EXPLAINED: Country diary - The Real Truth

Country diary: So many butterflies, it reminds me of summers past

Allendale, Northumberland: What a joy it is to see them back in the garden, speckled woods, commas and small heaths. According to the Big Butterfly Count, I’m not the only one revelling in the abundance

The Guardian - UK · Aug 16, 2025

Country Diary 100 years on: sheep and dogs dominate over rabbits and house martins

Domesticated creatures feature heavily in contemporary contributions to Guardian column compared to diaries of 1920s

The Guardian - UK · Sep 27, 2024

Country diary: Candy-striped spiders are a sweet discovery

Crook, County Durham: Until they began to appear under the bin lid in early autumn, I’d never noticed these colourful arachnids

The Guardian - UK · Sep 20, 2024

Country diary: A kitchen ‘pest’ that predates dinosaurs

Langstone, Hampshire: It’s remarkable to think that silverfish – one of which has dropped off my cabbage – have been around for more than 400m years

The Guardian - UK · Jun 28, 2024

Country diary: The grass is up – and so is the pollen count

The Marches, Shropshire: With the glory of summertime comes hayfever, which we as a species are only making worse

The Guardian - UK · Jun 27, 2024

Country diary: My accidental, flowering tower block

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire: A single 7ft foxglove has risen in my tiny urban garden, a monumental presence, a city all of its own

The Guardian - UK · Jun 26, 2024

Country diary: A night on the whispering saltmarshes of the capital

River Roding, London: A previously neglected scrap of land has been transformed for nature. I visit to immerse myself in the botanical throng

The Guardian - UK · Jun 25, 2024

Country diary: The prettiest of castle flowers – but how did it get here?

Stanhope, County Durham: The roots of this particular fairy foxglove are hotly contested, but I’m certain it didn’t arrive on the sandals of Roman soldiers

The Guardian - UK · Jun 24, 2024

Country diary: A special delivery of mystery creatures – baby eels

Wedmore, Somerset: Little is known about elvers, but today myself and a group of schoolchildren get to take a close look

The Guardian - UK · Jun 21, 2024

Country diary: How does a bird know what it can share the sky with?

Sandy, Bedfordshire: The nearby aerodrome regularly sends up giant flying beasts to about buzzard height, to the apparent indifference of local birdlife

The Guardian - UK · Jun 19, 2024