Inhabitants of the Rural Hedgerow
When there is a bite to the air and the winds begin to take most of the leaves, it’s time for new visitors to appear in the hedgerows...
When there is a bite to the air and the winds begin to take most of the leaves, it’s time for new visitors to appear in the hedgerows...
I’ve been sowing grass seed on our new meadow. A few days ago this was still a few ugly piles of clay, gorse and weeds but a man with a...
We now have a rat. It’s part of the Lurraga wildlife park experience. Rats in London are evil disease-spreaders but this rat seems like...
The cows in our field are always trying to escape. There are a couple of ringleaders who always set the others off. There are only eight...
Did I miss Fisheries Awareness Week? We’d cut out a snippet of news from the Clare Champion, then filed it away under Things to Do. But...
Splashing across our lawn on a rain-spackled evening, the hare announces his return by dancing in the pools of water that form in the...
Grey everywhere today. Biting wet winds are blowing in from the south east. The Aran Islands look like three faint grey clouds as sea...
This afternoon I spotted a can of Kestrel Super K on the route of the lost Hackney Brook. I’ve noticed over the last few months that...
This afternoon I spotted a can of Kestrel Super K on the route of the lost Hackney Brook. I’ve noticed over the last few months that...
As I was flicking through the Stoke Newington OS map from 1868 (it’s a gripping read) I noticed that, north of the avenue and embankment...
A Hackney Brook walk around to the new Arsenal stadium to gawp at some concrete and cranes then a quick sketching session (still can’t...
Another of the ancient horse chestnuts in the south western sector of Clissold Park, probable remnants of the old Newington Common, has...
More old trees in Clissold Park are being cut down. Some of the gnarled horse chestnut trees in the south west corner have seemingy died...
The little Hawthorne bush that nestles into an eastern corner of Old St Mary’s Church is covered in bright red berries. Beneath it is a...
“Hello Mr Magpie!” I whispered, as I reached the north eastern sector of Clissold Park. Why do I do this? I used to think it was kind of...
Yet another of the old horse chestnut trees in Clissold Park is starting to peg out. On the south side, near the route of the buried New...
Yesterday – 7th January – I saw the first ladybird of Spring. It landed on the screen of my Imac while I was checking the latest...
A mother is walking through the park with a small boy following behind, dribbling a football. A squirrel runs across their path. “I used...