It looks like Spring has finally arrived and the many colours of blossom on the trees are in stark contrast to this year’s miserable grey Winter. It’s funny how the mind changes and one develops a different perspective when the weather changes and nature comes to life again. The forest beckons and I want to […]

Sometimes I get footage on my trailcam that I just can’t easily identify. On this occasion, I can definitely say it’s an eye – but to which creature does it belong? Due to its location it won’t be anything domesticated, and it’s definitely a predator of some description. The game camera was fastened to a […]

This weekend we stayed at the house because of the beautiful weather. It was amazing to finally see blue skies, greenery, different coloured blossoms and an abundance of wildlife (plus listen to all the birdsong). It gave me chance to spend sometime in the forest where I can let my thoughts go and just absorb […]

    I’ve always had problems trying to film Pine and Beech Martens because they can detect the Infrared from the trailcam. This young one was just plain curious and decided to check out the strange contraption. It’s a Beech (or Stone) Marten, an almost identical cousin of the Pine Marten. They’re all called kuna […]

The druids used to leave messages to one another in a complicated leaf language using real leaves. As this language was never written down, modern man has no idea what it was. Also, passersby who were unversed in this leaf script would just see a pile of leaves rather than what they stood for. It […]

After we’d returned to the house from the picnic, I set off back up the hill to the forest to place my trailcam where the wild boar seemed to be passing most frequently. There were a couple of spinal columns in the pasture, presumably from young roe deer, which signified either wolf or lynx activity. […]

Easter out here is way too religious for my liking – too much fasting and praying and not enough chocolate eggs. Easter Monday is quite mad though, especially now my daughter is getting older. Gangs of young boys go from door to door with buckets of river water and brandishing woven hazel whips. Their aim […]

I was lucky enough to have grown up in a family which attempted (for a few years) to live the ‘Good Life’ – to live self sufficiently whilst still being part of modern society. I was lucky enough to have gone through Cubs and Scouts, CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and to […]

  This is the first post on my all-new blog. I need something to lay the foundations for where the blog will go and where my mind is at. After much deliberation, this phrase does the job. I personally also like the word “Thrival”.

I knew there were Eurasian Lynx up in the heavily forested hills surrounding the village but I didn’t expect to find such an immense one wandering around a few hundred metres behind my house. I filmed it in the little wooded gully where I captured badger, pine marten, red squirrel, boar and red deer on […]