Malcolm Crowder 1933 – 2026

Malcolm Crowder, Honeyguider and trustee of the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust, died on 19 July. His death, aged 92, followed a time of care in Salhouse, Norfolk, at home with his wife Helen Crowder.

The majority of Honeyguiders will have met Malcolm and Helen, given the number of Honeyguide wildlife holidays that they were on. Helen recently reminded me that in July 2019 I gave them a certificate to mark 100 Honeyguide holidays between them – 50 each. After then there were six more, bringing Malcolm’s total to 56. This included one Norfolk break during the ’Covid years’, during which time Malcolm was also on 35 local Honeyguide events, mostly morning or all-day walks in Norfolk. Their most recent holiday was to South of Salamanca in Spain in 2023.

Malcolm Crowder releases a ringed chiffchaff. Pego Marsh, Valencia, March 2018

Malcolm was instrumental in setting up the Honeyguide Wildlife Trust in 2004. It came out of a conversation, over a beer in the French Pyrenees, about how to make the most of the donations to conservation projects that are part of Honeyguide’s ethos. His suggestion was a charitable trust, to enable us to claim Gift Aid on donations, which we have done ever since. Malcolm’s work as a surveyor and project manager in the restoration of historic buildings, especially those with a community benefit, meant he knew the mechanics of setting up a charitable trust. Naturally I asked if he’d do it for us, which he was happy to do.

My connection with Malcolm goes back further, to my student days at the University of East Anglia in the 1970s. I had opinions about how the university campus should be managed for wildlife, such as leaving areas uncut and not clearing up fallen timber. All perfectly valid, though seeking out someone to hear my perspective in the university’s administration may not have been the best way to tackle this. Malcolm, as number two in the university’s estates department, calmly listened to and tolerated my undergraduate opinions. We’d bump into each other in Norwich from time to time in the following years, then again when the RSPB used his surveyor’s skills to check over the new regional office building at 97 Yarmouth Road, Norwich.

Helen and Malcolm saw an article in the Eastern Daily Press about Honeyguide in The Lot department, France, a regular destination during the 1990s. When we moved this French holiday to the Dordogne in 2001, this became a favourite destination, with Helen and Malcolm happy to return to Cathy and Keith’s hospitality at Castang on several occasions. After more than 50 holidays, there weren’t many that Malcolm hadn’t been on, though I should also note Berdún in the Spanish Pyrenees as another favourite to which Malcolm and Helen were always happy to return.

Helen and Malcolm Crowder in 2019 (Jean Dunn).

Malcolm continued working into his eighties, and often said that he enjoyed not having to think for the week or so that he was away. In his quiet way, he enjoyed the company of Honeyguiders, and vice versa. His motto was 'never give up', which applied to his gentle enjoyment of the wildlife and company on holidays.

This blog concentrates on Malcolm’s links with Honeyguide and is far short of a biography. Put his name into a search engine and you’ll find information about his work for the Norwich Preservation Trust, London Historic Buildings Trust and North Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust (e.g. Langham Dome). In 2000, he was awarded an OBE for his services to historic building conservation.

Chris Durdin

Honeyguide and LPO – a longstanding connection

During this year’s French Pyrenees holiday (June 2026), we had a guest speaker who was probably marking our last holiday that included a donation to LPO. This is a tale and a link that I’d like to share with the wider Honeyguide network.

But first, an explanation of the initials LPO, which stands for La Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, the French Bird Protection League. LPO is the BirdLife partner in France, the equivalent of the RSPB in the UK, SEO in Spain, SPEA in Portugal and so on. These organisations have much in common, though also vary greatly in terms of membership, activities and priorities.

LPO has a regional structure and here we were in Hautes-Pyrénées. The LPO’s website describes activities in the region. For example, on the Hautes-Pyrénées web pages I have learned that there was a count of wintering red kites in the French Pyrenees in January 2026, which counted 10,303 red kites, 2,211 of which were in Hautes-Pyrénées, with a population trend considered stable.

Guy Maille of LPO Hautes-Pyrénées with Honeyguide's Chris Durdin.

This is my account of the meeting at the Hotel La Brèche de Roland in Gèdre, taken from the French Pyrenees holiday report. 

