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”
Author Archives: Ian Bond
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”
Twin Towns
“A good name”, the good book says, “is better than riches”, but in my book a bad name definitely travels further. Some years ago now, I was doing a prospective university visit with my son at Warwick University in Coventry. This was our sixth university and lunch followed the familiar pattern of being decanted aroundContinue reading “Twin Towns”
To see a thousand things – April
I took my eye off the ball a bit in April. I’d had in mind that it would have been a bit of a banker, you know with spring and all that. But spring seemed to be in short supply, poking its head out occasionally between pockets of frost in what I’m told was theContinue reading “To see a thousand things – April”
Tales of a timid traveller – (Part 2) Awakening)
It was Aristotle who said, “Hope is a waking dream”. I’d always dreamed of seeing wildlife in Africa but I wasn’t entirely sure that I wasn’t still dreaming as we’d flown into the Selous reserve, over masses of hippos that looked like water vole latrines on the riverbanks far below us, then stopped in anContinue reading “Tales of a timid traveller – (Part 2) Awakening)”
To see a thousand things – March
March was a much better month; it just was! The weather got better, so much so that according to the papers we had the warmest March day for 53 years (when I say we, it was the Telegraph so it will have meant that the south had the warmest day for 53 years, but IContinue reading “To see a thousand things – March”
Where didn’t the Hedgehog cross the road?
We all look for signs of spring, whether it’s the song of birds at dawn, the smell of the first cut of grass or just the drive home from work in the light. But there’s another sign of spring that I always note, though never look forward to. Spring marks the beginning of squashed HedgehogContinue reading “Where didn’t the Hedgehog cross the road?”
Raven on the Wing 