Dotsey Villa (our ‘umble abode) has no front lawn — unless you count the five-foot-wide strip along the roadside at ground level, which is hacked/mown approximately once a month by a crack team of council hitmen. Technically, though, this stretch of urban greenery belongs (if it belongs to anybody) to the downstairs tenants, and they’re [...]

Magpies are one of our favourite birds: they’re cheeky, easy to recognize — and big enough so you don’t need binoculars to see ‘em. This one turned up just before dusk, around 4pm this afternoon. Presumably, it would usually prefer to spend the night in a tree, but we think it could have needed to [...]

For weeks (actually, make that months) we have heard hardly a hoot, despite always having the bedroom windows open even in the chilliest of weather; yep, we sure are a pair of hardy souls, aren’t we? But this past week the local tawny owls have been determined to wake Shana up in the middle of [...]

Lots — and I mean lots — of butterflies around recently, especially on the buddleia plants in the park across the road. When there are as many butterflies as this, you notice how they seem almost to fly in formation. Not quite the Red Arrows, though. Mostly the Cabbage Whites actually, although we did see [...]