Neighbours

Anne and Terry visited the Egg to bring the gift of a delicious banana and walnut cake which was most welcomely received. They spend a lot of their time living on their boat ‘Teal’ moored upriver of the Egg and have followed … Continue reading →

The morning after the night before

When Paul Baker was building the Egg at Battramsley Farm near Lymington, his dream was to finish his own boat which shared the same barn and to get onto the water himself. This afternoon he saluted the Exbury Egg as he sailed … Continue reading →

Lucy and Mike, my temporary neighbours from across the river, visited the Egg this afternoon when the tide was in. Apparently, from over the way, the Egg glints like silver in the spring sunshine.

An examination of the two dead mice found last summer revealed different processes of decomposition; one of dry mummification and the second of slimy rot. I will remove the slime on the latter and bring into light its skeletal structure.

There are a few great spotted woodpeckers at work in the vicinity of the Egg. They seek out suitable hollowed trees to use as sound posts to mark out their territory. My own efforts are at about half speed and … Continue reading →

There have been many attempts to visualise a system of the animals which in the nineteenth century tended to depict a ‘Great Chain of Being’ with people perched at the top of a tree of life. Zoologist Georg Goldfuss in … Continue reading →

The crescent of a waning moon reached out to Venus with open arms this morning, lit bright in light from a sun still lingering below the horizon and reflected in the calm water of a falling tide. The ‘two-horned queen … Continue reading →

My friend Boris is a young Norfolk Terrier who lives with neighbours Nick and Caroline and he has been a regular visitor to the Egg since attending its arrival at Exbury early in May last year. Late one night in … Continue reading →

I spent all morning studying Andricus Kollari, the tiny parasitic wasp whose eggs cause the marble oak galls on both scrubby oaks growing beside my own Egg. The life cycle of the wasp requires the presence of a Turkey oak which … Continue reading →

My neighbours Nick and Caroline live in the house at the top of the field and between their home and mine, curved lines of earthworks follow the contours of a hill down to the river and reveal the remains of … Continue reading →

Small Mammal Allurement Centre No.1 was located in long grass beside the footpath in Blackberry Way last night, where two wood mice were enticed in by dried fruit and a small bowl of water. They were released very early this … Continue reading →

A small oak opposite the egg has a rich crop of galls to harvest. I will use them to make a dye for my clothing and to create an ink for drawing as the first step toward understanding the cultural … Continue reading →

The arrival of an inflatable kayak has allowed preparations to begin for exploring the wider bounds of the Beadle’s Parish. On washing down the craft after its first trial on the water I discovered a hitch hiking spider associated with … Continue reading →

Striped arial raiders have dug out a former mouse hole as a home and I am keeping my distance as they come and go. The wasp’s sting evolved from an ovipositor and so only the females will send you off … Continue reading →

Found close to the egg where I store spares for the dinghy, were two dead wood mice. I was surprised to find two so close together and wonder how they came to die. There were no obvious signs of … Continue reading →

A fluorescing tube in the ultra violet spectrum was employed to turn the egg into a huge moth attracting device last night. White cotton gauze stretched across the doorway was intended as the stage for a flickering theatre of moths in … Continue reading →

Standing sentry beside The Gateway to the egg are a row of ten tall marsh sow thistle. It is a nationally scarce plant undergoing significant decline and disappearing from most parts of England as its preferred floodplain habitats change. I have … Continue reading →

The sloughed off skin of a grass snake lay next to some old corrugated iron, which the snake itself uses for shelter. It’s been seen there many times over the years according to Nick, my guide and walking companion. Though … Continue reading →

Around one hundred and fifty Canada geese arrived yesterday in the early evening, appearing from the direction of the Isle of Wight. They were letting everything and everyone know they were coming with that raucous, noisy honking that ripples too … Continue reading →