Captive audience at RSPB Arne

Today I’ll be at the Bird Fair (come up and say hello – and perhaps buy a copy of Blogging for Nature from me) but last Thursday I was still on holiday in Dorset having not seen white-beaked dolphin and not seen Adonis blue butterfly.  What would I not see next? Arne had already provided…

Beautiful butterflies were missing

Adonis was the subject of a tug of love between Aphrodite and Persephone because of his great beauty. The Adonis blue is pretty good-looking too and restricted to chalk grassland sites such as are to be found in Dorset, so Wednesday, after being stood up by white-beaked dolphins, was Adonis blue day.  Butterflies are pretty…

Four men in a boat

We set off from West Bay with high hopes – Skipper Ian, Diver Dave, Biologist Tom and Ballast Mark.  Huntress II passed the beach on which Reginald Perrin stripped and headed into the waves but we were going out into Lyme Bay in search of marine life – which was appropriate since I was getting…

Going cuckoo!

One of the most exciting developments of recent years has been the ability to track birds with satellite tags – and the technology allows smaller and smaller birds to be tagged all the time. One of the most exciting current examples is that of cuckoos being tracked by the BTO as they make their way to…?…