Category Archives: Nature

A Year at the Shore

Posted on May 23, 2015 by admin

In Andrew O’Hagan’s “Our Fathers”, the narrator as a young boy is given a book by his old teacher as a parting gift: “A Year at the Shore”, by Philip Henry Gosse. Intrigued, I found a scan of the book … Continue reading →

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New Storks

Posted on May 17, 2015 by admin

The storks have had a visit from the stork: We counted four, or possibly five little dinosaurs. Mum and Dad did some yoga together at changeover time:

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Great and Small

Posted on May 8, 2015 by admin

As a distraction from the manifold failings of the British Labour party, we went today for a walk along the Slovak-Hungarian border, on the Danube floodplain. This turned out to be much more satisfactory. We saw* buzzards: a marsh harrier … Continue reading →

Posted in Hungary, Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Beautiful Big Bird Barneys

Posted on May 3, 2015 by admin

If there’s one thing more impressive than a bird of prey soaring overhead, it’s two birds of prey having a damn good go at each other. On our recent visit to Britain, the Headington Red Kites put on quite a … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Oxford, Slovakia, Travel | Comments Off

Curtain-twitching

Posted on April 19, 2015 by admin

Saturday was a quiet day, mostly staying in and taking pictures of the neighbours through the window. Fortunately, our neighbours are exhibitionists: According to Wikipedia, kestrels generally raise around four chicks per pair, so this could be a lively … Continue reading →

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Big Birds

Posted on April 12, 2015 by admin

As well as the storks, we’ve come across quite a few big birds in the last few weeks. Herons occupy the same kind of territory as the storks: One of the biggest surprises buzzed overhead while we were admiring the … Continue reading →

Posted in Austria, Nature, Slovakia | Comments Off

Stalking Storks

Posted on April 11, 2015 by admin

One sign of spring in Bratislava is the return of the storks, several pairs of which nest in the suburb round the corner from us, Devínska Nová Ves. Here the Morava river marks the border between Slovakia and Austria, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 2 Comments

In the Nature

Posted on March 7, 2015 by admin

Every Slovak loves spending time in the nature, and the coming of spring means there’s a lot more on show now. A few weeks ago Dúbravka was a winter wonderland: Some animals at least left their marks: Tatran Chamois were … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Petermann Island

Posted on January 2, 2015 by admin

Petermann Island was our southernmost point (65°10′S 64°10′W), and the end of the road. When we landed, we were given the option of going to one side of the island to see “Iceberg Alley” — tempting — or to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Antarctica, Nature, Travel | 1 Comment

Nearing the End

Posted on January 2, 2015 by admin

The last day of our trip was rather nerve-wracking as well as enjoyable: we sailed through the Lemaire Channel towards Petermann Island, but there was a risk that there would be too much ice in the channel for us to … Continue reading →