Yacht Mollymawk

Over the course of the past two months the Ship’s Naturalist has been making a survey of a colony of breeding gulls. Each nest which she finds is carefully marked on her hand-drawn map, and progress is recorded in her diary. The project is still on-going - every time we visit the colony there are new babies to photograph and new pieces of egg-shell to collect - but we decided that it was high time we let you take a look at the first instalment of the report. This covers the period from early March through to April 13th. Continue Reading…

We now lose a small but much loved member of the crew. Continue Reading…

The ripples from the dinghy’s bow shot ahead of her across the calm water, as she was pushed forward by Daddy’s powerful stroke. I crouched in the bow next to Poppy and called out to the others. Xoë waved back. Continue Reading…

Roxanne is back again, with something new for you to read:
I’ve been very busy lately. I have been building a wall around the edge of my dead hamster’s grave. My hamster - Chicita - died a year ago. And I’ve only just got round to building the wall round her grave… I’ve been planting seeds round the grave, mostly from the hamster’s food. (A year - and I haven’t got round to throwing away the hamsters food!) And I’ve been watering the grave, and I’ve been attempting to weed out the weakest seeds so that the strongest can have room to grow. And I’ve also been tidying my cabin. And I’ve been non-stop cleaning my animal’s cages - a bit like cleaning the Forth bridge - by the time you have done the last one the first needs doing again! And, of course, when I do find a second to spare, as likely as not - or actually a lot more likely than not - I find that the internet is off. Now I suppose we can get on with the story… Continue Reading…

Once upon a time… Combining her talent for studying wildlife with that of the raconteur, Roxanne has written a story. It isn’t a fairy tale, and although we will never really know how the adventure began the ending, at least, is a true story.

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The final episode of Roxanne’s wildlife trilogy is devoted to the creatures which many of us overlook or regard with fear and loathing: the creepy-crawlies.

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In the second instalment of her wildlife series, Roxanne introduces us to her feathered friends. Continue Reading…

During the past couple of years Mollymawk has been based in the Mar Menor. It’s not the most attractive or exciting place in the world, but the Ship’s Naturalist has found plenty here to interest her. In this three part series she begins by telling us about the life which lurks in the water. Continue Reading…