Chris Skinner's Countryside Podcasts

Send us Fan MailOn a chilly, grey early-May morning with a brisk northerly wind and five weeks of drought at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the effects of the dry spell. Skylarks hover and sing over parched grass fields, while swallows sweep low hunting for insects. In Fox’s Grove, they examine sycamore leaves glistening with honeydew from vast colonies of green aphids — prolific breeders that provide vital “aerial plankton” for summer migrants. Chris then admires one of the farm’s magnificent old hawthorns (May) in full luminous blossom beside an ancient quarry. He shares its long history as a hedging plant, its sharp spines, distinctive scent, pollination needs, and clever seed dispersal by birds. Listener letters bring warmth from across the UK and beyond: a magical close encounter with a female hare searching for leverets, phacelia identification, first swifts and house martins, lapwings, goldcrests, glyphosate questions, and more. This episode captures the resilient beauty of a dry early summer — from skylarks and aphids to shimmering May blossom — ideal for appreciating nature’s ingenuity even when the weather refuses to cooperate.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19151554-episode-2-71-aphid-aerial-plankton-and-blossoming-hawthorns.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailOn a breezy early-May morning, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin visit Earsham Gravel Quarry on the northern edge of High Ash Farm to witness a wonderful spectacle. Hundreds of sand martins swirl around the towering sand cliffs, pouring in and out of nest holes like a living Swiss cheese. Chris explains their colonial lifestyle, playful feather-chasing games, tiny size, brown collar, and long journey from the Sahel, while noting their sharp national decline and dependence on nearby river meadows for insect food. Back on the farm they check a busy rookery in tall ash trees, where early nests hold well-grown young “branchers” stretching their wings. Chris highlights differences between rooks, carrion crows and jackdaws, and the challenges of dry weather for feeding the chicks. From the Yellowhammer Hide they enjoy a close roe deer browsing hawthorn and panoramic views across the fields, though the hoped-for rooks stay cautious. Listener letters add warmth: stone owls and donations from Houston, Minnesota; min-till benefits in Africa and the UK; nettles in pots for gardeners; hen harriers and swifts in France; and thoughtful comments on the shooting industry’s role in conservation. This episode bubbles with the energy of early summer migrants and bustling rookeries — ideal for savouring the lively return of colonial birds and the everyday wonders of farm and quarry alike.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19107894-episode-2-70-sand-martin-spectacle-and-earsham-colonies.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailOn a bright but brisk late-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner welcomes Matthew Gudgin with a fresh sense of wonder after his recent heart surgery. Starting close to home, he shares honey with common ants in a plant pot and explains their vital place at the base of the food chain — fuelling the swarming “aerial plankton” that feeds swallows, starlings and green woodpeckers. Just yards from the back door, four well-grown robin chicks sit ready to fledge in a Virginia creeper nest, while a bold lone mallard duckling makes daily journeys from the pond to the workshop. The pair then step into one of the farm’s spectacular bluebell woods, where 60–70 million blooms create a sumptuous carpet. Chris reveals how the flowers race to store sunlight in their bulbs before the beech canopy closes, and reflects on the peaceful living heritage of this ancient site near a Romano-Celtic temple. Later, at a large badger sett, they explore huge sand mounds and tunnels home to several sows and their playful cubs, with Chris describing their digging skill, delayed implantation, and charming night-time footage. Listener letters bring extra warmth: sparrows in clematis, a Christmas wreath robin nest, wild cherry queries and recovery wishes. This episode celebrates nature’s interconnected layers — from tiny ants to ancient bluebells and bustling badger families — ideal for savouring the renewed joys of spring and the quiet magic of second chances.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19069936-episode-2-69-bluebell-batteries-and-badger-bedding.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the soft pre-dawn light of mid-April at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner steps outside at 4:45 am to capture the awakening countryside. A blackbird sings gloriously from a nearby tree, its rich, fluid notes carrying beautifully in the cool, still air, while wood pigeons coo and the first lesser black-backed gulls drift overhead. Chris explains why birds sing so early — advertising territory, the sound travelling farther in dense cold air, and the simple fact that it’s still too dark for many to start foraging on the ground. A short walk to the stables reveals the farm’s growing swallow population — now nearly 30 adults — already busily repairing nests and chattering excitedly after their long journey from South Africa. Later, in the warm sunshine, orange-tip butterflies are drawn to garlic mustard, whose triangular leaves Chris picks and tastes, noting its pungent garlic-and-mustard flavour once used with mutton. St George’s Day flies drift through the woodland edge, and a red kite quarters the fields. Listener letters add warmth: dawn chorus recordings from California, a garter snake tackling a large goldfish, and support during Chris’s recovery. This episode is a gentle celebration of spring’s awakening chorus and the tireless return of the swallows, ideal for savouring the simple magic of an early April morning.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19032092-episode-2-68-migratory-masses-and-st-george-s-day-flies.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailOn a gloriously warm early-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin celebrate the long-awaited arrival of the swallows — fifteen adults sweeping in together in a single batch, already busily cleaning and repairing last year’s nests in the stables. Chris explains the ingenious double-roofing solution he installed to prevent the young from overheating in summer, and the epic 5,000-mile journey these tiny birds make each year from South Africa. A gentle walk through Notre Dame Wood reveals wild cherry trees in glorious creamy-white blossom and blackthorn thickets frothing with white flowers, while ground ivy carpets the floor and bumblebees hum through the warm air. Hares are spotted in the fields and a red kite quarters overhead. Listener letters bring extra delight: returning rookeries, clever robins at feeders, barn owl updates, and warm wishes for Chris’s continued recovery. This episode bubbles with the energy of spring — mass swallow arrivals, cherry blossom, and the first true signs of summer — ideal for savouring the small wonders that make every day on the farm special.