What an incredible nickname this bird has, it’s real name is a Red Backed Shrike. They are a carnivorous passerine bird, and a member of the Laniidae family. There are more than 30 species of Shrike found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
There a few places in the UK where you can experience the sights and sounds of nature any better than the North Norfolk coast during the Spring tides that start in earnest from this month onward.
OneKind is a growing movement of people committed to protecting Scotland’s animals. Staffed by a team of six, along with dozens of fantastic volunteers, they work tirelessly to expose and end cruelty.
In August’s 2020 issue of Bird Watching magazine there is a sixteen page pull on why birding can change your life. I’m pleased to have contributed to this and hope it helps to inspire people to get out, into nature for their physical health but just as important their mental health.
My love of the Dipper started as a small boy, I’d catch two buses from my home with my bag packed with cold toast and a flask to get to Lathkill Dale, in the Peak District. Once I got there I’d sit and watch these incredible birds play out their lives before me.
It often takes something to have happened to us before we have a different mindset or want to change. As we start to ease the restraints of lockdown that we have been part of now for several months. Many people have become more aware of the normal things around us that most have never noticed, let alone stopped to enjoy.
Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers are two of my favourite summer visitors to our shores. When these birds arrive I know our summer is just round the corner. They travel all the way from North Africa to raise their family in a beautiful part of the Peak District, before heading back to Africa.
The New Big 5 project is an international initiative to create a New Big 5 of Wildlife Photography, rather than hunting. Shooting with a camera, not a gun. It’s a message backed by more than 100 world-leading photographers and conservationists including Dr Jane Goodall.
