Sue came back from her walk a couple of days ago and tapped on the window excitedly. I slipped my wellies on and nipped outside to find her cupping her hands to her ears and grinning. I tuned in and heard it immediately. ‘Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke‘. We used to hear it regularly, when a pair nested onContinue reading “A peregrination”
Author Archives: Kevin Parr
Writer, Fisherman, Amateur naturalist and sometime Idler. Author of The Quiet Moon, Rivers Run, The Twitch & The Idle Angler.
Winter’s coming….
It’s twenty to five and were I fishing then I wouldn’t be able to see my float – even against the western sky. A month until the solstice, and this week’s blow is set to give way to a proper arctic blast this coming weekend. The natural world is responding hard, suggesting that winter isContinue reading “Winter’s coming….”
The last tench of Summer
I played Santa last Christmas. At least, I played a very small part of being Santa. My mother had filled a sack with presents and set up the moment – all I had to do was slip out and ‘deliver’ it without any of my nephews or nieces suspecting anything. As it was, I didn’tContinue reading “The last tench of Summer”
Links
I took a stroll along Chesil yesterday. Just a quick tea-time trip down to West Bexington with no intention other than to see who might be loitering. I had been promising myself that I would visit with a rod in my hand, just as soon as the kids were back at school and the pebblesContinue reading “Links”
Rats!
I’ve been a little concerned about the lack of grass snake hatchlings emerging from the compost heap this autumn. By now I would have expected to have seen several, and although the weather has been unsettled, that does not seem to have impacted upon them in previous years. Of course, I may have simply missedContinue reading “Rats!”
Fresh footsteps
It is good to find new places in which to paddle, and I’ve recently managed to dip my toes into completely fresh water. The Telegraph approached my publisher to see if I might be interested in writing a piece on ‘Great River Walks’ – Erm, yes please! The article proved to be tricky to research,Continue reading “Fresh footsteps”
Ten Down
It is over three years since I received a rather intriguing email from a chap called Garrett Fallon. A talented designer, artist and writer, Garrett also loved to fish, and was planning on combining his skills to produce a angling magazine. It would, in part, be a nod to his late father, the journalist andContinue reading “Ten Down”
A flutter of wings
I completed a reptile survey on a local reserve last week, and found surprisingly little. There was a handful of slow worms, and a good scuttle of common lizards, but I failed to find a single snake which is a first for this site. I wasn’t unduly concerned. I deliberately opted to survey in theContinue reading “A flutter of wings”
A new season in the Sun
Tench were the target, as they so often are on Opening Day, but it was difficult to ignore the carp nosing through the lily pads in front of me. I had taken a carp rod, the one that Andy had leant me on our Ashmead jaunt in the autumn, and I threaded the rings andContinue reading “A new season in the Sun”
Campion-ing the Cause….
I have really enjoyed writing a monthly column for BBC CountryFile Magazine, not least because of the amount of things I have learned. Research can become lazy in the internet age, but digging around old books and then cross referencing with online resources can be fascinating. In the June edition, for Flower of the Month,Continue reading “Campion-ing the Cause….”
Kevin Parr 