Izzy has had chicken pox, so this week we have mainly stayed indoors. Cabin fever had definitely set in and it feels good to be outside now. We follow a grassy path lined by Common Dog-violets and Bluebells. When Izzy stops to smell the flowers, I notice some Broom hiding amongst the golden Gorse. Izzy wants to touch a Black Slug and there are a few of those around at [...]
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It is the bank holiday weekend and Dawlish Warren is teeming with tourists, but away from the dodgems and the fish and chip shops, a little bit of wilderness can be found. Between the golf course and the beach is a strip of sand dune habitat that few holiday makers ever reach. We trek from the car park through the nature reserve, passing a pond containing Canada Geese, Mute Swans [...]
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On Dartmoor, the birds are singing. Meadow Pipits burst into the sky, pouring their hearts out, then parachute down to the ground again, whilst Skylarks belt out endless arias and Yellowhammers, perched in bare thorn bushes, chant ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’. I hold Izzy’s hand as we climb the hill, aware that this is Adder country and that it is sunbathing weather for snakes today. We [...]
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It is Easter Saturday and we are outside Crediton Parish Church (otherwise snappily known as the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him who Hung Thereon), but we are not here for religious purposes; we are just here to watch the Rooks. Izzy, dressed in an Easter Bunny costume, is carrying a feather she has found on the newly mown grass and wandering happily amongst the [...]
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There is a bitter wind howling through the forest, bending the trees like pipe-cleaners and ruffling the surface of the lake. Red Kites are circling, whistling to each other, waiting for the food to be delivered and below them, people are gathering, blowing on their frozen fingers, stamping frozen toes, to watch. An expectant calm falls over the place. Then, food is thrown down onto the ground and suddenly a [...]
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Sometimes you have to search long and hard for wildlife. Sometimes, it is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. We are in Pembrokeshire on holiday and it is a beautiful sunny morning. Izzy has walked a long way already, with a brief playground stop, from the cottage in Newport down to the Nevern Estuary. Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Wigeon, Mallards, Teal, Little Grebes [...]
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The week has passed in a flurry of snow and sleet, so, when the sun shone this morning, and I felt its warm rays on my face for the first time in months, it was as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Wanting to make the most of the clement weather, I head to a favourite spot of mine, Dunsford Woods, with Izzy, Ben and Bramble in [...]
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It has been a draining week, with one very long day in hospital followed by an anxious, ongoing, wait for Izzy’s blood test results. So, it is nice to have something to celebrate today – my second Mother’s Day as a mum. It starts well, with breakfast in bed and the presentation of a home-made card featuring four multicolored felt-tip squiggles that Izzy assures me are Mummy, Daddy, Izzy and [...]
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We cross the footbridge over the River Char, Izzy mimicking the female Mallards that quack below us, and spot Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails flitting about the shack that serves as a beach cafe. Izzy is excited to find a large piece of driftwood, which I help her to climb over. Then, she spots the water and with a shout of “Sea!” runs towards it, tripping over the pebbles in her haste. She splashes [...]
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I peer out of the bird hide’s window, trying to pinpoint the source of the guttural, dinosaur sounds that are filtering through the woodland and see, in the very tops of the oak trees, a dozen giant, grey birds sitting in the branches and tending their messy stick nests. It is early in the season, but Swell Wood contains the largest heronry in the south-west and in April, when breeding [...]
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