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The last peak conquered: Climbing Moel Eilio
A windy climb up Moel Eilio in Snowdonia ticks an outstanding North Wales box, as Fiona Reynolds shares.
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Fifty of shades of green: The sex lives of plants
Plants have developed surprising ways of spreading their seed, says John Wright, as he explores the unusual and risqué manner in which some species reproduce to answer one of botany's oldest questions: how do plants have sex?
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Nature's most dangerous journey? The lifecycle of the salmon
A miracle of Nature, the salmon braves body changes, hungry seals and forbidding waterfalls on its extraordinary journey to and from its spawning grounds. But now, warns Simon Lester, it may be facing one challenge too many. Illustrations by Alan Baker for Country Life.
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Jonathan Self: The simple key to a life full of joy and happiness and free of care
An encounter with a 21st century goatherd makes Jonathan Self wonder if things might one day again be simpler.
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Why has it been a bumper year for British berries?
The sunny, yet wet summer might have been a dampener at the time, but the resulting autumnal berry haul is a feast for mice and men, says John Lewis-Stempel.
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The six most beautiful lonely trees in Britain
The untimely and shocking felling of the Sycamore Gap tree prompted a national outpouring of grief. Here, we salute the proud and lonely sentinels of Britain.
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You might think a book about the birds that lived in London 75 years ago would make for gloomy reading. Nothing could be further from the truth.
75 years ago, Richard Fitter published the seminal book 'London’s Birds'. Jack Watkins takes a look inside to see what it tells us about the changing face of the capital’s avian population — and comes away marvelling at how our winged friends have thrived despite the march of metropolitan progress.
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Jason Goodwin: How to fill the Sycamore Gap
Our columnist on how some good might come out of the felling of the sycamore in the gap.
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John Lewis-Stempel: Why autumn is the time to go nuts
Whether enjoyed as a healthy snack or deployed as the playground weapon of choice, nuts are versatile, abundant and plentiful now, says John Lewis-Stempel.
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A complete guide to the sharks you'll find in the seas of Britain (and the one you'll be glad isn't here yet)
From elusive angelsharks to chunky, sprinting shortfin makos and glow-in-the-dark velvet belly lanterns, award-winning marine biologist Helen Scales gets up close and personal with the sharks that swim in British waters.
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Curious Questions: What is Linnaeus’s Flower Clock?
Martin Fone takes a look at one of the most ingenious uses of plants ever imagined by mankind: Linnaeus’s Flower Clock.
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Collective nouns for birds: Why we call it a murder of crows, murmuration of starlings and a conspiracy of ravens
We celebrate our favourite collective nouns for birds, from the weird and the wonderful to the most curious.
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Why are there so many magpies?
Magpies seem to be flourishing, so much so that seeing 'one for sorrow' is more often closer to '11 for a football team'. Martin Fone looks at why these hugely intelligent birds are thriving, and considers why they're so often at the centre of our superstitions.
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England’s chalk downlands: 'The European equivalent of a tropical rainforest'
Every summer, England’s chalk downlands are embroidered with a patch-work of wildflowers — from the horseshoe vetch’s yellow plumes to sainfoin’s pink spikes — all serenaded by an army of butterflies, says Vicky Liddell.
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The 2023 Big Butterfly Count is almost here — and it'll be the most important for a generation
The Big Butterfly Count always gives a vital snapshot of Nature in Britain, but this year more than ever thanks to the extremes of hot, cold and wet we've been through in the past year. James Fisher explains more.
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My 40-year odyssey turning a field into a wildflower meadow that's a buzzing, humming, fluttering world
Country Life columnist Agromenes started turning a field from intensive agriculture to wild flowers four decades ago — a decision which has been proven spectacularly worthwhile.
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Puffins: The clowns of the sea
It might look adorable, but the stumpy and dangerously endangered puffin is a ruthlessly efficient fish killer that’s so hellbent on finding its family a home, it will chase rabbits out of their own burrows, observes Ian Morton. Photographs by Drew Buckley.
