Time outdoors is always well spent. It raises the spirits, sparks the imagination and, as research increasingly shows, measurably improves our physical and mental wellbeing. Rhythms of Nature celebrates this fundamental relationship with the natural world, and considers some ways we might rediscover it.
After a career in conservation, Ian Carter moves to a secluded farmhouse tucked away in the low hills of mid-Devon between Exmoor and Dartmoor. Here he tries new approaches to exploring the local countryside. He learns the edible species, follows streams (wherever they may lead) and slips unseen through private estates. He experiments with rewilding the garden, goes on night-time rambles and watches the changing seasons in super high definition.
Following on from the author’s acclaimed Human, Nature, this engaging and thought-provoking book offers simple suggestions for how to enliven a sense of wonder in our surroundings. A paean to the ‘neglected’ and untidy places that can enrich our lives, it will appeal to anyone wishing to develop a deeper connection with wildlife or who has a desire to seek out the wilder corners of our landscape.
Mục lục
Acknowledgements
Introduction
HOME TURF
House guests
Growing the lawn
Garden rewilders
Dabbling in management
To feed or not to feed
The turning of the Earth
VENTURING OUT
Signs of life
Fellow-travellers
Wild browsing
WAYS OF SEEING
Reminders of wilderness
Wild nights out
Going with the flow
The gentle art of tramping
CONNECTIONS
Tragedy on the common
Fleeing humanity
Rain, forest
Green unpleasant land
The amateur naturalists
Wintering
Index
Giới thiệu về tác giả
Ian Carter took early retirement after twenty-five years as an ornithologist with Natural England. He was closely involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme and wider work on the conservation of birds of prey, bird reintroductions and wildlife management. The cultural and philosophical aspects of nature conservation have always fascinated him, especially their influence on our attitudes towards the natural world. He has written articles for wildlife magazines including British Birds, British Wildlife and Birdwatch, and has co-authored papers in scientific journals. He wrote The Red Kite (Arlequin Press 2007) and, with Dan Powell, The Red Kite’s Year (Pelagic Publishing 2019), and has been on the Editorial Board of the journal British Birds for over twenty years. He keeps a wildlife diary and has written something in it (however dull) every day for over thirty-five years.