• An explosion of starlings

    An explosion of starlings

    Written by Graham Wellstead. Not everyone is keen on these brash argumentative birds but I have a soft spot for them. For several years starlings have been missing from my garden. I would see them elsewhere, and a number of times their glorious vast flock displays on winter evenings as they assembled prior to roosting,…

  • “Our feeders are a magnet for the sparrows and the hawk.”

    “Our feeders are a magnet for the sparrows and the hawk.”

    Written by Graham Wellstead (Surrey, UK). With this splendid weather, long may it last, albeit quite chilly first thing, I have been up and about since first light. Our bird feeders are currently hosting our usual gang of 60 plus house sparrows, who alternate their position from feeding, to cover in the pyracantha hedge underneath…

  • Notes from the Back Garden Naturalist

    Notes from the Back Garden Naturalist

    Written by Graham Wellstead in Darkest Surrey Simon King urges us all to become armchair naturalists during these rather frightening times. However, if I sit down, I fall asleep. I, therefore, spend most of my waking hours outside in my relatively small suburban garden. Not, you might think, much of an opportunity to observe nature.…