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BOOK REVIEW Local: a search for nearby nature and wildness by Alastair Humphreys

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BOOK REVIEW Local: a search for nearby nature and wildness by Alastair Humphreys (2024) Eye Books. pp. 366, £12.99 paperback.

A confession. When I review a book, I don’t always read every word! I open it, feel it, look at the cover, read the intro and selected excerpts about things I am familiar with and things not so familiar, and make my assessment accordingly. Not so this time. I was immediately intrigued by the rationale behind it (finding joy and adventure on one’s metaphorical doorstep), and once I started reading I soon realised I was hooked.

Alastair Humphreys (again a confession, his name was previously unknown to me) has made a career of adventuring, but rather than raping the world in his quest for experiences, has focussed primarily on exploring on foot, cycle or boat, and then sharing his insights through writing, speaking and social media. For him it was a natural progression following the enforced restrictions of Covid19 and increasingly the screams of a beleaguered planet.

Each (short) chapter describes a day exploring a randomly selected 1km square from the OS map that encompasses his home. He doesn’t say where it is, although I have my own inklings, and anyway it doesn’t matter as similar things could be written about any map of the lowlands. The sense of place forms an evocative matrix for the book, underlain by the layers of history, from ancient tracks to 21st Century ‘Keep Out’ signs and fly-tipped detritus, but each square has its triggers for philosophical digressions into some of the huge issues of our time as well as points of overlooked interest that anyone can, and should, find around their daily lives. Sometimes these are gently woven in, like the thoughts on the true place of the oldest parts of many a natural landscape, the ancient Yews that adorn but pre-date a churchyard. Others are more strident and polemic, but fit precisely with my own world view, albeit offering me new perspectives and facts on the way.

Criticisms? Very few – and only issues of personal preference. I don’t get along with footnotes, of which in some parts of the book there are many. Yes, they are useful for detail, but I do find myself losing the narrative as my eyes scan for the asterisks. I prefer boxed text. And while the whole book is commendably low-footprint given its message, this doesn’t lend itself well to photographs: some of those included here are a bit of a black-and-white mush. It would be a shame if for some the message from the book was interpreted as ‘local every-day adventures are the sign of a spartan existence’.

While born of the Covid era, this is much more than one of those books of that new genre of pandemic publications (‘it was always in me, but only then did I have the time to write it’), although of course the break from ‘normality’ helped trigger the author’s behavioural change. I wholeheartedly recommend the book: it’s one I wish I had written myself. Anything that establishes the view that exploration is an attitude, not an activity, has to be a good thing. Regrettably, for all sorts of reasons – political, environmental, medical – the physical bounds of our children will be smaller than ours. It is up to us to show that by rewilding the mind and finding adventure in the commonplace, a life constrained by necessity is  still a life worth living.

#WildEssex New Year Plant Hunt 2024

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Each year, the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland organises a New Year plant hunt, encouraging botanists and other interested folk out of their midwinter slumber to see what plants are flowering. As has become tradition, we contributed to the national picture by arranging a walk around Wivenhoe Waterfront on New Year’s Day. And we would like to thank the keen, sharp-eyed group who helped us spot things! All data collected in this citizen science project have been fed into the national record of what is flowering at this time: for more information see New Year Plant Hunt – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (bsbi.org). It is good to be part of a bigger project to aid learning about how British and Irish wildflowers are responding to climate change. 

On our recce a few days ago it soon became apparent that there were more species flowering than last year when December frosts curtailed the show. The ‘usual suspects’ included Gorse, Hazel, White Dead-nettle, Groundsel, Annual Mercury, Shepherd’s-purse and Common Chickweed, with Daisy and Dandelion lighting up many a patch of grass.

Some of the older walls and brickwork had patches of Mexican Fleabane, Trailing Bellflower and Ivy-leaved Toadflax, while other showy plants included Green Alkanet and Herb-Robert, and more surprisingly both Cow Parsley and Wild Carrot.

