Tony Drakeford nature Notes column banner for Green Guardian channel and Guardian sites

Nature Notes: A fishy tale

Nature Notes: A fishy tale

9:23am Thursday 11th April 2013

Water temperatures permitting, the spawning season for course fish, i.e. fresh water fish other than salmon and trout, runs from March through June.

Nature Notes: Intrepid Travellers

Nature Notes: Intrepid Travellers

9:54am Tuesday 2nd April 2013

Having spent the winter in South Africa, swallows are now winging their way back to our shores.

Nature Notes: Nest Eggs

Nature Notes: Nest Eggs

9:43am Monday 25th March 2013

If this be spring, then roll on winter!

Nature Notes: Winter March-es on

Nature Notes: Winter March-es on

6:30am Monday 18th March 2013

Whisked along horizontally on a biting easterly, snow flurries speed past in face-stinging gusts...

Nature Notes: An exaltation of skylarks

Nature Notes: An exaltation of skylarks

11:17am Monday 11th March 2013

The month of March witnesses a real awakening of the natural world. Wild flowers brave the chill and the tide of insects begins to rise as days lengthen and the sun's rays warm the earth.

Nature Notes: A host of golden daffodils

Nature Notes: A host of golden daffodils

9:37am Monday 4th March 2013

Directly after Christmas I like to fill the house with vases of daffodils, flowers so cheap and ultra cheerful that help banish the winter blues. On recent bleak, cold sunless days when even the birds had stopped singing the bright yellow blooms were a sure sign that spring was on the way.

Nature Notes: Blowing hot and cold

Nature Notes: Blowing hot and cold

9:52am Monday 25th February 2013

What a difference a day makes. From near freezing for several days up until 13th February the temperature rose rapidly by sixteen degrees on Valentine's day.

Nature Notes: Sleeping Beauties

Nature Notes: Sleeping Beauties

9:53am Monday 18th February 2013

Watching Matthew Bourne's brilliant modern adaptation of the Sleeping Beauty ballet at Sadler's Wells recently prompted me to think of the many sleeping beauties all around us.

Nature Notes: Spring singalong

Nature Notes: Spring singalong

9:33am Monday 11th February 2013

The first of February dawned miserable and wet. However, spot on time at 5am the local songthrush began his morning recital. Every day he is only just audible perched tantalisingly three hundred metres away on a tall spindly pine tree.

Nature Notes: Pigeon fanciers

Nature Notes: Pigeon fanciers

9:20am Monday 4th February 2013

The snow and ice have gone and the temperature has risen by several degrees. The late January sun is a welcome treat as I sit alongside Kingston Guildhall.

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Your Say Your Croydon

Pull the other one Andrew, it’s got bells on it. You’ve switched sides twice in the last few years.  − Steve Brooks; Waddon

Letter to the Editor: I won't be voting for Andrew Pelling now he's Labour »

I can see that most of the honours listed above are worthy, but I just can't work out the logic in giving an MBE to someone that sings a few songs? − 'lamb00' (Reader comment)

Croydon North MP Steve Reed and Adele on Queen's birthday honours list »

Send your letter to: letters@croydonguardian.co.uk





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