Ian Bond

Batman Forever!

I’d never been in a Spiritualist Church before and to be honest I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a big circular table, shrouds and bizarre occult paraphernalia. Instead there were “apple pie and motherhood” posters on the walls, doilies on the tables and the sort of weak tea that you only get inContinue reading “Batman Forever!”

What is the point of wasps?

“What is the point of wasps?” I bet that that is top of most people’s wildlife FAQs, especially every autumn when wasps, bold as brass, suddenly seem to be everywhere. Taken literally, it’s a very easy question to answer. In the process of evolution there isn’t any point to wasps, or anything else for thatContinue reading “What is the point of wasps?”

To see a thousand things – August

I hadn’t expected much of August. The month when no news ever happens is also a lean month for wildlife. Most of the flowers are over, the fungi haven’t really started and the birds have swapped singing for skulking. It is still a decent month for moths and with a good guide book and aContinue reading “To see a thousand things – August”

Along came a spider

Autumn may be characterised by its sights and smells as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, but it’s actually a characteristic sound that I hear each year that tells me that summer is fading and autumn is almost upon us. It’s not the twitter of the swallows as they gather on the telegraph lines;Continue reading “Along came a spider”

Exotic cat reports in North East England

This article is a chapter that I wrote for the book,”Mammals, amphibians and reptiles of the North East”, which was published by the Natural History Society of Northumberland in 2012. The full book is free to download from the home page of this website. The question of whether big or exotic cats are at largeContinue reading “Exotic cat reports in North East England”

To see a thousand things – July

If June had been my worst month so far, then July was probably my best. Not quite as many new species as I found in May but then these were on top of the ones I had found in May, and all of the other five months in the first half of the year asContinue reading “To see a thousand things – July”

The parkrunner’s potential

(with apologies to Rudyard Kipling) For a lot of my friends, this Saturday is something that they have been waiting over a year for. July 24th 2021 marks the re-start of parkrun. At one point in my life it was the highlight of my week and for many people it still is. Parkrun, for thoseContinue reading “The parkrunner’s potential”

To see a thousand things – June

Where did June go? Before I knew it, it was the 23rd and I had only recorded an additional five species. Not that I hadn’t seen any wildlife this month, in fact I had seen quite a lot, including some species that I had never seen in the wild before, such as Muntjac and Spoonbill,Continue reading “To see a thousand things – June”

To see a thousand things – May

I do pick them! Years in which to do a Bioblitz that is and what a year this is proving to be. As far as winter lingering on in to summer goes, I think I can only recall one other year like it, back in the 90s, when the May blossom didn’t come out untilContinue reading “To see a thousand things – May”

Ten out of ten -a decathlon or bust

(June 2021) Turning 60, which I did towards the end of 2019, is one of the best things I have ever done. I feel like I have entered a different category in life, one where feel senior enough not to have to care so much about what people think. And now that I am lookingContinue reading “Ten out of ten -a decathlon or bust”