We had a dinner and after-dinner guest this evening: Guy Maille, President of LPO Hautes-Pyrénées. Chris was in contact with Guy about Honeyguide’s donation, and had learnt that he speaks no English. We soon realised that Guy was quite a personality and not to be put off by such a minor matter. He travelled to Gèdre from Toulouse to see us, after which he was going home in the next valley but one, something like three hours away, then heading off to a meeting in Marseille in the morning. Over dinner, those who spoke some French also practised with a Google translate app, which proved astonishingly effective as we gathered in the hotel’s meeting room (with no competing football, thank goodness) to hear about LPO’s work. I think we were all impressed by Guy’s energy and enthusiasm for LPO’s nature conservation work.

Guy described various meetings with farmers and hunters where he tried to find what they had in common, to further nature conservation. He has to spend time on how to deal with many enquiries about sick or injured birds, not normally a conservation priority, but needing answers. In response to a question, he was optimistic about the level of interest in nature conservation among young people.

Bearded vulture (Roger Tidman).

A number that Guy gave, which I made a point of noting, was 66 pairs of bearded vultures in the French Pyrenees in 2026. Checking on Honeyguide’s French Pyrenees web page, I found that previous counts that I had noted were 17 pairs in 1994, 24 pairs in 2004 and 39 pairs in 2024. This is seriously impressive growth for a species that only raises a single chick per year, not necessarily every year.

“La retraite n'est pas des vacances“ – “Retirement is not a holiday”, was a phrase Guy used a couple of times.

Previous groups in the French Pyrenees met, from LPO, either Phillipe Serre or, in more recent years Gwénaëlle Plet – both English-speaking. Both are still working in the Pyrenees, Gwénaëlle as a mountain guide. By chance we met Gwénaëlle in the Saugué Valley; she was driving a minibus with a group of American students.

Gwénaëlle Plet and Honeyguide's Chris Durdin, 2015.

We were able to send £940 (about €1062) to LPO. The conservation contribution this year was made up of £40 per person, an additional donation of £200 and supplemented by gift aid through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust. The total for all conservation contributions through Honeyguide since 1991 (July 2026) is £168,827. Another day, there is potentially more to add to complete the picture of Honeyguide and LPO, including our many years of support for the Refuges LPO project through holidays in The Lot and Dordogne, and a different project one year in Languedoc. 

A word of explanation, for anyone coming across this blog who doesn’t know how Honeyguide works. Part of the ethos of Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays has always been to contribute to the protection of the wildlife that we enjoy, put into effect by donations to conservation projects and organisations linked to our activities. Donations go through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust, through which we can claim Gift Aid and increase our charitable activity.

Chris Durdin

Bee orchids return to Big Yellow

Bee orchids are flowering again at Big Yellow Self Storage in central Norwich. This follows a blank year in 2025, when there were none in then 17 years of visits, on account of a very dry spring – see No show for ‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids in drought year (June 2025).

Bee orchid flower, close-up, at Big Yellow Self Storage.

On my annual visit today (12 June) to Big Yellow Self Storage on Canary Way, opposite the Norwich City football ground, there were ten flowering spikes of bee orchids. It’s not a huge number, though compared with none, very good to see.

Bee orchid at Big Yellow Self Storage. 

The ox-eye daisies in the ‘meadow in the city’ were mostly over: I know they looked good in the spring. Curiously, across the road, with a backdrop of the football ground, they still looked good, presumably in less dry conditions.

Ox-eye daisies with the Barclay End of Norwich City FC behind.

Other flowers I noted were as follows: black knapweed, ragwort, black medick, yarrow, wild carrot, lady’s bedstraw, mouse-ear hawkweed, creeping cinquefoil, common poppy, dovesfoot cranesbill and perforate St John’s wort. Common broomrapes and red clover had finished flowering. None of these are rare species, though most are likely to be absent from a closely cut sward.

Black knapweed and yarrow, among mostly gone-over ox-eye daisies.

It was windy when I visited, so not the best time to see insects, or indeed take photographs, though there were three common blue damselflies among the flowers, a 7-spot ladybird and a red-tailed bumblebee.

I was able to explain to three passers-by about Big Yellow’s helpful management here to create a wildlife refuge near the city centre.

