Paul writes: the Orange-backed Tachinid (Tachina fera) is a fantastic fly. It’s quite large, reaching 16mm long and easily recognisable by its colours and spiky appearance. It is fairly well distributed throughout England and Wales but less common in Scotland. I usually see them in August and September, I found this one recently at Harlow…
Category: Uncategorized
Writing competition
Comments Off on Writing competition
This blog’s 2018 writing competition is to make the case that any particular month of the year is either the best or the worst month for enjoying nature in the UK. How you treat that subject is up to you. There will be a prize, a signed copy of my book Remarkable Birds, for what…
Tim Melling – Ural Owl
Tim writes: the Ural Owl is a close relative of Tawny Owl, but it is much larger with a much longer tail. The owl is about half a metre long with a wingspan well over a metre (<134cm), and weighing more than a kilogram. Tawny Owl by comparison has a wingspan just under a metre…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Comments Off on Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
A Labour MP writes
I was interested to see this response that a blog reader received from their Labour MP. I long for the day when I have a Labour MP, but as I don’t, I cannot write to check how close this is to the standard letter sent out to constituents by other Labour MPs. But maybe you…