David Beeson, with thanks to Julian Vincent’s article in Professional Engineering magazine (Issue 6, 2022). http://www.imeche.org We have all three British woodpeckers living here. The green woodpecker patrols the lawn seeking out ants, the great spotted woodpecker hammers our trees after woodboring beetle larvae, while the lesser spotted woodpecker attacks the finer decaying branches ofContinue reading “Woodpeckers and their hammer”
Category Archives: Birds
Our Wildlife Garden in late September
David Beeson We set out to make our 1.25-acre garden wildlife friendly. It was one of the first in the UK to ‘hit the media’ – and that was 30 years ago, and it is 20 years since being on the BBC, The Garden magazine and other major outlets. We feel we were part ofContinue reading “Our Wildlife Garden in late September”
The Queen’s Estate and Wildlife Crime
Some wildlife in South Wales
David Beeson June 2022 Annette and I embarked on a two-week exploration of the coastline at the start of June. Our first stop was just west of Newport at the Tredegar House caravan site. This allowed easy access to The Newport Wetlands which are partly managed by the RSPB and dominated by present and pastContinue reading “Some wildlife in South Wales”
How well do you know your birds? A Bird Anatomy and Physiology Quiz, 1.
David Beeson, June 2022 ANSWERS WILL BE IN A SEPARATE POST … so, you cannot cheat here! QUESTION ONE Name the three types of feathers on a typical bird, such as a sparrow. QUESTION TWO In mammals, skin hair cells have muscles attached to change their orientations. For example, when they are cold. Does thisContinue reading “How well do you know your birds? A Bird Anatomy and Physiology Quiz, 1.”
Bird Quiz, the Answers
David Beeson, June 2022 ONE There are three basic feather types: 1) The PRIMARY FEATHERS which provide the left in flying, 2) CONTOUR FEATHERS that often have a more downy lower part and 3) DOWN FEATHERS that are for controlling body temperature – the bird’s underwear! Down feathers can be plucked in birds such asContinue reading “Bird Quiz, the Answers”
The Physiology of Birds, 1. (How birds work)
Remember: you can access any of over 150 articles from ARTICLES above, Free knowledge. David Beeson, May 2022 While nearly everyone you meet on a nature exploration can identify most of the birds they encounter, few know much about how they work. This article is an introduction to some aspects of their physiology. For thoseContinue reading “The Physiology of Birds, 1. (How birds work)”
Stock dove courtship
David Beeson, April 2022 Wood pigeons are common here, with our resident pairs that court and mate on our garage roof and nest in our trees and thick hedges. Those birds are joined, overwinter, by flocks of perhaps sixty migratory wood pigeons that roost in our walnuts and graze the meadows. The two types ignoreContinue reading “Stock dove courtship”
Conservation? What conservation? Britain is a land of shooting – pheasants in the south and grouse in the north.
Article stolen from the Guardian newspaper. Britain’s national parks dominated by driven grouse moors, says study Exclusive: Area twice the size of London devoted to grouse shooting in UK’s parks, threatening efforts to tackle climate crisis Patrick Barkham@patrick_barkhamThu 5 Aug 2021 06.01 BST National parks supposedly at the heart of efforts to tackle the climateContinue reading “Conservation? What conservation? Britain is a land of shooting – pheasants in the south and grouse in the north.”
Wildlife and Ecology, the Wildlife Encyclopaedia 