Author Archives: Bo Beolens

This article first appeared on page 19 of Birdwatching Magazine April 2024 We have lived in this house for almost a quarter of a century, and are about to attempt to move… partly to be nearer our scattered family, but … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in Birdwatching Magazine March 2024 With Spring around the corner I’d like to ask myself, you and the powers that be a question: ‘…should we be tidy up open space or respect nature?’ Travelling in North … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the February 2024 edition of Birdwatching Magazine Regular readers will know that Hawkeye is really, by inclination a hunter… the pursuit is almost more important than the catch. She finds 80% of the birds we … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the January 2024 edition of Birdwatching Magazine Most people who make new years’ resolutions promise to stop smoking, give up the booze or eat less red meat. Well, being the paragon of virtue that you … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the December 2023 edition of Birdwatching Magazine Whoever thought that the ‘cancel culture’ would impact birders? Maybe I should have expected it as ostriches are falsely supposed to bury their heads in the sand. ‘Cancelling’ … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the November 2023 issue of Birdwatching Magazine “Water, Water every where, nor any drop to drink…” so said Coleridge in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Of course he was talking about becalmed mariners driven mad … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the November 2023 edition of Birdwatching Magazine “Kronk” said the obliging Raven passing overhead. Hawkeye and I watched it into the distance as it seemed to hiccup in flight every time it called. Lovely. It … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the October 2023 edition of Birdwatching Magazine They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that no good deed goes unpunished. Providence seems reluctant to give a sucker an even … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the Autumn 2023 edition of Birdwatching Magazine The southeast of this country has 85% of the world’s chalk streams… a higher percentage of special habitat than Peru has cloud forest and rarer than Madagascar’s dry … Continue reading →

This article first appeared in the September 2023 edition of Birdwatching Magazine “Is that a Marsh Frog?” I asked Hawkeye as we sat on the viewing ramp overlooking the vast reedbeds of a local reserve. “Nope” came a voice behind … Continue reading →