You may have seen my blog this morning which invited my local MP, Andy Sawford, to do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch with me at my home on Sunday 26 January (I plan to be at Cheltenham races on the Saturday!). I hope he says yes as I’d like to show him some birds, tell…
Tag: Northants
Binoculars
I would be very surprised if readers of this blog have been worrying about the fate of my binoculars since I dropped them on the concrete outside a motel at Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, on 23 June. A few days later (28 June to be precise) I took them into Hawkins in Northampton to see…
My swifts
They’ve gone for this year. It’s been such a lovely summer since I got back from the USA in late June. 2013 has been a butterfly year in the garden with lots of large and small whites and a few green-veined whites too. Also peacocks, meadow browns, gatekeepers and a single female common blue. My…
Waxwings near me
I popped out one afternoon last week to visit an industrial estate. A birder going to an industrial estate in January is most likely to mean ‘waxwings’. And that is what it meant on this occasion. Waxwings has been reported from the Burton Latimer/Barton Seagrave area over the previous few days and when I had…
Patch work
The natural world is a source of great wonder to me. I enjoy being out there with my wellies on and binoculars around my neck. I enjoy thinking about species I may see or learn about in future. And I like re-living those special wildlife experiences. And I like having a local patch, Stanwick Lakes,…
Waxwings are here again
I caught up with some waxwings near my home on Thursday. Huntingdon races were abandoned because of the freezing ground and my central heating had chosen to pack up a couple of days earlier. In addition the car’s battery couldn’t cope with the cold and the AA had had to come out and get me…
The road to 10 Downing Street goes through Corby
Whoever came up with the line that makes the title of this blog did well. Labour’s return to power may well be seen to start with this first by-election victory against the Tories in 15 years. In some ways the constituency of Corby and east Northants represents a microcosm of England. Equally divided, or dithering,…
For all that’s sacred…
I had a brief and pleasant walk at Stanwick Lakes one lunchtime this week. The sun shone and there were lots of birds around. A common sandpiper meant that it was either autumn or spring. An adult yellow-legged gull made it more likely that it was late summer as that is when I see most…
Turtle doves under fire
I haven’t seen a turtle dove in Northamptonshire this year and it seems I am not the only one. This was a bird that I didn’t see in the north Somerset countryside where I grew up. It was only when we came on holiday to East Anglia that I saw my first turtle dove –…
Sunshine
On Monday the sun was shining and I suddenly thought – why not go and enjoy it? So I did. Summer sun means butterflies and I headed to Fermyn Woods to see if it might be third time lucky in looking for purple emperors. The long line of cars parked by the road on a…