Wildlife
Would-be Windhover
At the moment I’m listening to the Kestrel chicks in the nest box at my workshop. Each day their pips and calls get louder, and more recognisably bird of prey. Their shuffling more frequent and noisy. They’ll start putting their heads out of the nest box entrance hole very soon and see the outside […]
Hedgerow Birds
The hedgerow is filled with sounds of newly hatched birds, and busy with parent birds flittering to-and-fro, in and out, to feed hungry mouths. As I pass birds scatter – the wingbeats of Yellowhammers, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Sparrow. A Wren perches at the top, and keeps singing, then disappears too, into the interior of the […]
Easter-time Gorse blooms
The gorse is coming into bloom here on the moor – traditionally it was used as a colourant for painting Easter eggs – though I’ve never tried it. In stopping to admire the flowers I disturbed a Stonechat pair – the male perching high and calling with a sharp loud sound, like two stones […]
Barn Owl in Winter Light
Recently days have been wintery, short, dark and grey – and then this morning the sun came up in golden style and put a glint on everything. Here my Barn Owl sculpture is bathed in that special winter light. The Barn Owl sculpture is carved in Hazeldean Sandstone which is quarried near Alnwick, Northumberland […]
Upland Otter
The course water takes from these little moorland pools can be followed as it flows, gathering pace with run-off from other ponds, until it reaches the many streams and rivers meandering through the valleys and dale bottoms of the North York Moors National Park. Along the banks of these becks and waterways, and often […]
A Grand Sculptural Leaf Birdbath
A carved bird is perched on the stalk end of this grand leaf-shaped birdbath. The natural curves, flow and undulations of a fallen leaf make an ideal shape to hold water for garden birds, creating a beautifully decorative as well as functional feature. Watching wildlife enjoy the garden is a great treat and this […]
October Hare
My latest sculpture of a Hare carved in Yorkstone – the hare is in a sitting position, looking out across the grassland on this lovely sunny October day. Mostly when I see a Hare it is running. Sometimes in the lane one runs ahead of me, looking for a familiar gate in the hedgerow […]
Sitting Fox sculpture
At this time of year the Fox is growing a thick coat of fur in readiness for the months ahead and enjoys a sunlit spot before the chill of the evening. They’re well-adapted, even for the harshest weather, and likely to sleep out on the open, tightly curled with their tails wrapped around them […]
Otter settled but alert and watchful
An otter carving in Kilkenny Limestone – 13″ x 15″ x 8″ This piece was a commission for an otter in a curled-up pose, settled, but alert and watchful. I’ve set out all the stages of carving this piece in Curled Otter.
Meadow Pipit
The Meadow Pipit is a common nesting bird on the North York Moors, and its high piping calls a familiar sound. They feed on the ground, mostly eating flies, beetles, moths, and spiders, and in autumn and winter the seeds of grasses, sedges, rushes, and heather. They also build their nests on the […]