Chris Durdin, 12 June 2026

Previously about Big Yellow’s bee orchids (selected):

No show for ‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids in drought year June 2025
‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids 2024 
Photos on Facebook 2022 
Bee orchids bonus in lockdown (2020) 
Bee orchids bounce back (2019) 
Bee Orchids get my vote (2017)
Big Yellow bee orchids are back (2016)
The Meadow in the City (2015) 
‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids 2024

Banded argiope spider Argiope trifasciata on Crete

A spider found by Honeyguide’s group in April 2026 turns out to be an unusual record, namely a species only recently recorded on Crete.

The group, when at Phaestos (or Festos or Phaistos – it depends how you transliterate the Greek) on 10 April, found a female wasp spider that had caught a swallowtail butterfly.

Banded argiope (or banded garden spider) Argiope trifasciata, with swallowtail butterfly.

I managed to drop down the bank behind the spider and swallowtail to get a photo of the upper (dorsal) side. The photo collage shows this, with group members looking on.

It didn’t look quite right to be the same wasp spider species that I know in the UK. Google Images and the Seek app (iNaturalist) both suggested Argiope trifasciata, with an English name of banded garden spider. I later found the alternative name of banded argiope. As the Argiope genus includes other wasp spiders, this seems a better English name.

The difference in appearance is that wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi has wiggly bits among the edges of the black lines between the yellow and the white lines. On banded argiope, Argiope trifasciata, and my photo, the lines are roughly parallel, or curved towards the rear end; bands, you could say.

The intriguing questions come from the range of Argiope trifasciata, originally an American species. Wikipedia notes that it is native to North and South America, but now found around the world, and in Europe it can be found on the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, and Madeira. This chimes with where I’ve seen it before on Honeyguide holidays, namely Tarifa (8 March 2024), Morocco (19 March 2026), Madeira (10 & 14 October 2018) and Menorca (11 October 2022).

But what about Crete / Greece? An internet search found a paper entitled Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek island of Crete (2013). Argiope trifasciata is absent from that. I found an email for the author, but he added no light. A distribution map on the Spiders of Europe website – see below – again suggests it is absent from Crete and the Greek mainland.

Distribution map for Argiope trifasciata, according to Spiders of Europe website, evidently slightly out of date.

The outcome is simply that finding Argiope trifasciata on Crete is consistent with its spread across parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I entered the record onto iNaturalist (the website’s algorithms recognised the species, though humans have also agreed the record) and this gave me access to other records for Crete.

The Honeyguide group's banded argiope is the fourth for Crete on iNaturalist, with previous records from May 2024, September 2024 and October 2024. Two of these were from the far west and far east of Crete, the other more central.

Now for photos of other wasp spiders (Argiope genus), for reference.

My first UK wasp spider Argiope bruennichi, West Canvey marsh, Essex 11 October 2007.

The wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, is found across much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia, and is spreading north rapidly. That spread is very evident in England, with a rapid colonisation of Norfolk in the last decade. Wasp spiders are plentiful in two Norwich parks with areas of long grass, Eaton Park and Catton Park. Honeyguiders on Norfolk days out have found it at Thompson Common, Hickling (both August 2023) and Buxton Heath (July 2025).

Large wasp spider Argiope lobata collage, Extremadura, Spain, October 2026.

Large wasp spider Argiope lobata is in southern Europe and much of Africa and Asia. It’s much less frequently found on Honeyguide holidays. My only photos are from Extremadura, 2 October 2016.

Chris Durdin, May 2026 

A host of warblers at NWT Thorpe Marshes

 A bonus of having NWT’s Thorpe Marshes nature reserve close by is not just the access to countryside and nature, but also the chance to learn about wildlife. I have been leading monthly guided walks at Thorpe Marshes for more than ten years and they are always popular.

You might be wondering what it’s like to be with a small group. Of course they vary through the year as nature changes. This article gives a flavour of the guided walk in mid-April.

April and May are the peak months for bird song, and we took time to listen to and name the many warbler species at Thorpe Marshes. We heard or saw seven species of warbler, plus a fleeting sound of an eighth.

The first of these was Cetti’s warbler, unusual in that it’s a resident species. It’s loud, shouty song comes from cover: like a wren, it’s a brown bird that advertises its presence by sound. A glimpse is all you’ll get, if you’re lucky.

The second was a willow warbler, with a flowing downward cadence of liquid notes from tall willows near the mooring basin. Willow warblers were absent last year and their geographical range is shifting northwards with climate change, so to have one here another year feels like a bonus.

