Tag: Tim Melling

Tim writes: I came across a Nightjar, hiding in plain sight on a tree stump, and what an amazing camouflage he has.  First of all his body is wedge-shaped with a dead flat back, but also his belly is flush to the ground, looking for all the world like a chunk of wood.  He had…

Tim writes: I was out on the Peak District Moors in early March and had a great stroke of luck when this female Goshawk cruised over me.  I identified her as a female by her large size, but also by the rather indistinct face pattern and yellow eye.  Males are smaller with a noticeably dark…

Tim writes: Crossbills are one of the first birds to start breeding, sometimes as early as January, but March is more usual. They typically lay four eggs and the female does all the incubation while the male brings her food. Incubation lasts 12-16 days and the young fly about 25 days after hatching. When the…

Tim writes: Woodlark is a rarer cousin of Skylark that inhabits heathlands and young forestry plantations mainly in the south.  They like light, sandy, free-draining soils too, and lots of bare ground where they feed.  So despite the name, they are not a woodland bird. Though unlike Skylark, Woodlark does perch in trees. A bit…

Tim writes: living in the north means I don’t see Dartford Warblers very often.  But on the few times I have seen them I’m always surprised by how small they are.  The book measurements are deceiving because they have a long tail.  So at 12cm bill to tail tip they are 2cm longer than a…

Tim writes: Cirl Buntings are one of Britain’s most localised breeding species.  In the 1930s it bred on farmland in North Wales  and much of the south Midlands of England.  But in the second half of the twentieth century the population started to collapse.  Even at the time of the first Breeding Atlas (1968-72) they…

Tim writes: I don’t consider myself to be a photographer. I’m a wildlife enthusiast who takes photographs of the things I see. So serious photographers will look with scorn at this photograph as being dull and lacking detail. But keen birdwatchers will (hopefully) be impressed knowing what a lucky shot this is because in my…