Natural Selection

The Kathleen Jamie event trailed in yesterday’s blog has now moved to Tuesday 18th April. If anyone saw my offer of a lift from Blackpool can disregard that, as I unfortunately can’t make the rescheduled date… Tickets are now on sale for the Mark Cocker event on 22nd June, where he will be in conversation…

I know this blog has an identity crisis, but it is supposed to be about my creative writing and others who practice in that field. Lancaster University Future Places Centre have just confirmed details of one of the great contemporary British nature writers coming to the area. next month. Kathleen Jamie is currently Scotland’s Makar,…

When I was a kid I came by a pin badge for Enterprise Neptune. It had simple stylised waves of blue, brown and green to represent the land, sea and the shifting landscape in between. I always associate that image in my mind with Sandscale Haws, the network of dunes near Barrow. This precious part…

Thanks to the generosity of Karen Lloyd I was posted a copy of Mark Cocker’s latest book to review. This was a double privilege, firstly because I am a fan of Mark’s work and secondly because the book doesn’t actually come out until June. When I learned Mark Cocker was going to write about Swifts…

Continuing the catch-up of things I’ve been up to lately I was asked by Kane Brides to check Blackpool Zoo for the national Naturalised Barnacle Goose survey. Visitors to the zoo would be forgiven for thinking these birds are part of the collection, but they aren’t and leave to roost at Marton Mere or Staining…

In the style of the late Ronnie Corbett I’ve already started disgressing with this blog, as it isn’t actually about the Black-headed Gull above. Let me explain. When I saw the above bird from South Lanarkshire in Dalton-in-Furness last October I asked Iain (the ringer) if he had heard any more about 2BC1. Like the…

I was up in Barrow for the football today. Beforehand I did all my WeBS counts in Furness for the month – Ormsgill Reservoir, Urswick Tarn, Brine Tarn, Standing Tarn and Parkers Pond. But I also had something else to check out before kick off at Holker Street. In the ‘Beauty of Barrow-in-Furness Facebook group…

After an uninspiring seawatch from Blackpool North Shore this morning I went to the nearby shorebird roost. If you are new to this blog this used to be a boating pool built into the sea defences, nowadays it’s a go kart track. Depending on whether the go karts are doing their thing waders roost on…

On the Marinelife ferry survey I did in December I spent the time docked in Dublin and some of the journey back to Heysham reading ‘Nightwalking’. This is the first John Lewis-Stempel book I’ve read. It’s not a particularly long book, being an account of four nocturnal walks he undertakes, but there’s no doubt it’s…

This blog’s original purpose was to include some of my nature writing. That hasn’t really happened unless you count book reviews and some thought pieces on birding. I’ve been asked and am pleased however to publicise some events this year where you get the chance to see acclaimed nature writers in Lancaster University’s Future Places…