We met on a dry June morning, just after the sun tried to find colour in the parched grass. I had had no breakfast. She was listening for hers. And she pounced – the exquisite fox pounce: lig…| A Walk with Wildlife
They glow with such life, you’d think the mountain itself would be tickled by their dances in the breeze. Of all Europe’s habitats, Alpine meadows hold the gold star for celebrity statu…| A Walk with Wildlife
Born on the mountain, running from the mountain, beckoned eastwards by the warming rays of dawn. The Rosanna is a thread of night-cold water – one of many that tumble from the Tyrolean Alps a…| A Walk with Wildlife
High above the River Thames they gather: a family that has known disaster and adoration, now with grandchildren who must navigate a changing world. Orchids are not like other plants. Their miniscul…| A Walk with Wildlife
Thin blue glass. They have been relentlessly blue, and the ground is like bleached iron after our driest spring for decades. If nature was the product of a single instant, Surrey would be a desert. But winter bequeathed spring a high water table. From that, or perhaps just dousing from morning dew, the fields remain […]| A Walk with Wildlife
Small grey paws on a hot shadowed road. That was over a decade ago now – meetings with the grey fox Urocyon cinereoargenteus, the cousin-that-isn’t to the red fox of the north. I spent summer 2014 in the hot, hot, remote and horsefly-haunted Mexico / Guatemala border region, tracking jaguars and tapir through a jungle […]| A Walk with Wildlife
It takes centuries to grow an ancient woodland. A springtime to grow blossom. Eight minutes for sunlight to reach Earth. Eight years for a white helleborine to turn from a seed into a wildflower. And a lifetime – more than a lifetime – to learn the wild things that knew this island long before humanity […]| A Walk with Wildlife
How finely can nature be sliced? Imagine a thousand species in your lounge – it would be mayhem unless they keep a polite distance through occupying different chairs. In the wild, divisions a…| A Walk with Wildlife
My early grey wolf sightings were through glass. Wolves tease us that we know them. The wagging tail, the emotive greetings, the games with sticks – all so familar, thanks to their highly successful domestic descendant. But there is a restless edge, an aloof defiance. Wolves mesmorise, terrify and charm. They can be appallingly difficult […]| A Walk with Wildlife
1. When a stranger is in sight, sit down. My original blog was called ‘The Sitting Fox’ – for a good reason. They spend a remarkable amount of time on their haunches, sometimes wi…| A Walk with Wildlife
