Latest News 2025
20th May
A quick website update session with Darren Haines.
18th May
Generally packing and preparing for my ride in Spain, France, Andorra and Portugal.
Later, another evening visit for some more Nightjar action in Longleat Woods.
16th – 17th May
An overnighter at Silverstone (a treat for Zac) ahead of his Club 100 SP40 & SP60 kart series races at Whilton Mill. It was a good day, with his first podium in the SP40 class.
15th May
An interesting and enjoyable “improv” jam with Al Summers and Simon Farr.
13th May
Another evening visit to Longleat Woods for Nightjar. Even better encounters than the previous night, I think.
12th May
An evening visit to Longleat Woods, in the area of Shearwater Lake, searching for rumoured Nightjars in the open sections. I found them and had some fabulous sightings.
11th May
An enjoyable evening at Bristol to catch guitarists Fred Frith and Adrian Utley perform experimental improvisations at The Lantern (part of the Bristol Beacon).
10th – 11th May
An overnighter in London to catch jazz drummer Steve Smith perform with his Vital Information project – a fabulous gig featuring mind-blowing musicianship.
9th May
A trip to Bahnstormer at Alton, to get a pre-trip service on the R1200 GS Adventure ahead of my trip to Spain, France, Andorra and Portugal (to include the Spanish F1 Grand Prix in Barcelona).
2nd – 5th May
A visit to Wales on the R1200 GS Adventure, basing myself at Borth on the coast. The ride up on the Friday evening took me via Chepstow, the Wye Valley, Monmouth, Rockfield (past the recording studio), Abergavenny, Crickhowell, Builth Wells, Rhayader, the Elan Valley, Devils Bridge and Aberystwyth.
Whilst there, I visited the RSPB Ynys-Hir Reserve, the Dyfi Osprey Project Reserve on the Saturday (the “Day of the Warblers”, plus a couple of Ospreys).
On the Sunday I included Machynlleth, Lake Vyrnwy, Bala, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Betws-Y-Coed, the Nant Ffrancon Pass (stopping for an uphill walk next to the Gwern Gof Isaf Campsite), then Llanberis and a coastal ride back to Borth via Harlech, Barmouth, Tywyn and Aberdovey (Aberdyfi). In the evening, a walk around the coastal dunes of the Ynyslas Nature Reserve.
On the Monday, my ride back towards home took me via Aberystwyth, Devils Bridge, the Elan Valley (for brunch), then Builth Wells and Crickhowell from where I visited the Llangattock Escarpment.
A good weekend for wildlife, mostly birds (Wood Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Osprey, Redpoll and Snipe being the highlights – sadly no Ring Ouzel despite best efforts at Nant Ffrancon and the Llangattock Escarpment).
Afterwards, it was full steam to Bristol to meet Amanda and a couple of mates to catch an excellent gig of escapist musical entertainment by the Flaming Lips at the Bristol Beacon.
1st May
An evening visit to the RSPB Winterbourne Downs reserve. We heard, and then seen a Stone Curlew, one of the UK’s most cryptic and secretive birds.
29th April
A web content session with my friend Darren Haines.
25th – 27th April
A weekend of birding with the Wiltshire Ornithological Society based from a nice cabin in the South Downs near the village of West Chiltington. On the 26th, we visited the excellent RSB Pulborough Brooks reserve, seeing circa 60 species, and on the Sunday, we achieved a similar species count at the RSPB Pagham Harbour reserve.
A very good weekend all round; the whole long weekend being “done” on the motorcycle during which time I visited or rode through Pulborough, Amberley, Storrington, Chichester, South Harting and Petersfield.
25th April
A visit to the Knepp Wildlands in the South Downs, mostly in pursuit of birds. I enjoyed identifying the Garden Warbler, and saw (as well as heard) some excellent Cuckoo action.
24th April
A fascinating visit to the Southbank Centre in London to see the pianist Igor Levit perform Erik Satie’s “Vexations” over a period of time lasting 16 or more hours – I stayed for 2 hours on a 1 hour slot.
