Natural History Journal

While we began our trip across the UK last June in London, we certainly didn't stay there!  Though the city offered a surprising amount of birds and other wildlife , and was a convenient base for a trip out to wetlands in the Thames estuary for even more encounters with nature, we were eager to travel north, where we would spend time rambling through the quiet countryside and impossibly picturesque villages of the Cotswolds and Yorkshire Dales.   Mute Swan, an iconic British bird, in front of Bibury's idyllic Arlington Row. We stayed in a few different small villages as we made our way north to Scotland, and greatly enjoyed the UK's delightful network of footpaths that wind endlessly through the countryside linking one charming hamlet to another.  From Bourton-on-the-Water, in the Cotswolds, we followed parts of the Monarch's Way; in the Yorkshire Dales, we trekked along the Dale's Way from our base in Grassington; and near Haltwhistle, we climbed steep sections of...

Worldwide, wetlands are among the most species-rich habitats on our planet, home to a wealth of birds and other wildlife.  Open water of varying depths, with emergent vegetation alongside mudflats bordered by diverse plant communities, including forest edge and grassland, typically make wetlands and adjacent habitat absolutely ideal homes for a high concentration of wildlife in a relatively small space.  It's no coincidence that around the world, many of the nature reserves and preserves that have been set aside as protected habitat for wildlife are wetlands . Singing Reed Bunting at Rainham Marshes In the UK, this protected habitat is often administered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, or the Wildlife Trusts.  (If you are in the UK, I highly recommend checking out the map tool on their respective websites to find  an RSPB reserve  or a Wildlife Trust nature reserve to visit near you!  There are so many to choose from!) As we planned our t...

This past summer, Eric and I spent the month of June traveling in England and Scotland.  And while the primary focus of the trip wasn't necessarily birds, I did manage to fit quite a bit of birding into the trip, seeing a grand total of 111 species, 71 of which were lifers!  European Robin While England and Scotland boast a wealth of beautiful natural habitats to explore, all of which are simply brimming with wonderful wildlife, its towns and cities are probably the best places to start when birding in the UK for the first time.  Here, lush landscapes dotted with expansive parks and idyllic gardens are home to a long list of European bird species that are exciting for any visiting American birder!  And so it was that my first European Robin hopped down right in front of me on a picnic bench in Bath, my lifer Eurasian Blue Tit appeared on a branch in London's Hyde Park, and the one and only Eurasian Jay I saw on the whole trip peeped down at me from a tree in Kensingt...