The Nuthatches win the day
March 25, 2021
Two Davids drive off a Goliath. … More The Nuthatches win the day
Category: Somerset
A bit of excitement on the Riverside Walk
March 24, 2021
All is not always what it seems in the bird world. … More A bit of excitement on the Riverside Walk
Ravens, at last
June 9, 2020
Finally some decent shots of the newly resident Ravens! … More Ravens, at last
Back to the Riverside Walk at last
June 2, 2020
A long-awaited few hours’ rest for the soul along the river. … More Back to the Riverside Walk at last
Out with the dogs at last
May 17, 2020
Finally strong enough to take the dogs on the lead! … More Out with the dogs at last
Battle of the beetles
May 13, 2020
Titanic encounters of the tiny kind. … More Battle of the beetles
A Gallery Experiment
May 6, 2020
A gallery of recent photos from my local walk … More A Gallery Experiment
Aliens under our feet
April 30, 2020
Another sanity-restoring macro photowalk. … More Aliens under our feet
Light and shade
January 28, 2020
I love winter – what a difference a day can make. One day it’s brilliant sunshine, the next the world is engulfed in mist, as you can see from these photos of the Riverside Walk, taken only a few days apart. One day the trees are thrown into knife-edge contrast by the cold blue sunlit … More Light and shade
A few bits and bobs
June 17, 2019
A few new arrivals on the Riverside Walk. … More A few bits and bobs
Pale pink punctuation
June 3, 2019
A solitary Bramble flower emerges from a sea of green along the Riverside Walk, heralding summer, but hinting at the berry-rich autumn to follow.
Swifts at twilight
May 7, 2019
Migrating swifts greeted with an endless feast of gnats. … More Swifts at twilight
A Plethora of Warblers
April 13, 2019
The Yeovil Country Park Riverside Walk is full of Chiffchaffs at the moment, and more seem to be arriving every day if their all-pervading sound is anything to go by. Some of them have been there all winter (a sign of global warming I suppose, although I wouldn’t exactly call it tropical at the moment!), … More A Plethora of Warblers
A commotion in the woods
April 9, 2019
A Sparrowhawk hides his head in embarrassment at missing his prey. … More A commotion in the woods
Small birds far away
April 4, 2019
This is the reality of bird photography for most of us – small birds far away, too far away even for a decent walkabout telephoto. For every great shot you show off on Flickr or Twitter or wherever, there are always countless others of birds determined not to let you get anywhere near them. The … More Small birds far away
Somerset People
February 9, 2019
A most glorious short film that makes you ask the big questions – why are we doing this? Why are we beating ourselves up every waking hour, merely to survive? There has to be a better way, surely, if only we had the courage to escape from the safety of drudgery. Edit: as it turned … More Somerset People
What’s in your head, zombie…?
January 24, 2019
This one may seem like it’s about photography, but it’s not, it’s about how my head works sometimes. Took the dogs to Ninesprings this morning, as I often do. For those who don’t know Yeovil in Somerset (England), it’s an old Victorian estate bought by the District Council a good while ago, and converted into … More What’s in your head, zombie…?
Nifty Fifty
January 23, 2019
This one is for birdwatchers and photographers only, really. I bought myself a Nikon 50mm 1.8D after Christmas. It has autofocus, but this only works on the later Nikons that have an autofocus motor in the body. If you have, say, a 3200, you need the 1.8G, which is way more expensive. I thought it … More Nifty Fifty
Accidental publicity
January 23, 2019
Networking, Somerset-style, with added bird-watching. … More Accidental publicity
In search of the Great Breach Wood
December 8, 2017
High up above Dundon Fort, one of Somerset’s many hill forts, are a collection of glorious woods that surround a small gorge, known as the ‘The Great Breach’. The little village of Compton Dundon sits on the road that winds through the edges of the Somerset Levels from Yeovil to Glastonbury and beyond; at the … More In search of the Great Breach Wood
In search of Yeovil Country Park, Part 2
November 11, 2017
One of the shorter of the five Yeovil Country Park walks, but no less beautiful. … More In search of Yeovil Country Park, Part 2
In search of Yeovil Country Park, Part 1
August 29, 2017
The Riverside Walk. As I may have said before, Yeovil is not renowned as a place of beauty, but it does have some surprisingly beautiful places within it, if you know where to look. One of those is the Riverside Walk, part of Yeovil Country Park. If you want a larger version of this map, … More In search of Yeovil Country Park, Part 1
In search of… Max Tovey
May 11, 2016
A walk through Norton Covert at Ham Hill hill fort, Somerset, following the route taken in ‘The Multiverse of Max Tovey’. … More In search of… Max Tovey
In search of Sampson’s Wood
May 5, 2016
Another slice of beauty to be found within the municipality of Yeovil. … More In search of Sampson’s Wood
In search of Dodham Brook
May 4, 2016
An unexpectedly pleasant walk through Yeovil along a river I didn’t know existed. … More In search of Dodham Brook
Joseph of Arimathea – an alternative grave?
April 28, 2016
Was Joseph of Arimathea not in fact buried at Glastonbury, but instead on St Michael’s Hill, Montacute? … More Joseph of Arimathea – an alternative grave?
Joseph of Arimathea – the alternative journey to Glastonbury
April 21, 2016
Most people with an interest in mythology know of the legend that Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain after the crucifixion and built the country’s first church at Glastonbury, but not so many know the alternative beginnings and ends to the story. No-one really knows how the legend started, and Joseph wasn’t mentioned in the … More Joseph of Arimathea – the alternative journey to Glastonbury
The real witch Of Hamdon Hill
March 17, 2016
The story of the witch that supposedly haunts Somerset’s Ham Hill is well known locally, but, as I have now discovered, everyone I’ve heard it from has got it completely wrong. But the real story is actually even more fascinating. Alastair Swinnerton is the author of ‘The Multiverse of Max Tovey’, a Young Adult novel set among the myths … More The real witch Of Hamdon Hill
The Somerset Tsunami
February 8, 2016
You may think there’s been a lot of flooding in the last few years, but nothing comes close to the devastating Somerset floods in January 1607. Back in 2014, you could look out from Ham Hill, Somerset, the largest hill fort in the country, and see the flooded Somerset Levels in all their ‘glory’, but thankfully that’s been … More The Somerset Tsunami
Getting back out there
February 3, 2016
It’s not been the best month. The death of anyone close to you is always a blow, but that of your oldest and best friend is more like being repeatedly hammered by Mohammed Ali. But life must eventually restart, and my book ‘The Multiverse of Max Tovey’ needs attention. The sequel needs starting of course, but before … More Getting back out there
Alastair Swinnerton 