Sedge warbler (Derek Longe).

The noisiest and most numerous warbler in spring is the sedge warbler. This is a species that does show itself, and out on the marsh we spent some time watching a singing male on a small willow bush. Everyone saw it well, with its orange gape – open mouth – clear with my telescope’s extra magnification. Every now and then this scratchy, energetic song was emphasised with a short song flight, up and down, then back to its perch.

We were close to the cattle corral when three of us heard the faint ‘reeling’ of a grasshopper warbler. As that wasn’t heard by most of the group, I’m not including it in the count of the day’s seven warbler species. Grasshopper warblers are best heard early morning or evening, though a couple of days later I heard one during the middle of the day from where I was standing on the railway bridge.

In the small woodland in the far corner of Thorpe Marshes we heard chiffchaff and blackcap – warblers four and five. Warbler number six was reed warbler, singing from reed on the edge of St Andrews Broad. The song is similar to sedge warbler, but slower and less animated.

Whitethroat (Nigel Harris).

The seventh and final warblers were whitethroats that like the mix of brambles and nettles near the river bank. It’s another scratchy song, like the sedge warbler often delivered from a perch and with short song flights.

Marsh marigold.

Of course there were other birds besides warblers: great crested grebe on St Andrews Broad, buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel flying past, and various other small birds. We found an alder fly and there were numerous black St Mark's flies in the air. One of the group found the egg of an orange tip butterfly on garlic mustard, and lady's smock and marsh marigold flowers were at their best.

Lady's smock.

There’s now a ninth warbler species at Thorpe Marshes, as a garden warbler arrived after the guided walk. It’s rich, warbling song, more sustained than a blackcap’s, which comes from tall scrub.

It’s best to mention that the guided walks, booked via the NWT's website, soon become fully booked, so looking ahead a few months may help anyone planning to join us.

*  *  *  *  *

A splendid team of volunteers, led by Warden Matt Wickens, has been improving the path from Thorpe Marshes to Bungalow Lane. This used to get horribly muddy in winter, but now – as the picture shows – a stone path should allow year-round access to this area. 

New path from NWT Thorpe Marshes to Bungalow Lane.

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Chris Durdin lives in Thorpe St Andrew. He runs Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays www.honeyguide.co.uk and is the guide for the monthly guided walks at NWT Thorpe Marshes. This blog was first written as an article for Just Thorpe St Andrew.

Conservation donations to SEO (BirdLife Spain) from Honeyguide since 1991

There is a connection between a special guest who met our group in Extremadura (March 2026) and a spreadsheet in the Honeyguide office.

The guest is Marcelino Cardalliaguet Guerra – we know him as Marce – who is SEO’s officer working in Extremadura. SEO – in full Sociedad Española de Ornitología – is the BirdLife partner in Spain, which has been supported by Honeyguide donations linked to many of our holidays in Spain over many years. Marce visited our group in Extremadura in the second half of March 2026 to celebrate this longstanding support.

Tozo River, Extremadura.

Marce’s visit also marks the end of an era. This was Honeyguide’s final group at Martin and Claudia Kelsey's accommodation, their Casa Rural called Casa El Recuerdo, a retirement planned for some time. 2026/27 may also be Honeyguide’s final year.

Marce receives a cheque from Chris, Extremadura 2014 (we use bank transfers now).

So it’s a good moment to reflect, and that’s where the spreadsheet comes in – to assemble and check on totals raised by Honeyguide for SEO. This blog is to share the outcome, and especially the headline: £24,431 donated to SEO since 1991. That total includes sums raised by five different holidays in Spain (the details follow on below), and is 15% of the grand total of £166,207 donated by Honeyguide so far to conservation projects (the sums go to the end of March 2026).

Of that £24,431 donated to SEO, most is from two holidays, Extremadura and the Spanish Pyrenees.

Another year, another cheque: Martin Kelsey gives Marce the Honeyguide donation.

The largest element of this sum is £12,188 donated to SEO in Extremadura, raised through 29 holiday groups in Extremadura. The first three of these were based in Hotel Las Cigüeñas in Trujillo (1998 and 1999), then 21 staying at Finca Santa Marta (2000-2019), and five, in the post-Covid years, at Casa El Recuerdo.

