Continuing the archive — slow essays and observations from marshes, mangroves, and pondsides around the world.
№ 403 A naturalist's read on the wild range of the budgerigar (the parakeet most pet-keepers know) and the broader parakeet group - Australian outback, South American rainforest, naturalised flocks in unexpected places.
Crows mob hawks to drive predators out of their nesting territory and teach younger crows what to fear. A naturalist's read on a daily aerial drama.
№ 402 
№ 401 Ducks head-bob to communicate excitement, signal courtship readiness, and confirm species identity. A naturalist's read of when it means what.
A naturalist's guide to feeding wild ducks - the eight foods that are genuinely safe and useful, the five that cause real harm, and why bread is the worst thing you can hand to a mallard.
№ 400 
№ 399 A naturalist's guide to what bird seed actually works - the six staples that attract the most birds, what each one is for, and the two things you should stop putting in your feeder.
A naturalist's guide to the right time to install an owl nest box - late autumn for most species, before squirrels select winter dens, in time for owl scouting in late winter.
№ 398 
№ 397 Baby ducks are called ducklings. A field naturalist's read on what that actually means - the timeline from hatch to fledge, how to tell a duckling from a gosling or a cygnet, and the brood biology that decides how many survive.
A short, practical guide to safe and unsafe foods for pond ducks - what to bring, what to leave at home, and how to feed them properly without harming the pond.
№ 396 
№ 395 A naturalist's read on what bird research actually shows about colour aversion - which colours genuinely deter birds, why, and how to use the information practically.
Owl eyes are tubes, not spheres. They can't move. The bird turns its whole head instead. A naturalist's read on the anatomy and what it costs the bird.
№ 394 
№ 393 Predator distress calls and dog barks scare geese; ultrasonics and most static noises don't. A naturalist's read of the deterrents that hold up in the field.
From the Greek myth of Leda to Yeats to the silver swans on the Queen's River - a literary naturalist's read on what the swan has actually stood for through history.
№ 392