The performance was created in conjunction with Marina Abramovic, a globally renowned performance artist, who along with audience members, joined Levit onstage to meditate whilst the music was played. A unique event.
18th – 21st April
We were supposed to be in Alderney, but thanks to the airline Aurigny, we were cancelled and therefore unable to get there in any reasonable time to make our visit worthwhile – it was very, very disappointing.
We had no choice but to cancel, and instead spent the weekend at and around home sorting, doing bits of web content and a spot of writing.
11th – 18th April
A return from London via home en route for a week based at the stunning Sea Shanty at Branscombe on the South Devon Coast.
We had a rather mixed week of weather, but made the most of it – visiting Beer, Lyme Regis, Sidmouth, Otterton, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Topsham, Seaton and Colyton, plus some nature reserves, namely RSPB Bowling Green at Topsham and the Seaton Wetlands.
Other stuff included walking sections of the Coast Path around Branscombe itself, Branscombe to Sidmouth, and Branscombe to Beer and back. There was also bits of time for writing some website content and completing a scuba diving feature.
10th April
A visit to London to catch Omarn Hakim & Rachel Z perform with their trio, which included interpretations of pieces by John Coltrane and Miles Davis. A good show.
8th April
A website session with my friend Darren Haines, new content added.
6th April
A visit to Stockbridge for breakfast, then to the RSPB Winterbourne Downs under clear blue skies. Sightings included Red Kite, Buzzard and Blackcap, and some Spring butterflies such as Brimstones, Peacocks and Orange Tips. Try tas we might, we couldn’t pick out any Stone Curlews.
Later, a bit of web content work.
5th April
A walk up through Longleat Woods to Cley Hill on an incredibly clear Spring day. Saw Spring butterflies on the wing (Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tip, Large White, Speckled Wood), and plenty of birds (including Chiff Chaff, Bullfinch, Mistle Thrush, Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit and some arriving Swallows).
Also, ordered some Comma and Small Tortoiseshell larvae from Worldwide Butterflies to rear through to adult, to help boost the local population. Small “Torts” in particular have declined massively in recent years.
4th April
Completing an article about diving with Tiger Sharks in the Bahamas.
30th March
A visit to Great Ridge Wood under clear blue skies with the Wiltshire Ornithological Society, the highlight being sightings of Goshawks flying high over the woods. Spring was in the air, with many Brimstones on the wing as birdsong filled the woods.
Later, there was a bit of time working on an article for Scuba Diver magazine.
28th – 29th March
An overnighter in London to catch guitarist John Scofield perform with his trio at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. On the following lunchtime, we returned to “Ronnie’s” for a brunch event featuring a conversation/Q & A with John Scofield and fellow jazz guitarist John Etheridge.
25th March
A weekly get together with Darren Haines working on adding website content.
21st – 23rd March
A wet ride into Dorset for a weekend at Portland, based out of the spectacularly located Heights Hotel with views looking down over Portland Harbour and Chesil Beach.
The reason visiting was for a spot of “birding” and to see what might be flying in on the Spring migration. Saturday was an excellent day with Black Redstart, Wheatear, Sand Martin, a Peregrine Falcon and a Little Owl. It was also nice to see some Swallows, a sign if ever there was one of the season turning.
On Sunday, I had less time, but still saw a few interesting things of an avian nature. There were probably at least three Black Redstarts in Tout Quarry, the Peregrine granted another fly past, and I enjoyed seeing a lot of chirping House Sparrows along a path behind a row of houses – an increasingly rare sight today. I had a quick stop at the RSPB Radipole Lake visitor centre on the ride home, but there wasn’t much happening so I headed home.
Over this weekend, during the “downtime”, I found time for some writing, including collating notes for an upcoming feature for Scuba Diver magazine, a long-term writing project, and website content.
18th March
Another website session with Darren Haines, adding content.
16th March
A short and sunny (but cold) visit to the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Langford Lakes Reserve in the Wylye Valley.
14th – 15th March
An overnighter in London to catch Anthony Joseph perform with his excellent band at the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho.
