Travel

"Oh, didn’t the guide call you? They have come and gone out on tour." A scary feeling of being left behind in a strange city overtakes me and, trying not to panic, I ask him to call the guide for me on his mobile. more »

Beauty of surface, of tone, of detail, of things near enough to touch and kneel upon and lean against — it is from this the effect proceeds. In this sort of beauty the place is incredibly rich, and you may go there every day and find afresh some lurking pictorial nook. It is a treasury of bits, as the painters say ... more »

One evening, leaving Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, having seen the amazing library, the stunning collection of armoury, the peacocks on the lawns, we headed for our destination for the night, the magical Trossachs hotel, but the coach driver, unfamiliar with this particular trip, took a wrong turning and we completely lost our bearings. more »

A birding walk on the Filoli estate in Woodside, California a few years ago and inspiration from an unknown warbler some weeks ago in our backyard, led us to list a new site which, regardless of your attachment to birding, might of be of interest to all who hear a song and wonder about the singer. Meeting the members of the site could perhaps be the most interesting aspect of all at Xeno-Canto. more »