News Articles

 

Farewell to Shefali and hello again Louisa

We are sad to say that Shefali will be leaving The Ultimate Travel Company at the end of this month. Since taking over the Wild Insights account at the end of 2022 Shefali has demonstrated her very...
22/07/2024

Looking ahead

The aptly-named Resplendent Quetzal is just one of an amazing plethora of species to be found in Costa As the nesting season and bird monitoring draws to a close this season we are starting to...
15/08/2023

Welcome to Shefali!

After five years of looking after the Wild Insights business Louisa Thompson has moved within the Ultimate Travel Company to join the tailor-made team, specialising in Australia and New Zealand....
26/12/2022

Hen Harriers doing well and starring on TV!

I am sorry for the lack of news items recently - it has been an extraorinarily busy season with field work this year including bird surveys across huge areas of upland and, as usual, the monitoring...
18/07/2022

Namibia here we come!

At last with everything settling down again we can look forward to returning to our favourite parts of the world and they don't get much better than Namibia. This pleasingly unpopulated country...
26/02/2022

New 2022 Calendar!

If you received our Christmas email you'll know that we had decided against producing a calendar for 2022 due to the continued uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The latest variant has again...
07/01/2022

Keeping our optimism

The announcements last week once again cast a cloud of uncertainty over our plans. We have been here before and until we have further clarity regarding the significance of the new variant it...
01/12/2021

New 2021 Calendar!

Following many months of uncertainty and rescheduling we were unsure whether it would be possible to produce a 2021 calendar. However, following the great news about the first vaccine...
02/12/2020

Building the Bridge

Some compensation for everything coming to a sudden halt this year has been the opportunity to address an accumulating list of jobs and projects. One of these was the building of a bridge over the...
31/10/2020

Escape to Higham!

With everything going on around us wouldn't it be nice to excape for a few days and enjoy the delights of Higham Hall? The good news is that after taking all the necessary precautions to ensure...
25/10/2020

Food-passers

  The season is drawing to a close with young Hen Harriers now mostly fledged. The unremitting requirement for food has kept the adults busy for weeks, effectively providing the protein...
10/08/2020

Farewell Robin

  ROBIN KHAN 1933 - 2020 After a short illness, we said goodbye to a man who has figured more prominently in my life than anyone could imagine. I met Robin Khan in 1971, then a...
01/07/2020

Skydancers busy

This time of year sees me spending endless hours following up the fortunes, and misfortunes of Hen Harriers, arguably one of the most elegant of all our raptor species. My first...
18/06/2020

Damsels before dragons

Typically, damselflies are active around our pond before the dragonflies emerge or arrive. One of the first and most numerous is the Large Red Damselfly. The second image shows one of the most...
05/06/2020

Voyage into the unknown

After the last two weeks of increasing claustrophobia, jam-packed in a dome of moss with 5 others (at least) and with a limited view from the corner woodwork of our garden room here is the result...
05/06/2020

Here comes lunch!

Wrens have chosen to nest in various places this year including a perfect space at the corner of our garden room. Clearly the brood is substantial and there is a corresponding amount of food going...
30/05/2020

Sitting tight

We have just completed our first nest box inspection in the wood and there is a substantial % occupancy  this year - mostly Blue and Great Tits but two Wrens, one Coal Tit and four boxes with Pied...
16/05/2020

The hills are alive...

Raptor monitoring work is the perfect opportunity to socially isolate, not a human to be seen all day. However, it was great to come across good numbers of Cuckoos all voicing their presence....
09/05/2020

In from Africa

A walk in our wood today produced plenty of springtime action, including one of the quintessential sounds of hilly woodland on the Welsh border - the shivering trill of the Wood Warbler. When they...
02/05/2020

Blackcaps lead the chorus

There are inevitable compensations to the current situation. For the first time in many years we are able to keep a daily log of what is happening around our patch and in the last few weeks, bird...
23/04/2020

Who needs nest-boxes?

One of the unexpected bonuses of the current situation is the daily check of the wood where we have fifty nest-boxes - high quality design made by good friend and regular Wild Insights travelling...
17/04/2020

Master builder adds the soft furnishings

One of the most ingenious and extraordinary nest-builders has to be the Long-tailed Tit. We have been watching a pair in the garden as they have painstakingly collected pieces of lichen, interwoven...
14/04/2020

Wild Insects

While all the prevailing news remains depressing, wildlife continues to operate, oblivious to the events which are affecting so many people's lives. The lanes are alive with flowers and...
08/04/2020

Spring arrives

In the midst of all this depressing news I watched this Song Thrush staking out his territory this morning, oblivious to it all and reminding us that good things are happening at this great time of...
28/03/2020