Category: Notes from the sticks

IN MY piece on skylarks last week I said that they are in decline and that the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) attribute this to changes in farming … Continue readingThe great badger debate

A NUMBER of people have remarked that the reduction in traffic noise during the lockdown has meant that they can hear birdsong more clearly. There are lots of beautiful singers … Continue readingWhat larks

TWO weeks ago a man of 82 was killed by a herd of cows in a field not far from here. The man and his wife were walking their two … Continue readingA battle with cattle

IT has always seemed a shame to me that the wonders of nature are taught only to small children, then taken for granted ever after. I don’t know if schools … Continue readingFroggy goes a-courtin’

THE midge season is in full swing. I wondered when we moved to a house beside a stream if they would be a problem. As it turns out, they aren’t. … Continue readingMidge over troubled water

THERE is a former limestone quarry near us, disused since the early 1900s, which is now a nature reserve. It is a haven for all sorts of wildflowers including orchids, … Continue readingUncommon orchids

I’VE been reading a rather disturbing book, called The Hidden Life of Trees. The subtitle, What They Feel, How They Communicate, made me particularly uneasy. It’s by Peter Wohlleben, who manages a large … Continue readingTalking trees

WE saw the first swifts of the year on Tuesday evening, May 5, when they arrived from their winter quarters in sub-Saharan Africa. It is always a joy to see … Continue readingSuperlative swifts

IN these achingly politically correct times, it seems hard to imagine a proudly men-only dance group capering through the streets with their faces blacked up, exchanging jokes and insults with … Continue readingBacup, land of the Nutters

IT’S funny how sometimes the least remarked and least glamorous things remind you afresh of how utterly amazing the world is. The stream at the back of our house is … Continue readingIn praise of algae