter 2: The Observant Owls”
Author Archives: Henry Jones
Chapter 1: World of Birds
The air was thick with shrieks and chirps. A wide path leading from the open gates led down to a building built on the banks of a meandering river. Across from the building, on the opposite bank, stood 2 Marabou Storks, and beneath their feet lush green grass. Naked heads tucked into their fluffed upContinue reading “Chapter 1: World of Birds”
My Big Shock
The BBC Wildlife Magazine is compelling, clever and informative. There are many other words I would use to describe it as well but I can’t really fit them all in. It is one of my absolute favourite magazines [It’s in the top 3] which I enjoy reading even if I miss a few of theContinue reading “My Big Shock”
Review: Stover Country Park
Stover Country Park is one of my personal favourite places to go birding. The variety of birds flickers back and forth over the course of a year. The mix of coniferous and deciduous woodland bordering a lake with many nooks and crannies, it’s hard not to love. The car park is coated in towering pines,Continue reading “Review: Stover Country Park”
The Restless
The ‘Restless’ rocked from side to side in the moderate easterly winds. The rumble of the motor droned on as we cruised up the coast from Teignmouth. Caves, rock formations, beaches and trees hanging perilously close to the sheer cliffs. Spray sprung up over the gleaming red and white sides of the boat, soaking anythingContinue reading “The Restless”
A Wild Goose Chase (Or Is It?)
Wind breezy, sun shining. The perfect backdrop for a good day’s birding at Emsworthy Mire DWT Reserve. Kicking off with a tremendous tree pipit, these birds are well known for their parachuting display. As it climbed higher and higher, it then opened its wings and ‘parachuted’ down, only beginning to flap when inches above theContinue reading “A Wild Goose Chase (Or Is It?)”
Fledgling Shock
In our garden and local area, we have discovered many different breeding birds, a lot of which we can completely confirm. House sparrows, wrens, blue tits and possibly long tailed tits, due to their numbers here. But this evening, we had a whopping new edition to the list. Earlier this season, we noticed a groupContinue reading “Fledgling Shock”
The Mistaken Moorhen
The constant rain showers had given up for an hour and we decided to head for Stover Park. As we exited the car park, a blackbird swooped low over the needle littered undergrowth and came to rest by a drainage ditch. Sticking it’s beak deep in the soil, dirt flew from the hole it hadContinue reading “The Mistaken Moorhen”
Garden Birds: Sunday 2nd May 2021
Discovering nesting birds is rapidly becoming more common here. The early nesters, such as the robins, have already fledged and the parents are being worked tremendously, feeding the ravenous balls of fluff. I am pleased to say that we have (possibly) got blue tits in one of our nest boxes, this fact based on 2Continue reading “Garden Birds: Sunday 2nd May 2021”
Brilliant Birds!
The rain had nearly ceased, so we decided to make the most of it. We pulled on our boots, grabbed the binoculars and off we went. We were at stover country park, one of my favourite places to be while we were in lockdown. The rain then had just about ceased, but then there wasContinue reading “Brilliant Birds!”
