Here are the first 34 of Eddie’s blogs. Wild June 2019:2-1 Wild June 2019:2 Wild June:3 Wild June:4
Ashanti golden treasure in the nettlebed…
June 3 I was stepping out of my hut – the hut I work in at the bottom of the garden, in front of the marsh – when I found a piece of gold. Pure, shining, 24-carat gold, reflecting the generous sun of the day with such enthusiasm it could almost count as a rival. … [Read More]
Blackcap
June 2 There are a few bits of essential equipment for wildlifers recommended in my book Rewild Yourself, including the all-essential supermarket carrier bag, and of course a copy of Basho’s haikus. But I forgot the hammock. The keen pursuer of wildlife can’t afford to be without on. I took to my hammock on the… [Read More]
Wild June and a sky filled with passion
The boat is called the Golden Mean, but there was little moderation that day: the first day of June, the first of 30 Days Wild that the family, as encouraged by the Wildlife Trusts, will try and follow: at least one wild moment every single day of a wild month. It is the start of… [Read More]
Three birds of prey
When you are showing people your local patch, you want the place to perform. Especially if you happen to be managing the aforementioned patch. And even more especially if the people are not really wildlifers. Something esoteric and subtle won’t really cut it. You want to show them something amazing… First there was a kestrel…. [Read More]
The break in the pattern; the hare in the corn
A brilliant technological breakthrough has got the website’s email up and running again; so it’s time to start blogging again. Welcome or welcome back: and sorry I’ve been away so long. May 15 2019 We get used to the pattern of things, and we do so for a reason. When there is a break in… [Read More]
Death on Earth
David Attenborough has been accused of betraying wildlife. So let’s ask his major critic to remake the greatest of all television programmes… Death on Earth A Natural History by George Monbiot Episode 1 GEORGE: I am now standing at the heart of the Ordovician extinction – and even here, it is ghastly. All around… [Read More]
All one! All one! The crowned cranes are back…
Sacred Combe Safari III Day 8 It’s at this stage of the trip that I get all elegiac. Or if you prefer, soppy. It’s the last full day. In my little hut at Crocodile Camp I felt as if I would be staying in the heart of the Valley forever; now we were back at… [Read More]
Another day of wild excess in the Luangwa Valley…
Sacred Combe Safari III Day 7 There are some days when the Valley goes mad. Chucks everything at you all at once, no thought of saving something up for a nice surprise later on. All at once, crossing the wooded savannahs of the Luangwa Valley was like crossing Liverpool Street Station during the rush hour…. [Read More]
How I inveigled this really nice bird into my bathroom…
Sacred Combe Safari III Day 6 How I love my hut. On these trips I get to spend four nights in the same small hut out in the middle of the Luangwa Valley in Zambia and it’s never long before I feel a sense of ownership. True, it offers frail protection from the bush, and… [Read More]