Along the waterfront itself, in the cracks of the block paving, Four-leaved Allseed is more abundant than it has ever been since its arrival here some five years ago. Careful searching was needed to find evidence of actual flowers  – they are rather subtle even at the best of times! Similarly, Guernsey Fleabane and Pellitory-of-the-wall only got added to our flowering list after close scrutiny.

Finally on the salt-marshes, Common Cord-grass dangled its naughty bits wantonly to the wind, but the best botanical find of the day we couldn’t count: a single non-flowering sprig of Shrubby Sea-blite, a good couple of kilometres further up the estuary than we have ever found before.

All in all, 34 species in flower (for a full list, see here NYD plant hunt 2024) in the wild was a good haul, certainly well above the 23 in 2023 and almost up to our highest-ever count of 35 in 2022, although ‘good’ is a bit of a loaded term – many of these plants should not be flowering now, and are doing so only because of the harm we have inflicted upon our climate…

Naturally, although a botanical trip, we didn’t overlook other wildlife. The song of Robins was a feast for the ears, a party of Long-tailed Tits trilled around a garden, a Red Kite drifted low and slow overhead,  the fruiting bodies of Cord-grass Ergot were erupting from their host-plant, and we were pleased to find several 7-spot Ladybirds and Rosemary Beetles, those mobile jewels, on a Rosemary bush, mostly paired and in the process of making more beetles. All a very hopeful sign for a wildlife-filled 2024!

 

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: 2024 here we come!

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

What a way to round off another year filled with the pleasure and privilege of working at the Beth Chatto Gardens! Today may have been unremittingly dull and, after three hour-long walks, pretty chilly – but at least the air was still and the drizzle largely held off.

Around fifty Friends of the garden joined for one or other of the exclusive walks and, while there was little actual wildlife to see, that left all the more time to talk about things we do in the garden to encourage its use by wildlife and to try and encourage similar things in their own gardens. Spreading the Word about Rewilding the Mind!

There were of course a few birds around, with Mallards and Moorhens on the lakes, Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Siskins in the trees, and Redwings flying over. But most activity was heard rather than seen: roving bands of tits, including a party of Long-tailed Tits; Robins singing everywhere; the shrill piping of a Kingfisher all added to the winterscape. And in a promise of the spring to come, a lone Mistle Thrush delivering is languid, fluty warble – pure joy dripping from the treetops.

The fires of autumn have been tamed, toned down into subdued earthy pastels, as the garden reclines into its midwinter slumber:

The only real shards of vibrant colour come from the berries of Holly and Stinking Iris…

… although berries come in muted and sombre shades as well, those of Sorbus being especially numerous, probably because the birds simply don’t recognise pale pink as ‘ripe’.

As befits the home of Ecological and Sustainable Gardening other welcome features are the seed-heads and grassy tussocks, welcome to seed-feeding finches and overwintering natural predators like ladybirds and lacewings respectively.

Otherwise, it was a scatter of winter-flowing shrubs like Mahonia, so crucial to our bees and other pollinators in midwinter, especially at these times of climate breakdown when many are barely going into hibernation at all: if everyone could do only one thing in their gardens to increase the resilience of our landscape to climate change, planting winter shrubs would be high up there in the order of priority.

And so the year draws to a close. But already the signs of renewal are appearing, new shoots emerging, a sign that light and life will soon be returning. If you want to see the garden in its muted winter glory, then hurry – the last opening is this coming Saturday. But never fear, by the scheduled reopening on January 18th 2024 we should be seeing the first signs of spring, and our wildlife will be following suit. Do come and enjoy it – better still, become a Friend and come and see it any time the garden is open!

The Wild Side of Essex with Naturetrek: late autumn at the Naze

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex

The day dawned still and with a glimmer of hope in the eastern skies, although actually for most of the time it remained stubbornly grey and for a while a keen cool breeze sprang up, making us thankful for additional layers! But generally it was mild for the time of the year, and even warm enough for the newly blooming gorse to be giving out its alluring coconut scent.

