Watership Down

Watership Down, Richard Adam's famous story about a group of rabbits fleeing the destruction of their warren to set up a new one on the Down, thrilled me as a child when i first read it. Without a doubt the story was a big influence on my own stories which have often featured groups like the rabbits in the story (though not actually rabbits - well apart from some space rabbits once...) Although its been a long time since i last read the book (and i do not have a copy anymore) i remember the story very clearly.

What i didn't know until recently was that there was a sequel (of a sorts!) "Tales of Watership Down" was written 25 years after the original and has a number of stories of our rabbit heroes in the aftermath of the defeat of Efrafa. There are also some tales from rabbit folklore and the hero El-ahrairah. A very enjoyable book indeed (and my copy only cost me 1p - albiet with 2 pounds postage!) One surprise was that when i got the book i found that it had been signed by Richard Adams!

When i first read the original book i did hope that there would be a follow-up, "Tales..." kind of fulfils that wish though it does leave the ending open. What happens to the likes of Bigwig and Fiver in the end... well i guess we just have to use our own imagination.

A rabbit on Holford Sports Field, Perry Barr

Towpath sparrow

A busy sparrow on the towpath of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal in Erdington.

Taking flight

A duck gets airborne along the Tame Valley Canal.

The neighbour's cat

The neighbour's cat, always happy to assist me with a bit of gardening!

POTD : Swan takeover

During the Worcester floods the swans decided to take advantage and invade.

POTD : London Horse

A horse tucks into the grass in Beckton, East London.

What's killing the world's amphibians?

A third of all known amphibian species are threatened with extinction, why is this? This well-made video explains why and what can be done to help.

Feeding the birds

I put up a bird feeder a couple of weeks ago though i did not expect much because of past miserable failures. However i noticed this week the seed in the feeder was definitely going down! Yesterday i saw for the first time a couple of finches tucking in. They come quite often, hopefully the cats won't get them!

A visitor

It is a nice day here today so i am doing some gardening. As i was doing so one of the neighbours' cats decided to pay me a visit. Unfortunately she was unable to help with any weeding.