11th March
A get-together with Darren Haines to continue working on adding website content.
9th March
An enjoyable improvisation jam session in Warminster with like-minded musicians.
8th – 9th March
Basing out of the Griffin Inn pub at the village of Fletching (near the Trading Boundaries venue), we visited the pioneering Knepp Wildlands on both the 8th and the 9th on stunning Spring Days. The White Storks were very active.
7th March
A visit to the unique Trading Boundaries venue in East Sussex (South Downs), to catch Jazz Sabbath – a trio performing jazz interpretations of the music of Black Sabbath. An interesting and at times humorous performance by excellent musicians.
4th March
More content filling to the website with Darren Haines.
2nd March
A visit to London to see Maria Schneider and here Jazz Orchestra perform “Data Lords” at the Barbican in North East London.
1st March
A nice walk under clear blue skies out the back of where we live, which borders Salisbury Plain. Probably because it was in middle of the day, there was surprisingly few birds on the wing, though we did see (and hear) Skylarks, and also a lone Yellowhammer. In terms of butterflies, it was surprised not to see a Brimstone or two on the wing, but I (Jeremy) did spot one the previous day on the wing in Warminster.
13th – 27th February
A return to the Bahamas in search of the elusive Great Hammerhead.
Starting and finishing with a couple of days each end of the trip in Nassau, our quest for “Hammertime” this time took us to Bimini, having failed to get the encounter two years ago at Tiger Beach, off Grand Bahama.
This time….
12th February
Another of my regular get togethers with Darren Haines, working on updating website content.
7th – 8th February
An overnighter in London to catch PBUG at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London’s Soho district.
On the 8th, our son Zac sets off on his travels, starting in Thailand…
4th February
Another one of my weekly catch-ups with friend, graphic designer and digital all-rounder Darren Haines to work on updating website content.
2nd February
An enjoyable jam and improvisation session with a few musicians in Warminster.
1st – 2nd February
An overnighter in London to catch a guitar extravaganza at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in the form of “The Great Guitars” featuring Bireli Lagrene, Martin Taylor and Ulf Wakenius. We heard and witnessed a stunning display of virtuosity and musicality.
26th February
A wet and windy day at home. Time for some admin and organising, and helping Amanda complete the RSPB Garden Bird Watch.
25th January
A ride down to Devon, to pick up Fuzz at his place near Honiton, and then visit the RSPB Bowling Green Reserve near Topsham on the Exe Estuary.
A good day, with a rare sighting of Water Rail out in open, plus for me in particular Ruff, Greenshank and Pintail (a species of duck being the highlights).
The ride home was via Lyme Regis, Bridport, Beaminster and Crewkerne.
21st January
Another get together with friend, graphic designer and digital all-rounder Darren Haines to work on updating website content.
17th – 19th January
A weekend in the Cotswolds, visiting Ravensroost Wood and Malmesbury on the Saturday and also Cirencester that evening, and on Sunday, attending a Wiltshire Ornithological Society “birding” walk visiting sites around the Cotswold Water Park area where we saw 62 species of bird.
14th January
The first of some regular sessions with friend, graphic designer and digital all-rounder Darren Haines to work on updating website content.
13th January
A good catch up with friend and talented artist Kimberley Watts, and a discussion about a future collaboration.
10th – 12th January
A “birding” stay in the New Forest, based out of a Shepherds Hut in Sway. On the first day, I visited Clay Hill Heath (a wooded area between Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst), Hatch Pond near Beaulieu, finishing with a short visit to Lepe overlooking the Solent.
10th January
A good conversation with Mark Evan of Scuba Diver magazine about submitting features in 2025.
5th January
A day of organising, with most time spent on my upcoming Spain, France, Andorra and Portugal motorcycle trip in the Summer.
4th January
A trip to Mikes Dive Store in London to buy a new skin (Jeremy) and wetsuit (Amanda). We had a quick stop off in Marlborough on the way, and Windsor on the way back.
1st January
A day of planning and organising at home, getting the New Year up and running.