Shortlisted for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 for Nature Writing - Highly Commended Winner for the Richard Jefferies Award 2021 for Best Nature Writing 'A rural, working-class writer in an all too rarefied field, Chester's work is unusual for depicting the countryside as it is lived on the economic margins.' The Guardian 'An important portrait of connection to the land beyond ownership or possession.' Raynor Winn 'It's ever so good. Political, passionate and personal.' Robert Macfarlane 'Evocative and inspiring...environmental protest, family, motherhood and...nature.' Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground, Costa Novel Award Winner 2021 Nature is everything. It is the place I come from and the place I got to. It is family. Wherever I am, it is home and away, an escape, a bolt hole, a reason, a place to fight for, a consolation, and a way home. As a child growing up in rural England, Guardian Country Diarist Nicola Chester was inexorably drawn to the natural landscape surrounding her. Walking, listening and breathing in the nature around her, she followed the call of the cuckoo, the song of the nightingale and watched as red kites, fieldfares and skylarks soared through the endless skies over the chalk hills of the North Wessex Downs: the ancient land of Greenham Common which she called home. Nicola bears witness to, and fights against, the stark political and environmental changes imposed on the land she loves, whilst raising her family to appreciate nature and to feel like they belong - core parts of who Nicola is. From protesting the loss of ancient trees to the rewilding of Greenham Common, to the gibbet on Gallows Down and living in the shadow of Highclere Castle (made famous in Downton Abbey), On Gallows Down shows how one woman made sense of her world - and found her place in it.

Learn to identify animals, plants, and fungi wherever you go with this step-by-step guide for spotting and recording key traits and characteristics.

If you've ever consulted a field guide to identify a new bird at your feeder, you know the process isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, it seems like you have to know a lot about that mystery bird to even figure out where to start.

The Everyday Naturalist fills in the gaps by explaining what traits to pay attention to when encountering a new species; how and when to use field guides, apps, and other resources; what to do if you get stuck; and more. Rather than focusing on one region or continent, these skills and tools are designed to help you classify nature anywhere you are—whether on familiar territory, traveling, or in a new home.

In chapters about animals, plants, fungi, and organisms like lichens and slime molds, naturalist and guide Rebecca Lexa goes into detail about what sets each of these kingdoms apart from each other—from color, shape, and texture to sexual characteristics, behavior, and habitat—and includes more than forty full-color photos and drawings to illustrate key points. She also provides detailed case studies to demonstrate how to use all of these traits to identify specimens across multiple kingdoms.

This easy-to-follow guide empowers you to learn more about the species around you, then use what you know to preserve the world you love. And at a time when biodiversity is imperiled worldwide, nature needs more advocates than ever.

We all suffer loss in life, be it the loss of a person we love, a pet, health, fortune, identity or fame. In order to assuage the pain of such losses we need to regain balance in our lives. This remarkable man, Poet Tristan, through humor, storytelling, heartbreak, self-deprecation and whimsy, in this, perhaps his first volume of work, helps us to replace that balance through his songs of love and life.