A few more plants still in flower, and attracting the interest of flies at least, included Yarrow, Sea Mayweed, Hemlock and our local rarity, Hog’s Fennel.

Otherwise it was left to the lichens to add colour and form to the barkscapes and rewilding concrete tracks….

….along with Field Maple in autumn colour and Birch tops adorned with the knots of Taphrina fungal witches’-brooms.

Small birds were relatively few and far between , just a few Long-tailed Tits, Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches, with singing Robins, migrating Skylarks and Starlings, and a remarkable number – at least ten – Cetti’s Warblers, of course heard not seen. But then evidence that there were more birds around than at first apparent: we chanced upon the two local ringers, Simon and Pat Cox, who were happy gives us an impromptu demonstration with a Robin and a Wren, and regale us with tales of their riches from earlier in the day.

Down at the shore, there were plenty of waders, including Grey Plovers and Curlews, and everywhere, in the air, grazing on the clay and upending in the lagoons, burbling bands of Brent Geese.

The salt marshes have largely descended into their winter brown, save for a few Golden-samphires still lighting up the scene, and exciting the nostrils with their shoe-polish aroma.  Also on the marshes, we spotted several spreading plants of the very scarce Perennial Glasswort, and stands of Cord-grass, their flower-heads almost wholly infested with the fruiting bodies of Cord-grass Ergot. Seemingly increasing every year, will this parasite prove to be the nemesis of its rather aggressively spreading host?

A stroll back along the beach then gave plenty of opportunity for beachcombing, from Piddocks and their borings, Slipper-limpets and Portuguese Oyster shells among many other New Kids on the Block, intermixed with Dog-cockles and Left-handed Whelks from the 3 million year-old Red Crag, and pyritized wood and copperas nodules from the 50 million year-old London Clay.

As the light started to fade, after a recent spate of erosion, the cliffs from below revealed vivid tales of our cataclysmic past: inundation by sea water and passage of a prehistoric Thames; upheaval of the land from continents colliding, buckling and faulting; ash-clouds from Scottish volcanoes; and dust-clouds from the icy plains of glacial East Anglia.

And finally, a sunset, by some trick of the cloudscape in exactly the same place on the horizon as the sunrise eight hours’ previously. A fine end to another great day out with Naturetrek.

#WildEssexWalks – beside the seaside at the Naze

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Our last WildEssex walk of 2023 was a most enjoyable event. Against a backdrop of variable cloudscapes, a few spots of rain and some warm sunshine, our group of enthusiastic ladies were treated to birds, trees, lichens and mosses, fungi, rare plants plus fossils, shells and dramatic cliffs along the beach, in fact all kinds of everything!

Autumn colours abounded – red fruits, lichens giving some of the established trees atop the cliffs an eerie green or yellow glow, and the fresh green patches of moss on concrete hardstandings, a reminder of the chequered 20th century history of the site.

As befits this damp season, fungi were to be found everywhere, including Mosaic Puffballs in the grass, Birch Bracket gently killing and rotting its host Silver Birch tree, plus several species of mini – and most charming – fungi on tree branches.

Gorse of course was in flower, as more surprisingly was Sea Hog’s-fennel, along with a beautiful pink form of Yarrow.

When the sun shone a few invertebrates presented themselves, including this harvestman and Marmalade Hoverfly.

Our afternoon session was down on the beach, enjoying that whatever-age-you-are-it’s-fun activity of beachcombing.  Pyritized wood and fossilised shells were everywhere, the rusty hue of the latter indicative of many their millions of years stuck in the sandy cliff.

Erosion is a continual event along the cliffs, and there had been several recent landslides leaving dramatic profiles against the by-now-blue sky.

Being a Beside the Sea day, we were also on the lookout for birdlife.  One of the magical moments was the discovery of a Kestrel having an early lunch of a smaller feathered friend, using one of the ex-wartime gun batteries as a dining table. He was completely unfazed as we stood by watching and taking photos.

