MY ROBIN IS BACK

Readers should take note. In this blog I'm going to dispel a deeply and widely-held belief about Christmas. Those of a timid disposition should beware.

No, I'm not talking about the existence of Father Christmas. That's been proven beyond doubt. Navigate to www.NoradSanta.org if you don't believe me. There you can track his whereabouts as he delivers gifts around the world on Christmas Eve…

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

I've written at length in these blogs about how we birders are collectors at heart, how we love to say, “I found a new one” when we spot a bird that we've never seen before. It's the camouflage jacket equivalent of stamp collecting with – for most of us – the added benefit of doing something good for the environment. And there's usually the added “mine's bigger than yours” nature of lists. “I've…

Pathways to the future for RSPB Old Moor 

We are delighted to be able to share that Old Moor is benefiting from improvements to infrastructure thanks to a £50,000 grant from FCC Communities Foundation. 

The money will be used to resurface pathways along the Green Lane part of the reserve to make it fully accessible, and to create a new wildlife viewing bridge for visitors to enjoy the sights and species at RSPB Old…

GET UP AND GO

Last week I wrote about seeing my first ever Shorelarks in Norfolk. They were stunning little birds with their yellow heads, black facemasks and Devilish little feather-tuft horns. It was a delight and a privilege to see them, made all the better by the fact that I had pretty much zero chance of seeing one at my local patch in South Yorkshire.

Those of you who have met me outside the Welcome Hut at RSPB…

WHAT LARKS!

Regular readers will know that I like owls of all kinds. I've written about them several times in these blogs, mostly about their hunting patterns and their symbolism in folklore. They're fascinating, deadly and beautiful, all at the same time, and they're famous (even if the reputation isn't 100% accurate) for being birds of the night.

Personally though I'm much more of a Lark myself. I'm…

THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

I've written before in these weekly blogs about how many people who take pleasure in watching birds do it with the attitude of a collector. That is, they see each bird species as something to be added to their personal collection. Thankfully these days we don't do this by killing birds and keeping their stuffed remains in drawers and glass-fronted cases. We do it by adding them to lists whenever…

PERFECT BALANCE

It's a strange quirk of the human psyche that we tend to go all gooey eyed at the sight of a wild mammal in a way that we would never do over an insect or reptile. You're much more likely to hear the adjective 'cute' applied to a mammal than, say a grass snake or a stag beetle. We're just hardwired that way. We love to see mammals, especially in the wild.

The mammal that you're probably…

UP ABOVE THE STREETS AND HOUSES

Anyone above a certain age (like me) will no doubt be singing along to the title of this week's blog. It's the next line that is the main thrust of this piece - “Rainbow flying high”. If this means nothing to you then you should ask someone from an older generation. Find me at RSPB Old Moor's Welcome Shed and I might even sing it to you. Maybe. It's the theme tune to an old children's TV…

THE TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGING

I hope it doesn't come as a surprise to you when I say that we put the clocks back last weekend. You did remember, didn't you? If not, you missed out on an extra hour's sleep and I suspect you've missed several appointments throughout the week too. Or perhaps you were an hour early for them? I can never work out what the effect of changing them is. I know that we “spring forward and fall…

GHOULISH DELIGHTS

There are supernatural goings on going on at RSPB Old Moor at the moment. Of course there are, look at the calendar. We're close to Halloween and we have our BIG WILD HALLOWEEN trail on the reserve where our younger visitors can solve challenges, hunt monsters and find out about how nature handles the challenges of Autumn. It's all good spooky fun but if you want to know more about the darker side of…

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

By the time you read this there will only be about ten weeks left in the year. Astounding as it may seem, 2022 will be almost over. With it's political and financial upheavals, war in the East and the threat of COVID19 still hanging over us, many people will be glad to see the back of it. For those of us who are compiling a year list of birds seen, however, we're hoping that 2022 will last a little…

BIRDS FROM THE DARK SIDE

As we move towards the darker end of the year it's time to turn our eyes and ears skywards. It's a time of cold, grey skies and bare spindly trees. The cold, damp, gloomy conditions aren't great for many birds – or many birders. Lots of individuals from both groups seem to hunker down and hide for the winter. Sometimes it seems that the only birds in the air are the ones that group together in…

