The Urban Countryside – First lessons in life
by Albert Nolan I have been watching the blackbirds in my garden for the last few weeks between washing the dishes and preparing meals for my hungry gang. Now that their first brood is raised they are taking a welcome break from the rigors of parenting. The days are stretching well into the night and […]
The Urban Countryside – The Swift
by Albert Nolan Observing birds in your own back yard can often reveal some interesting behavior. I was visiting a friend of mind that has a dog that spends most of its time indoors and in this artificial environment he sheds a lot of hair. Each morning the floor is mopped and the brush is […]
The Urban Countryside – Chaffinches and Daisies
by Albert Nolan, I was having a cup of tea with my neighbour and she was telling me about the troublesome bird that is in her garden. She couldn’t identify it but noticed it had a pinkish breast and that it wasn’t a robin. I had a hunch it was a male chaffinch and a […]
The Urban Countryside – The Swallow
by Albert Nolan The kids were tucking into their breakfast and with a few moments to spare before the school rush started I opened the front door to listen to the morning bird song. Initially all I heard were the cats meowing but a quick handful of cat food and order was soon restored. A […]
The Urban Countryside – The Starling
by Albert Nolan The new traffic lights had been in place for a few weeks and already a hidden benefit had emerged. Birdsong that had long been hidden beneath the din of traffic slowly became audible. Each evening the Starlings gather on the TV aerials of the houses and drivers who turn off the radio […]
The Urban Countryside – Digging for Nature
Wild Corners. Digging for Birds by Albert Nolan It was a day when you would have fought to have a shovel in your hand as the icy wind slipped easily through layers of clothes. I was finishing off a new bed that I had started a few weeks ago and for once the […]
The Urban Countryside – The Bullfinch
The Bullfinch, Outlaws of the Woods. The brief shower of rain had just finished and I was standing by the kitchen sink tactfully trying to ignoring the pile of neatly stacked dishes that were waiting to be washed. A bright flash of red from the trees had caught my attention and I slowly opened the […]
