It’s that time of the year again when buzzards gather together in the fields. They seem to choose a different field every year. Last year it was one adjoining the back lane to Upton, the year before that they were over at Colestocks and this year they are in the field leading along the lane to the pig farms. I have enjoyed photographing them mixed in amongst all those herring gulls and pigeons. Silhouetted along the edge of the ridge they appear huge and once again there is a very white individual amongst them. At first glance it is very easy …
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It is certainly a time of change with daffodil shoots pushing through on 9 October and - goodness me - there really have been a lot of hornets around this autumn and from all corners of the parish! Most reports tell us that they are over an inch long and suggest that despite appearances they are rarely aggressive, unlike the common wasp. Note the word rarely, because in my experience entering the garden after dark wearing a head torch is likely to induce some really unnerving behaviour – certainly enough to make me turn tail and run and even …
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I opened the e-mail and immediately thought this is a scam: “Dear Mr and Mrs East, we are delighted to announce that you have been awarded the prestigious VisitEngland Rose Award in Recognition Of Service Excellence”. Just to check that my intuition was correct, I speedily e mailed the VisitEngland Assessor who carried out our annual Assessment earlier in the Year. At the back of my mind was also the thought that for most Tourism Awards, you have to enter yourself and go through a rigorous process competing with amazing hospitality …
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There are times when I despair of our politicians. Years ago Boris, when mayor of London, wanted to build an airport in the Thames estuary, an area of international importance for over-wintering wildfowl and more recently I read the disparaging comments from a Cornish MP about “the Attenborough effect” – clearly he is not a fan. Now it has been suggested that the Environment Secretary may be blaming  wild birds for the poor water quality in a Suffolk creek. Local people want to swim in an area that dries out to mudflats at low tide and where …
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For those of us interested in wildlife and the environment these are depressing times. There are worrying declines in so many once common species. It is happening right around the world but the UK’s track record is not a good one and I suspect little will change unless there is the political will to do so. On the other hand it is easy to overlook some heart-warming developments. Beavers became extinct in the 16c but recent re-introduction programmes have seen them re-establishing in parts of Devon. I saw them on the River Otter pre-covid and …
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Clearly my optimism last month that spring might be just around the corner was misplaced. Instead we have suffered more than our fair share of cold nights, many of them icy. This has not had as much impact on the frogs mating as I would have thought, with the first spawn appearing on February 19th, only five days later than last year. On the other hand, and far more worrying, we have only had two frogs in our pond. In previous years there have normally been around twenty. A disease causing mass deaths has arrived in this country and so it is to …
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