earlybirder

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

UK24....Where art meets geography in our globalised world.......

Thursday, 13 November 2014

What the landing on the Rosetta comet has really revealed to scientists........

Something we knew 40 years ago....clangers exist!!!Saw some pictures of the Rosetta Comet beamed back 6.4 billion km and it really did remind me of the set from the clangers........

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Leeds 3-1 Blackpool - SkyBet Championship Season 2014-15

Saturday, 8 November 2014

There is something about the poppy. They are at the same time so flimsy and yet robust. Their fine, papery petals are vulnerable to the slightest breeze but have a vibrancy and depth of colour that is hard to match. They thrive through disruption, lying dormant for many years until disturbed and then they appear in numbers that are hard to comprehend. The tougher the conditions....dry, stone-laden soils.... the better they seem to like it. They prosper in adversity. And amidst their profusion, each one remains unique., something I have tried to capture in the close-up portraits of wild poppies that appeared, spontaneously, in the wildest corner of my garden last summer.

What flower could be a better-deserving symbol of respect and hope..

Friday, 7 November 2014

The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

Thursday, 6 November 2014

Unnatural History Museum.......

Look at the sky, listen to the birds and smell the flowers....

Why the 'Earlybirder'? As a boy I slept in a room overlooking gardens and an old orchard. I preferred to sleep with the curtains open and as it became light in the morning I would get up and, armed with a heavy old pair of binoculars and an even heavier and older bicycle, head out to explore the Welsh Harp, Ruislip Lido or Cassiobury Park.

I like the exclusivity of early mornings. It's the best part of the day...the air is often still and fresh and the birdsong is not masked by the hum of lawnmowers or background hiss of traffic. The sun of a new day sheds a uniquely bright light which gives everything, from flowers to feathers, a lustre which fades in the less-forgiving light later in the day. The world belongs to you and you feel so alive. While others sleep the rest of the world awakes. To witness a sunrise, focus on the incredible richness of a nightingale's song or watch a newly-hatched mandarin chick dry in the warmth of a pool of morning sun is to experience life at its purest. Bed can wait...