Fieldfares and redwings: the winter thrushes on the chalk
How to tell fieldfares from redwings on the chalk fields round Offley and Lilley: their calls, the berries they strip and the hedges worth watching.
Read the pieceHedgerows & wildlife
Farmland birds, hares, wild flowers and what the hedges are doing month by month.
Pieces
Painting the outside of an old house without upsetting the house martins
How to time outside painting on an old cottage around nesting birds, bats and the weather, and what to ask a painter before the ladders go up.
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Choosing binoculars for birding on open farmland
8x42, 10x42 or 8x32? A plain guide to choosing binoculars for farmland birds: exit pupil, field of view, close focus, waterproofing, prisms and eyecups.
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Winter bird feeding for a cottage garden on the chalk
What to feed garden birds in winter, how to keep feeders clean, where to hang them away from cats and glass, and which winter visitors to look out for.
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Sloes, blackberries and good manners: hedgerow foraging on the chalk
Picking blackberries, elderberries, sloes, rosehips, hazelnuts and crab apples from the hedges, with the lookalikes to avoid, the law and simple etiquette.
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Farmland birds between Offley and Lilley, season by season
Skylarks, yellowhammers, kites and winter thrushes on the chalk fields between Offley and Lilley: what to look and listen for in each season.
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