Along the shore were the usual suspects of Brent Geese, Grey Plovers,  Bar-tailed Godwits and various gulls, all going about their daily business of eating and shooing each other out of the way.

We are very fortunate to have this wonderful area on our doorstep –  a veritable time-machine enabling us to witness life over the past fifty million years!

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: a perfect autumn day…

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

In the depths of autumn, there are few places better to be than in somewhere like Beth Chatto Gardens, with the russets and gold of the season set off beautifully against a clear blue sky. Earlier this week, the air was chilled in the shade, but the sun still powerful enough to shed a layer or two and to stir the insect life into action:

Flowers are diminishing, but there are still enough to provide the insects with their basic needs before hibernation (or worse) beckons:

And the blooms seem extra-special when the leaves are also sprinkled with stardust:

As the flowers have faded so fruits and seeds take centre-stage…

… along with the foliage, its beauty magnified by the subtle low winter sunlight picking out textures that are unimaginable in the fierce light of summer.

And of course, especially dramatic when the greens are tinged with autumnal flame…

Beauty at every turn, and hope: the transition of the seasons bring promise of renewal and return next year.

This fleeting season can so easily be swept away by storm or frost, so do visit and enjoy it if you can. The gardens are open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until the midwinter closure on December 16th Entrance – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens. Rewild your mind!

#WildEssexWalks – at the head of the Stour Estuary

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, Travel by Rail, WildEssex

Oh no!  Shock horror! That was our first reaction when we climbed the steps to the top of the sea wall at Manningtree today.  Instead of an expanse of mud with myriads of feeding waders we were greeted with an almost high tide!  Either tide tables aren’t what they used to be, or (more likely) it was an early and exceptionally high tide, as it so often is around the time of the Hunter’s Moon.

However, we need not have worried: we still managed a lot of ‘birding’ – watching them fly in on to the strips of salt-marsh on the estuary, to feed, preen, get frisky and all the things birds get up to, and as the tide came in further and covered everything, fly off again.

Cormorants hung their wings out to dry in their customary fashion, and Little Egrets struck their poses in elegant style, occasionally flying over showing their black legs and yellow feet to good effect.  Several species of gull put in an appearance – Great and Lesser Black-backed, plus Herring, Black-headed and  a single Common Gull.

Large flocks of Redshanks and Avocets entertained us with their fly-pasts, and hunkered down on the marsh and open water respectively. Lapwings flapped by and a few Brent Geese were seen too, along with larger numbers of Teals, Wigeons and a few Mallards.

Black-tailed Godwits put in a show just as the tide was at its highest, calling to each other in their inimitable ‘Wit Wit’ way, but the biggest surprise was a group of ten Greenshanks, usually much more solitary than this.

All this against a backdrop of Moorhens in the ditch to the rear of the seawall, singing Wrens and a shouting Cetti’s Warbler in the scrub, and a lovely Red Kite circling leisurely overhead.

Of course, us being us, we also looked at any other wildlife we could find – plants including the bright yellow Tansy, a favourite with visiting insects and the beautiful Teasels, some containing a ladybird or two, perhaps already thinking of hibernating for the winter.

Common Reeds were starting to assume their autumn colours and Dog-roses were absolutely laden with luscious hips, presumably testament to our damp midsummer.

A Red Admiral flew overhead, a Harlequin Ladybird basked in a brief flurry of sunlight and on our way back down the steps we narrowly avoided standing on the largest of the chrysomelid beetles, Chrysolina bankii.

Having rescued the beetle, some of us retired to the local pub for a pint and bag of crisps and chat. All in all a very pleasant WildEssex event, in spite of the often rather dull and overcast (though thankfully dry) conditions – thanks all!

