New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition could usher in another round of controversy, with perennial favourite the kākāpō struck from the ballot after twice winning the competition. The fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot is the only species to reign twice as New Zealand’s favourite bird, in 2020 and 2008. This year, however, it […]
Tag: Shag
Discovered in the deep: the crustacean with eyes for a head
The inky depths of the ocean’s twilight zone are home to fist-sized shrimp-like crustaceans with ridiculously big eyes. Most of Cystisoma’s head is taken up by its eyes – all the better for seeing in the dark. “The bigger you make your eye, the more likely you are to catch any photons that are out […]
The North Cornwall Coast
A spring day out on a North Cornwall headland when the sun is shining and the birds are starting their breeding cycle, I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
A day in Dorset
All winter I’ve wanted to get down and see the Lesser Yellowlegs at Lodmoor so yesterday we bit the bullet and drove the 160 miles down the M3 arriving around 8.15am we managed to find the target although views were not as crippling as the images I’ve been seeing. It was sat on the far […]
Great visit to Wallasea Island
Sometimes a days birding can deliver very little and then sometimes days like today come along where it all seems to go right. A Barn Owl as we pulled into the track to the reserve followed by two Short-eared Owls hunting at first light then a male Merlin flashes across us and sits out on […]
Scotland #3 – Seabird Extravaganza
Back home in Norwich already, but I have some more Scottish tales to tell. On July 31st we went out to sea with my mate Phil from Shetland Seabird Tours. We left Lerwick harbour and headed towards Noss NNR. Phil boat is great – small enough to get close to water level, but sits very […]
After 60 million years of extreme living, seabirds are crashing
Every day for sixty million years, seabirds have performed mind-boggling acts of derring-do: circumnavigating the globe without rest, diving more than 200 meters in treacherous seas for a bite of lunch, braving the most unpredictable weather on the planet as if it were just another Tuesday and finding their way home in waters with few, […]
De Aalscholver
De meeste mensen zullen hem ongetwijfeld wel eens gezien, voorbij vliegend laag over het water of zittend in een boom. Met name dat laatste verbaasd me elke keer weer. Deze vogels zijn namelijk uitgerust met enorme zwemvliezen aan de poten waarmee ze uitstekend kunnen zwemmen en onder water op jacht kunnen gaan naar de toch […]