For easy-going naturalists.
Welcome to autumn: Simon, John and Margaret join forces this autumn/winter with the wonderful team at Haith’s wild bird food (https://www.haiths.com/) to launch their new project – “Make Nature Your…
No. 113 Autumn/Winter 2020. Visit https://hawkandowltrust.org to find out more about The Hawk and Owl Trust.
John and Margaret Cooper’s Pentney to King’s Lynn ‘safari’ 13 – 15 July 2020. A report on our walk – and the natural history that we saw – for the…
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS. Rev Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a pioneer naturalist, who collected over 40 years’ observations of the flora and…
By Graham Wellstead. It would not be to difficult to calculate how much of my life has been enriched in terms of years, an educated guess would be 3 to…
By Susan Underkoffler – our Pennsylvania, USA correspondent. I met someone during my first experience away from home at university. His name was Marco and he was from Iceland. Stocky…
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS If you missed Part I, it’s here. Franz Witte back in Leiden could hardly believe what he was hearing on the crackly phone line from…
I (Simon King) heard recently from naturalist Graham Wellstead who was keen to write about a special place for FFON readers – he wrote: “Here I am taking liberties. I…
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “An Anniversary and An Armchair Assessment” and marked the fact that the 9th of July (when the podcast was recorded), is…
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS – FFON’s Kenya and UK correspondent Part 1: DARWIN’S OWN LAKE Lake Victoria has been a highway for trade, could become a highspot for tourists,…
A genius evolutionary mimic of developing a decoy female bee to attract males hoping to mate with the ‘inanimate female’, but instead the males end up pollinating the flower free…
The photos below and the video clip of hedgehogs were sent to John and Margaret Cooper by their friend Tim Roberts who lives in a small village in Shropshire. Tim…
The illustrations below were sent to John and Margaret Cooper (in response to their ‘An invitation to children and young people’ project invitation) by their friend Michelle O’Brien, who is…
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Bees, bugs, ponds and water-bowls.” The FFON (www.ffon.co.uk) team discuss Sean Wensley’s timely blog “Growing close to nature during lockdown” and…
“Bee-watching in garden – never noticed “bee preferences” before. In the case of Kniphofia (red hot poker plant) – always thought it was snails eating the flowering pokers – its…
By Graham Wellstead. My garden, like many, contains a pond. Not a great lake, just a small formal pond about 8ft square with raised sides, the theory being we could…
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Wildlife – Interactions and Relationships.” The FFON (www.ffon.co.uk) team discuss John and Margaret’s recent blog post about their delightful village lane…
By Graham Wellstead. ‘We feel it is good to have a certain amount about animals in captivity on FFON. Many naturalists also keep or tend animals in their homes; it’s…
The absolute pinnacle of the sport of falconry is to fly a Peregrine falcon. I have, over the years, flown every species of bird flown in the UK except Eagles,…
A few weeks ago, I (Simon King) received an email from Graham Wellstead (FFON contributor) about a fascinating young man named Xander Johnston AKA ‘AntBoy,’ a 13 year old award…
By John and Margaret Cooper. On Monday 23rd March 2020, nine weeks ago, we started to “self-isolate” as over 70s in our tiny cottage in Norfolk. During our lockdown we…
Our London correspondent, Helen Jeffries has a question for FFON readers. Helen has an inordinate fondness for beetles – ‘I like the specimens one can get in see-through blocks,’ she…
A note to John and Margaret Cooper from Sarah Pellett, BSc (Hons) MA VetMB Cert AVP (ZooMed) DZooMed (Reptilian) MRCVS. RCVS Recognised Specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Sarah is…
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Records and Rapport”. But first, they share messages from a variety of places including India, the Caribbean, Scotland and a safari…
By David McHattie. Colourful visitors photographed during Essex garden lock-down from the Dengie Peninsula. I have been lucky this spring – lots of moths and butterflies to see in the…
By Helen Jeffries – FFON’s London Correspondent. Since people have been allowed out for as much exercise as they want, and have been gradually returning to work, London feels more…
Written by Sean Wensley. Northern Ireland is in an extended period of lockdown as I write, 3 weeks beyond the rest of the UK. For a further three weeks, I…
Written by Graham Wellstead. As a lifelong enthusiasm for almost all things natural virtually controls my life – not quite every living thing, I admit to failure when it comes…