#WildEssexWalks – an autumn stroll along the Colne Estuary

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

The sun was shining brightly, the skies were blue. But the season had noticeably changed. A spiky northerly wind dropped the temperature by maybe 8 degrees Centigrade in just a couple of days , and we were straight into the depths of autumn. It felt like autumn, and it smelt like autumn especially in Grange wood, the humusy moistness laced with a distinct fungal musk. While all we could see were Birch Bracket, Fly Agaric and Penny Bun, nature’s recycling army is now advancing steadily.

And galls are now more in evidence than at any other time of year:

Down at the estuary, at was the highest of tides, the water barely moving during our two hours, so waders were few and far between, save for a scattering of Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits, with a sixty-strong knot of Avocets hunkered down on the Fingringhoe mudflats. Looking inland, a few Meadow Pipits dashed around the grazing marsh as the ever-reliable Little Egrets stalked the borrowdyke and ditches.

There were still a few flowers, from Strawberry Clover on the sea wall to Cord-grass wantonly hanging its naughty bits to the wind…

… while the clocks of Sea Aster lit up with every ray of an ever-lowering sun.

But on the saltmarshes, the signals of the season are more in the form of colour changes, from greens to a kaleidoscope of yellows, russets and purples. The different species of Marsh Samphire each show their own characteristic autumn tint…

…while the sole species of Annual Sea-blite turns to every colour on the rainbow spectrum.

And even Shrubby Seablite, for so much of the year a stolid, matt-green presence on the sea walls, is touched with shining salmon highlights:

The fires of autumn are stealing across our landscape, and with early frosts in the forecast, those flames will surely be fanned. The next few weeks are full of promise, so enjoy them while you can! Thanks to all who joined us; our next couple of walks are detailed here.

 

 

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 5 – Landscapes of the island

Overseas Tours - Menorca

Whether landscapes or seascapes, details or innerscapes, Menorca is filled with delights at every turn. Click on any image to see it at full scale and lose yourself in a Menorcan autumn!

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 1 – Introduction

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 2 – Flowers and fruits

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 3 – Insects and spiders

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 4 – Birds and other vertebrates

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 5 – Landscapes of the island

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 4 – Birds and other vertebrates

Overseas Tours - Menorca

Autumn is a time of turnover in the bird world. But only if the weather conditions encourage it: settled conditions and stable weather masses are not the conditions in which to expect the wonders of migration to become apparent. So it was this year in Menorca, with barely a songbird migrant to be seen, aside from a few Robins, Blackbirds and Blackcaps.

And even for the island residents like Hoopoes and Sardinian Warblers, the seriously exceptional mid-October temperatures ensured they were keeping deep in shade for much of the day.

Water birds were more apparent, but even then often in smaller-than-expected numbers. The main exception to this were the flocks of Cattle Egrets, up to 80-strong at Tirant, seemingly increasing every time I visit the island, and more than 40 Greater Flamingos on Addaia Lagoons, with a number of barely-fledged grey youngsters which surely means they are now breeding here?

It was also good to see Kingfishers well in a couple of spots, but perhaps because of the weather and the number of bodies on the beaches, Audouin’s Gulls were harder to come by than in previous years.

Which just leaves the raptors, and it it is good to report that the Big Three, Red Kites, Booted Eagles and Egyptian Vultures seems to be in the same places and numbers as during our last autumn trip seven years ago.

It is also gratifying to report that Hermann’s Tortoises were as abundant and widely distributed as ever, along with Italian Wall Lizards (everywhere), Turkish Geckos (in Matchani Gran) and Moorish Geckos (free-range, especially in archaeological sites).

 

And finally, at breakfast on our final day, a Balearic Green Toad put on a lumbering show, so round off the holiday nicely!

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 1 – Introduction

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 2 – Flowers and fruits

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 3 – Insects and spiders

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 4 – Birds and other vertebrates

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 5 – Landscapes of the island

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 3 – Insects and spiders

Overseas Tours - Menorca

The weather during our week was so sunny and settled that it was insects arguably that formed the larger part of our wildlife-watching. Fortunately we had several pairs of very sharp eyes on hand to find them for the rest of the group! What follows is a barely annotated selection : the tour report when it appears will have a much more complete listing of names and locations.

