WonderfulWildlifeUK

I have been following Emma Mitchell on Twitter for a while. Her wonderful representations of the natural world were the pull for me … I have a fascination with all natural forms. Her website is well worth a visit, especially if you like what I am about to write about! Click on the image below: Emma describes herself as a ‘designer-maker, naturalist, illustrator, mum and author.’ and ‘an ardent fan of cake, yarn and hedgerows.’ Sounded like a perfect combination! When I saw Emma release dates for another workshop last year, I thought I would treat myself! I knew it was ‘right up my street’ and I wanted to get back into creative stuff in 2020 as my artistic streak needs outlets and I have done very little in the way of art for so long. February 29th seemed a very long way away, but suddenly, an email from Emma reminded me that it was just a few weeks away! So, today, I drove all the way to Cambridgeshire… an early start and a long drive but SO worth it! I have spent, what feels l...

Logging onto the Birdsy camera I set up at Septimo Paraiso, in Eciador, I could see the hummingbird feeder hd been knocked over. Looking through the clips, I soon saw the culrit… a stunning male Tayra.  Visiting the platform at about 7.30am, her proceeded to feast on the banana, giving me excellent views of him. I was most fascinated by his huge feet and pads. These pads seem to extend up his ‘ankles’; further than normal pads. I presume this is to aid climbing as this mammals spends a lot of times in the trees. The feet are huge, with large claws aswell, for climbing, ripping  and digging. I took a few screen captures to take a closer look at this fantastic mustelid.. I’m really pleased with the clip the Birdsy camera has captured. We haven’t had any mammals on the platform for a while… I check this camera every day, along with about 6 others that I have installed… it’s becoming a bit of an obsession… along with all the other cameras I have! Worth it when you capture ...

I have not been to Yew View for a few weeks, with my trip to Aigas and then issues with flooding on the surrounding roads last week. I headed to site today and the drive towards Worcester, from the M5, was shocking. The whole area was under water. I have seen it flooded before… but not this bad. This year’s flooding on the Severn has been exceptional and this was confirmed when I arrived on site and walked out onto the patio.. The river would normally be beyond the trees and hedgerow in the background. For the first time ever, the wildlife pond has been breached.. It is just incredible how much water there must be to raise the river this kind of height for the distance it has. It is difficult to comprehend what impact this has on wildlife. The swans seemed to approve though! It was time to look through the camera footage… there was not a lot I could achieve on site… unless I had a canoe! The badgers have not been in the sett much this winter. It has actually remained dry ...