The world is full of the most extraordinary examples of natural beauty. Here are our favourite sights and sounds of our natural world, one for each month of the year. Which is your favourite?
January: The stoop of a peregrine falcon
February: The flash of a kingfisher
March: Black grouse lekking
April: A bluebell wood
May: Cow parsley in our hedgerows
June: A trout rising to a mayfly
July: Swifts swooping and screaming
August: Chalkhill blue butterflies on the downs
September: A barn owl hunting at dusk
October: Red-deer stags roaring in the rut
November: Hounds in full cry
December: Ash burning on an open fire
Exhibition review: Ordinary Beauty – The Photography of Edwin Smith
Country Life reviews Ordinary Beauty: The photography of Edwin Smith at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Barn owls bounce back
The British Trust for Ornithology has reported a rise in barn owl nesting figures.
Grey squirrels to be culled
Grey squirrel crackdown planned.
-
Sir Denys Lasdun: The brains behind the building branded 'a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London’ by The KingJohn Betjeman admired Sir Denys Lasdun’s work, but The King disliked it, and opinion remains divided to this day. Either way, the man who viewed ‘buildings as landscape’ has left an indelible mark on London.
-
Hard water, parrots and God's Own Country: Country Life's Quiz of the Day, August 12, 2025Tuesday's quiz takes you on a tour of the UK. It also features Danny Dyer.
