This evening I’m a happy man as I finally managed to photograph the annoyingly elusive black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius). These birds, along with the golden oriole I photographed earlier this year, have been tauting me for decades. Similarly, neither species of bird seems to sit still long enough  to be photographed. They’re crap photos I […]

  Yesterday a very special package arrived for my eldest son, Brano. This was the culmination of months and months of research, deliberation and changes of mind. As a graduation present for finishing grammar school with excellent results, and for passing his entrance exams and being accepted into medical school, Brano asked for a sword […]

Last Saturday, 28th of April, my motorcycle club – Tilters Svidnik – headed out to Andy Warhol’s hometown, Medzilaborce, to join hundreds of other riders for the annual blessing at the start of the riding season. Close to the Ukraine border in the small Slovak village of Krasny Brod, bikers and motorcyclists from all over […]

Yesterday was the first day without rain over the Easter period so I took the opportunity to go out for a ride on Scarlet, my BMW F650GS. I didn’t go too far as I’m still running the engine in after a long cold winter. I went to the Valley of Death, scene of the biggest […]

Yesterday was a very, very, very long day but pretty damned cool. I travelled in a minibus across the entire breadth of Slovakia with several other members of Tilters Motorcycle Club to attend the Motocykel & Boat Show 2018 at Incheba EXPO Bratislava. We left at 0630 on the Saturday morning and got back at […]

Spring is on the horizon so today we went to the house to check the water situation. We switched off the mains supply over a month ago, before the temperature plummeted to minus 20, and we left the taps open. Unfortunately, the tap in the bath was dripping, although we have no idea why. Fast […]

This evening my wife and I went to the beautiful UNESCO town of Bardejov in North Eastern Slovakia to meet a friend for coffee and observe the anti-government protest taking place in the medieval town square. This protest is just one of many being held simultaneously in towns and cities across the country in the […]

Now this is a band with music close to my heart. The Wanton Bishops. What really blows my mind is that they’ve captured the late 60s, early 70s blues-rock vibe and voice yet they’re from Beirut, Lebanon. They’re lead by Nader Mansour. They also do an excellent cover of one of my favourite pieces of […]

Today I went to check on the house and got to drive through some pretty thick snow. Vlochka, my Discovery, really has her use sometimes. On the way home I spotted a Ural owl just sitting on a branch about twenty feet from the road. For once, the sky was vaguely blue and the bright […]

This issue features one of my true horror stories from the forest – White Out – plus my photo of wolf tracks in the snow is on the cover. Order yourself a copy or sign up for a subscription here – The Bushcraft Magazine. Bushcraft Magazine is suited for both beginners and experts and covers […]