JUST PASSING THROUGH

I know that it's difficult during these times of economic belt-tightening but please bear with me. Imagine for a moment that you're much more affluent than you currently are. In fact, imagine that beyond, affluent; you're rich. Seriously rich. So rich that you can afford not only a magnificent home near to the wonderful Dearne Valley RSPB reserves here in South Yorkshire but an equally magnificent…

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE DUCK

There are few things in the birdwatching world that are as annoying as a gull that isn't in perfect identification condition. Few things, but not none. Birds that fly into a sparse tree and then immediately don a Cloak of Invisibility, that's one. Birdwatchers who spread their equipment all over a hide, thus depriving other birders a chance for a seat and a good view, that's another annoying…

Delphacid planthopper - Flastena fumipennis   James Flanagan

Female Left, Male Right

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

Like many of you, I keep a year list. For those who don't know, this is a list of every bird that I've seen over the calendar year. It's a harmless way of adding a little self-competition to my birdwatching whereby I try to see more birds on this trip around the sun than the last. This is a great incentive to travel to different locations in search of new birds to add to the list. After all, if I only…

BACK TO BED

After last week's somewhat depressing blog ('Save the Whale?' - click the link to read it if you haven't already) it's time to get back to happier things. Thankfully I've got a whole blogful of good news to serve up. Drum roll please....

RSPB Old Moor's Reedbed Path has now finally reopened!

It's been fenced off for the entire summer while some of our star species have been making…

SAVE THE WHALE?

Foreword - This week's blog is potentially contravertial so this is as good a time as any to remind readers that all views in these 'Views From The Shed' are my views and mine alone. They may or may not align with the opinions of my workmates, the Old Moor management team or the RSPB as an organisation. 

And now for our feature presentation...

Back in the 'seventies us prog rockers were listening…

VIEW FROM A TENT

Some of you may have noticed that I've been missing this week from my usual spot at the Old Moor Welcome Shed. Those nice RSPB folks decided that my particular meagre skill-set (that's chatting to people and writing about it) would be better utilised by temporarily representing Old Moor elsewhere, so they sent me on an away day jolly. For just one shift, instead of having a view from a shed, I had a view…

Forward - Spike Mayston 

Juliette is one of two residential volunteers here at RSPB Old Moor. Our residential volunteers give up their valuable time so that they can gain some practical knowledge and experience in managing a nature reserve. Being a residential volunteer is a great way to fill up CVs with professional training qualifications and practical experience so that they can pursue a career in conservation. 

Indeed…

PIPER AT THE GATES OF OLD MOOR

One of the hardest things any birder will ever do is correctly identify Gulls. Many of the different 'sea gull' species look incredibly similar, apart from during the years that they take to grow up and then they look incredibly different. It's a nightmare and big credit goes to anyone who claims to be an expert. Either that or they're great big fibbers. I know it's not a claim I would ever…

BIRD BRAIN

Owls are wise. We're taught that from our earliest picture books. “All the cuddly wuddly forest creatures went to the Wise Old Owl. She would know what to do.” You've probably read something like that to your kids or at least seen it in a Disney movie, right?

Wrong. Owls are stupid, ridiculously so. I've seen owls fly straight into a tree trunk on more than one occasion, they're that dumb…

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SPOONBILL

I'm really pleased that we have what seems to be a comfortably settled SPOONBILL currently here at RSPB Old Moor. I've written at length about these strange white birds and their ilk before on these blogs and I'm delighted that at least one of them has decided to hang around. The Spoonbill is one of the most striking and exotic birds that visit our shores and for many people…

THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK

Come on, admit it. You used the title of this week's blog as an excuse when you were at school, didn't you? Either that or “I left it on the bus, Miss”. These are the two perennial excuses for not doing the required preparatory work before each new school day. They're classics and have passed through the generations. And guess what? Newsflash, kids; the teachers have heard it all before and they…

A READER LIVES A THOUSAND LIVES

As many of you know, I'm a writer by profession. Words are the tools of my trade and I love them in the same way that my cabinet-maker dad used to love the saws and hammers hanging in his workshop. And just as my dad could never pass any wooden furniture without checking the quality of the joints, I can never pass a bookshop without buying something to add to the 600+ books already waiting…