Finchampstead Ridges
Yesterday in the late afternoon we had a quick trip to the Ridges to check it out for future walks as we hadn't been for several years. It was as steep as I remembered and quite large so you need ...
Moor Copse
I've been to Moor Copse (Pangbourne) before but not for ages. There are lots of different walks you can do, and - if you're like us - that includes one where you get completely lost in a boggy bit of ...
In the garden and at Maiden Erlegh Lake
The weather has been up and down again with some rain and high winds but also some nice sunshine. The birds are very busy in the garden and the pond is gradually looking more interesting. I have used the compost ...
Birdsong, lizard and other bits and bobs
As I was wandering along the edge of the ravine in the centre of Ronda I came to a shaded area where the birds were singing sweetly, so decided to try out the built-in recorder on my phone. Not bad ...
A big beetle
I saw several of these quite large black beetles but so far have not been able to identify them. They look pretty heavily armoured with ridges on the head.
Local and garden activity
The weather is changeable again at the moment with quite high winds and some showers but I have had a couple of little walks at Southlake and the butterfly meadow in Woodley. It is eerily quiet at the moment - ...
Chough
The Red-billed Chough or just Chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, is a bird in the crow family and breeds on mountains and coastal cliffs from the western coasts of Ireland and Britain through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia, India ...
Lesser Kestrel
Went on a little road trip - well, train trip actually - up to the town of Ronda, a town perched on either side of a huge ravine with a bridge connecting the two halves. In addition to being picturesque, ...
Quiet walk around Crowthorne
A late afternoon walk at Crowthorne was very pleasant but unusually quiet in terms of wildlife. Birds were singing but remained hidden in the treetops. The ponds there were quite active though and I saw lots of newts darting about in ...
Garden activity In the air and in the water
The garden is very active at the moment, butterflies are beginning to arrive (blues, peacock, orange-tip), the birds are either mating or nesting and the pond is teeming with tadpoles. My new pond plants are also growing really well. The ...
Hot and sunny walk at Hosehill Lake
Yesterday was unbelievably hot - today is much cooler and rainy which is more usual! I had a really nice walk around Hosehill Lake and managed to take a few photos despite my bad hand which is preventing me from ...
A very big hopper
I spotted this very large hopper slowly making its way up a steep embankment on my way to the beach and managed to get a few reasonable shots and a short video. And a ...
May Day meander – Part 2
Scarlet Darter dragonflies are a common sight at the moment and the odd Emperor Dragonfly is putting in an appearance, endlessly flying up and down the river, as they do. ...
May Day meander – Part 1
After a couple of cooler, cloudy days with the odd shower thrown in for good measure, a really glorious May Day - although there is still a bit of snow to be seen on the surrounding hills! A couple of Common ...
Aston Rowant and Hambledon
We didn't know where to go the other day so decided to have a look at somewhere we had passed recently en route to Otmoor. Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve turned out to be somewhere Paul has always wanted to ...
Sunny stroll at Thursley Common
Taking advantage of the sunny weather, we went to Thursley to see if any of the lizards were out yet. I did see a couple scampering across the boardwalk but it was still a bit on the cool side, especially ...