Berdún, Spanish Pyrenees, October 2024.

A similar sum, £10,053, has been raised by 27 Honeyguide groups in the Spanish Pyrenees. All these groups stayed in Berdún. The first 18 of these, 1991-2006, stayed at the Painting School, including three groups in 1996. Since 2008, nine groups have stayed at Casa Sarasa. 

Holidays in three other Spanish destinations have also raised money for SEO. Five holidays in Fuerteventura, all guided by David Collins, have raised £1,410 for SEO’s work in the Canary Islands.

Two holidays in South of Salamanca have raised £490 towards raptor protection in that region. One of our Picos de Europa holidays donated to SEO Cantabria, in 2022, when we visited SEO’s urban nature reserve in Santander before our flight back to the UK.

I should add that holidays in other parts of Spain have contributed to other Spanish conservation work. In the Balearics (Menorca and Mallorca) we support GOB (Grup Balear d'Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa – the Balearic Ornithological Group). In Valencia we support ringing group Grupo de Anillamiento Pit-Roig. In the Picos de Europa, our main donation goes to butterfly NGO Asociación Zerynthia. In Tarifa we have supported Migres, which monitors bird migration though the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Ornithological Group of Estrecho (GOES).

The link with SEO has not ended. In 2026, there will be a further donation to SEO from our holiday to South of Salamanca. There will also be a donation to Zerynthia from our Picos de Europa group.

There is more information about Honeyguide’s donations to conservation projects in blogs:

• A record conservation donation from Honeyguide in 2025 December 2025
• Conservation donations from Honeyguide in 2024 January 2025.
• Conservation donations from Honeyguide in 2023 November 2023
• … and on our Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust web page.

As Honeyguiders know, part of the ethos of Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays has always been to contribute to the protection of the wildlife that we enjoy, put into effect by donations to conservation projects and organisations linked to our activities. Donations now go through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust, through which we can claim Gift Aid and increase our charitable activity.

The above is updated to include the donation to SEO in Extremadura in March 2026. 

Celebrating a long partnership: Marce from SEO and Chris Durdin from Honeyguide, March 2026 (photo by Mick Gold.)

Marce presented Chris with a memento, which has two sets of words. The first, next to the little bustard picture, is a touch Churchillian: "Never in the field of human conflicts to preserve nature and birds through tourism, have so many owed so much to so few, and in particular to one: our dear friend Chris Durdin. Don't forget us, we never will."

On the base, it says: "To Chris Durdin on his retirement, from your friends at SEO/BirdLife. Thank you for 36 years of supporting birds and nature."

Chris Durdin, March 2026, updated after the Extremadura holiday

Spectrum, a book by Tessa Needham

Honeyguider Tessa Needham, from Norwich, has written and self-published a novel set in the Norfolk Broads. Called Spectrum, the book is aimed at teenagers and above.

Bittern, one of several illustrations in the book by Melanie Boulton, who is also a volunteer at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve.

Here’s the blurb about the book:

“We are at the end of the Swinging Sixties as four young Broads Rangers, collectively named Spectrum, roam the Norfolk Broads in their multi-coloured motorboats, helping tourists and locals alike enjoy the waterways in safety.

Is it pure coincidence if Christine Rogers and her three brothers share the same name as the mysterious instrumental group currently topping the record charts?

“Why does their father Sam, an accountant responsible for the financial affairs of several charitable organisations in Kent, make frequent journeys to the Defence Operations RAF Neatishead?

“And how come Tony Dale, the number one pop sensation of the era, is seen so often in Norfolk?

“The tranquillity of the reed beds, brimming over with wildlife, is truly under attack.

“Drug smuggling, arson and kidnapping are some of the twists and turns of our heroes' trials and tribulations.

“Yes, it is an adventure story, but if you want to discover more about the fantastic Norfolk Broads, this is the book for you.”

Spectrum is available from Amazon on Kindle or as a printed book via this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Tessa-Needham/dp/1836153848

Via this link you can read the first two chapters as a taster.

Tessa Needham is a volunteer for the RSPB at Strumpshaw Fen and Sutton Fen nature reserves. At Sutton Fen, Tessa does transects to count swallowtail butterflies and bumblebees. She is also an active member of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists’ Society.

Chris Durdin

Spectrum - book cover.