Yes, a whole year did pass without a blog post. I may revamp this page a bit in the coming weeks but in the meantime, I hope everyone had a good Christmas and happy new year for next week.
Admittedly, it wasn’t as if 2024 offered nothing to post about. A few bits and pieces:
The Fox in the Poem
A little while ago, poet laureate Simon Armitage was researching his thought-provoking series My Poetry and other Animals and came looking for foxes with me on a dark and rainy Surrey lane. The episode was broadcast on Radio 4 earlier this week. Do have a listen – it’s online here.
The Fox in the Garden
…or foxes, to be precise. Little ones!
Grumpy ones.
And a few seemingly wrapped up in their own world.
The Dormouse on Film
The trouble with trailcams is that, by design, they’re alone in wild places. Sometimes they are stolen by wildlife – which is vaguely amusing – or by people, which isn’t. But sometimes, just sometimes, all the effort is worth it. It’s very rare for dormice to show up on camera because they keep high up in the trees, but this very plump individual is now famous.
And the Celebrity in the Grass
But not as much as this. Far rarer even than a dormouse – the military orchid Orchis militaris is one of the UK’s most localised plants. I was astonished to stumble across one back in the spring.
And another spring is out there, waiting. But first it’s the season when trees poke their bare heads into drizzly mist and nights echo with the barks of courting foxes.
Happy New Year to all.
A Walk with Wildlife 
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