Country diary: A living fossil with a tale to tell
Winlaton Mill, Gateshead: The landscape here is vast and exhilarating, but a close look reveals a curious plant with a link to the area’s coal pastWhen the 12th Earl of Strathmore, a 19th-century nimby...
View ArticleCountry diary: An unruly teenager among the dutiful bluebells
Egglestone, Teesdale: If imperfection is your chosen aesthetic, then look no further than the goldilocks buttercupEvery year at bluebell time, the same thought recurs: spring is slipping away. In less...
View ArticleCountry diary: For spring butterflies, survival is the name of the game
Willington, County Durham: The small heath makes sure to cast a tiny shadow; the dingy skipper chooses camouflageMid-morning, on the warmest day of the year so far. The only clouds are of wispy, plumed...
View ArticleThe closest I have ever been to a buzzard
Eggleston, Teesdale: In all my years of nature watching they have been distant apparitions, until todayBuzzards were uncommon here when I first became a Country Diarist, 35 years ago. To watch them...
View ArticleCountry diary: A simple picnic in a miniature jungle
Auckland Park, Bishop Auckland: All around me the grassland is teeming with life, from busy spiders to chocolate butterfliesA geometrid moth caterpillar undulates through the grass. Grip with front...
View ArticleCountry diary: A late red grouse chick makes a dash for its mother’s wing
Pikestone Fell, Weardale: The year’s first great pulse of moorland energy, the upland bird breeding season, is all but overIt’s uncomfortably warm on this rare, windless morning and the horizon wobbles...
View ArticleCountry diary: Not even a digger could rid our garden of hedge bindweed
Crook, County Durham:This rampant climber has the blackberry bushes in its spirally grip. There are, however, some a few striking benefitsBotanists know it as hedge bindweed, Calystegia sepium. My...
View ArticleCountry diary: A heady mix of sex and drugs for this wasp
Deerness Valley Way, County Durham: We watched the whole performance – a bewildered, stumbling wasp, unable to resist another floral visitIt has begun to feel autumnal here. Today, this tree-lined...
View ArticleCountry diary: A holly blue butterfly at the very edges of existence
Crook, County Durham: It is almost miraculous that this tiny beauty is here at all. Now it has to contend with an upset climateIn the cool hour after sunrise on 5 August, a scorching day during the...
View ArticleCountry diary: A hand lens reveals mosses’ micro-engineering
Wolsingham, County Durham: In 1665, Robert Hooke’s Micrographia opened up a world that is still as captivating to me now as it was in my childhoodSeptember 1962: a group of 11-year-olds armed with hand...
View ArticleCountry diary: Seascape and saltmarsh make a feast for the senses
Warkworth, Northumberland: Redshanks and breaking waves provide a perfect soundtrack in crystal clear airThis saltmarsh has a slow, rhythmic pulse. Twice daily, the conjunction of the moon’s...
View ArticleCountry diary: The dragonfly hovers to inspect my face
Bishop Auckland, County Durham: The southern hawker is known for being inquisitive, but today its attention is on the feast at the ivyA still, warm autumn morning, and ivy in full bloom is cascading...
View ArticleCountry diary: Another fallen tree, another slow feast for the woodland floor
Wolsingham, Weardale: Snails, fungi and countless insects will thrive on this ash, which has joined other fallen specimens from decades agoThere’s a carpenter’s-workshop fragrance of freshly splintered...
View ArticleCountry diary: The nuthatch takes a toxin that can paralyse our hearts
Meeting of the Waters, Teesdale: Humans have to be wary of poisonous yew trees. Not so these masked banditsA treasured old guide to wildflowers, a birthday gift 60 years ago, sits, dog-eared, on my...
View ArticleCountry diary: In the bleak midwinter, the hedgerow waits for warmer days |...
Wolsingham, Weardale: The long-tailed tits are avian acrobats, scouring the twigs for food The annual ride on the ferris wheel of the seasons was approaching its lowest point: the winter solstice, the...
View ArticleCountry diary: The old Twin Peaks are now a land of opportunity
Willington, County Durham: Kestrels and fieldfares thrive on this grassy hillside that is steeped in historyThe growl of high-street traffic had barely faded as we walked uphill, away from the town...
View ArticleCountry diary: Much to be found in the two inch-tall rainforest | Phil Gates
Egglestone, Teesdale: Crouch down at this time of year and you’ll see the irrepressible energy of new foliage, fresh shoots and spring’s promiseIn leafless crowns of trees at the top of the bank, high...
View ArticleCountry diary: There’s a peacock butterfly presenting the news | Phil Gates
Crook, County Durham: After the delight of finding this magnificent butterfly overwintering in our house comes the dilemmaDozing-off at bedtime, yawning, reaching for the TV remote control – and...
View ArticleCountry diary: An obliging redpoll is too hungry to be scared of us | Phil Gates
Deerness Valley Way, County Durham: These beautiful little finches have been fixtures this winter, feeding off scraps in unremarkable spotsA misty, watercolour winter morning. Windless, perfectly still...
View ArticleCountry diary: Clean water brings the dippers | Phil Gates
Wolsingham, Weardale: The cock bird, an operatic tenor in immaculate evening dress, delivered a avian aria that I could hear above the tumult of the riverUpstream, the river glides past, a liquid...
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