Spotted flycatchers are late migrants who generally appear long after swallows and swifts, and like to reuse nests made by other species
Tag: Guardian Country Diary
The apples are blossoming in sugar clouds along the hedgerows despite the rain.
There were silvery-pink ones, black-splodged ones and a tiny white one – and number seven nearly didn’t survive
The kitchen window came in, roof tiles smashed and a 15-metre fir tree was felled – all in about two minutes.
The lane ahead floods often over the bridge and I’ve learned to respect the water’s power.
Restoring them disturbs buried seed, which may germinate, bringing back plants not seen in a century
It is not known who planted this pear tree and why, but its beauty is offered free to everyone who passes
Chaw Gully, Postbridge, Dartmoor: Walking down the shallow valley, you reach a network of forked ravines gouged into the earth by centuries of tin mining.
Once hunted to near extinction, roe deer are now pushing into urban fringes to graze.
Brought to Britain by the Romans, walnuts were used as charms to increase wealth.