Well, today is the shortest day of the year. Today, the Oak King of Summer has got the upper hand in his endless battle with the Holly King of Winter, at least until the the summer solstice when their fortunes will be reversed. The Holly King is not beaten yet – the warm weather won’t [...]
Archive for December, 2008
Happy Winter Solstice!
Posted in Thoughts and Musings on December 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A spot of birdwatching
Posted in That's not a badger! on December 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
For years, my wife and I have put food out in the garden for the birds, and since it is the coldest December for 30 years they really seem to appreciate it. I made point of saving some windfall apples from the autumn and the blackbirds love them. Last weekend we went upmarket and bought [...]
How to make plaster casts of animal tracks
Posted in Practical Guides, Tracking on December 14, 2008 | 6 Comments »
I’ve always wanted to try plaster casting animal tracks. I don’t know why, it just seems like an interesting thing to do. I suppose it would be a useful skill if I ever come across a really rare track of say, a bigfoot or puma. Neither is very likely in Bedfordshire, but you never know. [...]
Fieldnotes: 14th December 2008 – Tracking a Fallow Deer Herd
Posted in Fieldnotes, That's not a badger!, Tracking on December 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Last night – Saturday night – a small herd of fallow deer does crossed the road in front of my car. Fallow deer are easy to recognise from the car because of their obvious tails and rump patches as they disappear into the hedgerows. It happened just a few hundred yards from my house, and [...]