This content contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission. Annie Proulx is best known as an award-winning novelist. Her numerous awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1993 novel The Shipping News. Fen, Bog and Swamp, however, is Proulx’s attempt, as a non-scientist, …
This content contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission. It’s World Whale Day this coming Sunday, a day to celebrate whales and draw attention to the numerous threats they face. The first Whale Day was in 1980 in Maui, Hawaii. It was set up to …
As January gets into its stride, many of us start looking out for the first signs of spring. This might be the first snowdrops, or the first tree leaf buds. Later on, we might notice our first swallow or chiffchaff. Some of us may even keep a record of when these events occur each year. …
I wrote a while ago about some of our recent bird colonists, including little egrets and ring-necked parakeets. Some of these recent colonisers, though, are actually birds that used to breed here but were driven to extinction before returning. These include some of our most charismatic raptor species. A few raptor species managed to cling …
This content contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission. Whenever I’m staying with family in the West Country, I always make a point of visiting one of my favourite places: the Somerset Levels. This 650 km2 landscape is a mixture of raised bog, former and …
I’m a huge fan of citizen science projects like the Big Butterfly Count. These schemes mean that any of us can contribute valuable data to research projects around the world, as well as play a part in vital conservation work. And whether you want to help out from the comfort of your own home, or …
This content contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission. Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count starts today, a chance to get involved counting these beautiful insects and contribute to an important citizen science project. The count runs for a few weeks at the end of July …
This content contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission. It’s the Royal Horticultural Society’s National Gardening Week (from 2nd to 8th May), aimed at celebrating the joy of gardening. Over the years, my favourite thing about gardening has definitely been the variety of wildlife I’ve …
Bird of the month for April is the humble house sparrow. Many of us might take this bird for granted, but it is one of my absolute favourite species. Growing up, this was probably the first bird I became aware of, almost certainly because it was one that nested in the eaves of our house …