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In former times and perhaps still now, humans have tended to anthropomorphise animals and describe them effectively in our own likeness, even wearing clothes and speaking languages. One only has to think of the animals in Kenneth Grahame’s (1908) Wind in the Willows or Beatrix Potter’s many early 20th C. …

I was again recently thinking about aposematic warning colouration and how we see familiar animals and birds in the countryside and naturally view them through our own eyes, rather than how a wild animal or bird might see them, which of course could well be quite different in terms of …

True, long ago, animals such as the Brown Bear, Ursus arctos, were thought to comprise many races and possibly 90 subspecies, but since no one could be quite sure about the morphological assessments made at the time, more modern biologists have tended to err on the side of caution and …

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been watching Orange Tips flitting up and down the lane near our home on the edge of Exmoor. One thing I noticed is that the males, marked by their distinctive orange-tipped wings, tend to emerge up to a week or more before the females. …

A picture of a mysterious and other-worldly horseshoe crab has earned Laurent Ballesta the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) 2023. Looks unreal. As hammered out of a sheet of metal, a reminder of the strange beauty that nature reveals in both the ocean and our own countryside, …

Scientists have discovered microbes digest plastic at low temperatures, offering exciting eco-friendly solutions. Scientists discovered microbes that digest plastic at low temperatures. This breakthrough offers hope for eco-friendly recycling. The discovery opens new doors. In addition, you can explore our nature-focused work in the Brimstone Project. This discovery of microbes …

Primroses are everywhere now, cheering up the banks of country lanes. You can also read about the first wildflowers we spotted near Dartington—another lovely sign that spring is here.  

In 2022, we launched the Brimstone Project with people from our community around Heasley Mill in North Devon to support Brimstone butterflies in Devon. The aim was to raise awareness and provide essential resources for their survival—starting with the right food plants for caterpillars and nectar plants for adult butterflies. …

Last day of March we spotted a lovely patch of Snake’s Head Fritillary close to Dartington, surely a sign that Spring is not far. Primroses are one of the early signs of spring, just like the first wildflowers we spotted near Dartington      

February 2023: Glad to see hedgelaying around North Molton, North Devon, by local farmers. This is important to improve habitats for wildlife and its conservation, and also looking after the landscape. It is quite a craft when laying it by hand, needs lots of experience. Various societies do offer hedgelaying …

Visiting Jim Starr’s exhibition Only when Jim Starr had an exhibition of his work at the Village Hall of Heasley Mill did we learn that he is also passionate about birds and the environment. You can see his work following this link. Jim Starr lives and works on Exmoor in …