Never a dull day. I could hear something flapping around in the kids’ room and I thought it was the blinds due to the wind. I was wrong. This poor little Swift (Apus apus) (which has a nest just outside and above the window) had got in and was panicking to get out. I wore […]

For the last few days we’ve had nothing but rain. During early summer we get scorching hot mornings and then massive storms in the afternoons. Today while out checking my trail camera I was surrounded by Fire Salamanders (Salamandra salamandra). These are one of my favourite creatures in the Carpathian Forests. They’re very slow, docile […]

I was very grateful to my friend Martin this evening as, after giving me a lift home in his Porsche 911, he then took my sons out for a spin each in it. It’s an extremely fast car and comfortable when sitting inside it, but getting out of it ain’t exactly easy… Next time I’ll […]

Yesterday evening while doing our usual walk along the disused bush road up in the hills outside the village, we encountered a badger (Meles meles) acting very strangely. For a start, this was the first badger I’ve seen here in 18 years (I regularly catch them on game camera, usually licking it, but never encounter […]

For anyone who’s travelled, cities, regardless of the country they’re in, start to resemble one another. Of course, each has their idiosyncrasies but, on the whole, as globalization spreads they become harder and harder to tell apart. It’s not often that a traveller encounters a city which has a palpable soul. Marrakesh is dusty and […]

This is self-described wandering bard, Jiří Wehle, playing the Ninera – the unique Slovak version of the hurdy-gurdy – at Prague Castle in May 2016. After passing so many other buskers, street musicians and performers, none of whom seemed to fit the ambient (especially skatting jazz ensembles), I was amazed to find someone who not […]

Yesterday we went for a walk just after lunch. Knowing that area well, and the time of day, I wasn’t expecting to see any large animals about as they usually prefer dawn and dusk to break the cover of the treeline. However, as we’ve had three days of constant hard rain, and this was the […]

Probably, out of all my hobbies and interests, cataloguing the creatures which live around my house ranks the highest. As a kid I used to keep a daily diary of what birds and animals I’d seen and often draw one of them. Now I have cameras and trailcams but the principle is still the same. […]

I can’t explain how much I love being able to wander freely out here – through meadows and forests. From my atelier’s French doors I look across a huge field leading up the side of a hill to a forest I love to spend time in. All I have to do is get dressed, grab […]

Today we (my wife, eldest son and myself) went for a very pleasant walk through the forest at the top of the hill behind the house. The journey took several hours and was quite hard going due to the steep climb on an unused forester’s trail, but the forest looked stunning with flowers growing everywhere. […]