Author Archives: Bo Beolens
GOB 203 – Frog Leap
This article first appeared in the January 2026 edition of Birdwatching Magazine Discounting cats (if only!) and birds (never gonna happen), Common Frogs sit at the top of the food chain in my postage-stamp yard. Foxes haven’t found a way … Continue reading
GOB 202 – You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone…
This article first appeared in the December 2025 of Birdwatching Magazine Family myth has it that, when my mum was pregnant with me, a wasp went down the back of her dress and stung her seven times. Sadly, I can … Continue reading
GOB 201 – Family Outings
This article first appeared in the November 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine I last visited Bird Fair pre-Covid, and was struck then that, in late July, the harvest was well under way in the heart of England. As a boy, … Continue reading
GOB 200 – Brian (1938-2025)
This article first appeared in the October 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine For my 200th Grumpy Article, a tribute to an ‘ordinary’ birder… Brian Anderson (1938-2025) was not a top lister, leading campaigner or expert birder; never presented a TV show … Continue reading
GOB 199 – The Darling Birds of May
This article first appeared in the Autumn 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine As spring stuttered to a close, I had an overdue outing, just a couple of morning hours birding. I chose an area of land accessed via the bottom … Continue reading
GOB 198 – The Slow Miracle
This article first appeared in the September 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine I’ve been feeling my age of late. At times, it feels like Groundhog Day, as every 24 hours life seems to reset to the same old same old. … Continue reading
GOB 197 – Wonderfully Woke
This article first appeared in the August 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine A ruling party MP was challenging proposed planning legislation, as has every conservation organisation in the UK. Another ruling party MP labelled him part of the ‘Hedgehog Hezbollah’. Intemperate language … Continue reading
GOB 196 – If the Government Won’t Do It, We Have To!
This article first appeared in the July 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine Sir Isaac Walton, friend of the poet John Donne and author of The Complete Angler wrote about my local river… the Kentish Stour, a river then famous for its run … Continue reading
GOB 195 – Survivors
This article first appeared in the June 2025 Edition of Birdwatching Magazine We do what we must to survive… Strategies are more ‘built in’ to birds than to us, but behaviour does change – back in the day when milkmen … Continue reading