Starting with some of the butterflies, Cleopatras in particular were more numerous than I have ever seen before:

Special mention must however be made of the Two-tailed Pashas. Sa Roca is an ideal site for them, with masses of their larval foodplant Strawberry-tree, but never have our searches here been so productive:

Many a leaf was adorned with an egg, those with a ring around the apex being closer to hatching …

… along with a couple of medium-sized, dragon-headed caterpillars…

… and eventually one, probably two, adults, one of which surveyed the admiring throng from the roadside fringe of Aleppo Pine.

Yes, I know I have a passion for pashas, but so do many others: see this lovely film that Jude found on YouTube (3) The Two tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) – YouTube!

Moths too were at times spectacular, including the tutti-frutti treat of Crimson Speckleds, at several sites but especially around Matchani Gran, Vestals (here distinctly non-virginal) and Hummers everywhere…

And not just the adult stages, but caterpillars too: two of the most appreciated sightings were the larvae of Spurge Hawk-moth and Convolvulus Hawk-moth…

A quick canter trough the other invertebrate groups starts with the grasshoppers, bush-crickets and mantises, bigger and better at this time of year than any other:

Fresh and brackish water-bodies provided for a colourful array of dragonfly and damselfly species:

True bugs also were many and varied…

… including one. as yet un-named, that for obvious reasons soon acquired the working name of Nightjar Bug!

Bees and wasps included both adults and their nests:

And finally, the beetles: who cannot love the Cistus Hedgehog Beetles!

Moving away from insects, even the snails are unfamiliar…

… while the spiders and relatives were simply spectacular, from the Balearic Scorpion, and Garden Spider…

… through an array of jumpers …

,

…to Cage-web and Tidy Spiders, the latter lining their prey remains neatly down the centre axis of the web, while hiding amongst the debris …

… and best of all, two types of Wasp Spider. I overlooked the second species until detailed examination of my photos: in my defence, even the ‘normal’ Wasp Spiders were huge, and almost as big as the Large Wasp Spiders, which are so powerful they could even overpower an Egyptian Locust!

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 1 – Introduction

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 2 – Flowers and fruits

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 3 – Insects and spiders

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 4 – Birds and other vertebrates

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 5 – Landscapes of the island

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 2 – Flowers and fruits

Overseas Tours - Menorca

Apart from the promise of a Second Spring if the first autumn rains come at the right time, October is hardly prime flowering season in Menorca. The ‘vegetable hedgehogs’ or socarrels that so characterise the endemic Balearic flora have almost all finished, although their characteristic forms are dispersed on every rocky peninsula, of which the island has many. Only the unique cushion Rosemary (variety palaui) is left to feed the butterflies…

But with searching, there are still flowers to be found, from Sand Daffodil and Yellow Horned-poppy on the dunes, to Mediterranean Tree-heath in the hills and Stink Aster by every wayside:

But pride of place, if only for its glorious, alluring perfume that filled every glade in the still and humid conditions, must go to Smilax, its unassuming white stars on viciously spiny vines:

 

Aside from flowers, the whole island was fruiting profusely:

And other signs of the season included leaves changing colour and at least a sprinkling of fungi:

Any view of the flowering of Menorca in autumn cannot overlook the importance of garden plants. Even though they originate  from all corners of the warmer parts of the world, many of the showy ornamentals were an irresistible draw to butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Indeed, the Lantana in Matchani Gran, our wonderful base, ever-thronged in Swallowtails and Hummingbird Hawk-moths, was rivalled in terms of insectiness only by the festoons of flowering Ivy in Algendar Gorge.

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 1 – Introduction

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 2 – Flowers and fruits

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 3 – Insects and spiders

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 4 – Birds and other vertebrates

Autumn in Menorca with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays: Part 5 – Landscapes of the island