Mark Cocker
Finding Wonder in the Living World
Category: Uncategorized
The curlew that is also a chicken, that’s really a blackbird
I am currently captivated by the story of mimicry among birds, primarily redstarts. It is a remarkable aspect of birdsong and here below is a short recording of the blackbird in our garden that does a wonderful imitaiton of a culrew and then a… Continue Reading “The curlew that is also a chicken, that’s really a blackbird”
Christmas Books 2025
We’re constantly being told about the new-tech that will change our world. No technology has been more transformative across the whole of my life than the one developed in 1455: the good old printed book. I’ve read something like 47 in 2025 and in… Continue Reading “Christmas Books 2025”
A Singular Triumph.
Richard Fortey, A Curious Boy, William Collins, £20, 2021. This is not so much a review, as a way to commemorate Richard Fortey. Yesterday we received the immensely sad news that he has died aged 79. For those who didn’t know him or his… Continue Reading “A Singular Triumph.”
Books really do furnish a Christmas
I get notice of, or receive, too many books to give due love to them all. As the holiday season approaches and we get to have leisure time for reading, I thought I’d post about some books you might want to mention to Santa.… Continue Reading “Books really do furnish a Christmas”
Shieldbugs & Ponds, Pools and Puddles: UNOFFICIAL BOOKCLUB NO 12
Shieldbugs by Richard Jones, New Naturalist 147, Collins, £65, pbk £35 Ponds, Pools and Puddles Jeremy Biggs and Penny Williams, New Naturalist 148,, Collins, £65, pbk £35. This is a long overdue piece on the last two in the New Naturalist series, which is,… Continue Reading “Shieldbugs & Ponds, Pools and Puddles: UNOFFICIAL BOOKCLUB NO 12”
The Complete Insect: UNOFFICIAL BOOKCLUB NO 11
The Complete Insect: Anatomy, Physiology, Evolution and Ecology, David Grimaldi (ed), Princeton University Press, £30. If humanity is to shift up a gear in creating a sustainable civilisation, and thereby increase its own chances of survival, while safeguarding the rest of life on our… Continue Reading “The Complete Insect: UNOFFICIAL BOOKCLUB NO 11”
Bohemian Waxwing: Europe’s bird-of-paradise
My winter has been crowned by a visitation of waxwings to Derbyshire that includes a congregation on the Monsal Trail near Bakewell of c360 birds, among the largest flocks ever recorded in the county. I have waited half a century to see even a… Continue Reading “Bohemian Waxwing: Europe’s bird-of-paradise”
Volunteers ’23
In 2022 I remember how a major wildlife charity published with great fanfare a list of its favourite celebrities. Celebrities? I was …. unimpressed. With very few, notable exceptions, celebrities are to action-for-nature what bush tucker (off that god-awful tv programme) is to nature-connectedness.… Continue Reading “Volunteers ’23”
Beetles of the World: Unofficial Bookclub No 10
Beetles of the World: A Natural History, Maxwell V L Barclay & Patrice Bouchard, Princeton, hbk £25 It’s time to think of beetles as something other than a tiny black creature scuttling insignificantly through the vegetation. As Alfred Russell Wallace pointed out of the… Continue Reading “Beetles of the World: Unofficial Bookclub No 10”
Bee Aware: my Unofficial BOOKCLUB NO 9
Solitary Bees by Ted Benton and Nick Owens, New Naturalist Library, William Collins, £35 pbk. The superb Field Guide to the Bees of Britain and Ireland by Steven Falk and Richard Lewington (2015) is probably my most constant companion after any wildlife excursion in… Continue Reading “Bee Aware: my Unofficial BOOKCLUB NO 9”
Mark Cocker 