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18994933-episode-2-67-spring-swallow-spectacle-and-woodland-whites.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailA beautiful early-April morning at High Ash Farm and Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are treated to classic “Mad March hares” — pairs and trios boxing and chasing across the overwinter seed mix, the females standing up on hind legs to fend off over-eager males. A short drive to the oat field reveals Neil’s min-till cultivator at work, its wide array of angled discs turning the soil with minimal disturbance while a swirling flock of rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows and gulls feasts on the freshly exposed soil invertebrates; overhead a red kite quarters the scene and a buzzard watches from a fence post. Then comes a real first for the farm: on a small-leaved lime tree beside Caister Lane, Laura Cuffin spots dozens of bright red-and-black firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) — a Mediterranean species only recently arrived in Norfolk. The insects are in a frenzy of mating, crawling up the sunny bark and hiding among the leaf litter by day, their striking geometric patterns (two black dots and a triangle on a red background) making them unmistakable. Chris explains this is the first time he has seen them on the farm, and Laura’s macro photos capture the drama perfectly. Listener letters bring extra delight: returning rookeries, clever robins at feeders, barn owl updates and warm wishes for Chris’s continued recovery. This episode bubbles with the energy of spring — boxing hares, busy fields and an exciting new insect arrival — ideal for savouring the small wonders that make every day on the farm special.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18961274-episode-2-66-firebug-frenzy-and-min-till-marvels.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailFresh from a successful quadruple bypass at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner returns to High Ash Farm after nine days away, still bruised from head to foot but glowing with renewed purpose. In the living room he shares extraordinary stories of the operating theatre where three members of the surgical team recognised him from the podcast and asked (unsuccessfully) to play it during the nine-and-a-half-hour procedure, and of the young farmers from the Philippines and South Sudan working in the UK to buy tractors and sunflower seed for their families back home. A gentle drive across the farm reveals hares hunkered in the overwinter seed mix, roe deer, and a young Chinese water deer, while a visit to the barn owl box — an old dog kennel Chris installed in a tree twenty years ago — shows it occupied for the fifth time, the female likely already incubating. Rat the terrier sits proudly on the day’s emails as a living paperweight, and listener warmth pours in: support for Rat’s antics, toad-spawn ribbons in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, a returning rookery in a spinney, and a clever robin learning to steal from tit feeders. This reflective episode marks a new chapter for Chris and the farm, full of gratitude, second chances and the quiet return of spring’s familiar rhythms, ideal for cherishing the living heritage that surrounds us.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18921358-episode-2-65-owl-odyssey-and-second-chances.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJust days before his successful triple bypass surgery at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand at the overflowing lake at High Ash Farm, where a sodden winter has triggered one of nature’s most spectacular annual events. Hundreds of frogs and toads have emerged from hibernation in a single night, laying millions of eggs: the frogs producing huge glistening rafts of “tapioca pudding” spawn, while the common toads create long, double-rowed ribbons resembling delicate strings of pearls stretching metres across the water. Chris explains the frantic amplexus mating ritual, how the spawn sinks then floats, the tadpole lifecycle, and the low survival odds against herons, otters and dragonfly larvae. A gentle ramble reveals a young roe buck close by and, in the overwinter wild bird seed mix field, “Mad March hares” hunkered in their forms before lolloping away, accompanied by rising skylarks, flocks of linnets, corn buntings and a hovering kestrel. Listener warmth flows in: toad rescues in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, clever robins learning from tit feeders, and messages of support during Chris’s recovery. This episode captures spring’s dramatic, slippery rebirth in all its watery glory, ideal for celebrating nature’s determined renewal after winter’s long wait.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18880984-episode-2-64-spawn-surge-and-mad-march-hares.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the soft pre-dawn light of mid-March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner sits patiently in the Fox's Grove hide hoping for a glimpse of the elusive willow tit, one of the farm's dwindling specialities, while blue tits, coal tits and long-tailed tits swarm the feeders. Later, joined by Matthew Gudgin in a newly planted extension of Woodcock Wood, they celebrate the willow – all five British species thrive here, from towering white and crack willows to the three sallow species. Chris cuts a whip of goat willow, its yellow catkins (known locally as goslings) providing vital early pollen for emerging bumblebees. The trees' rich history unfolds: their flexible wood once used for coracles, baskets and cricket bats (with a family link to the famous Watts bat makers), and the dramatic tale of how pollarded willow tally sticks accidentally burned down the Houses of Parliament exactly 200 years ago in 1826. A thrilling red kite spirals and stoops dramatically overhead, while purple emperors are known to lay eggs on the willow canopy. Listener letters spark lively discussion: debate over wild brown trout fishing, complaints about Rat the terrier's barking, clever robins stealing from tit feeders, and striking photos of elm bark beetle galleries. This episode honours one of Britain's most versatile and historically significant trees, ideal for marvelling at nature's quiet ingenuity as spring awakens.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18842511-episode-2-63-cricket-bat-canopies-and-tally-tales.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the bustling heart of Norwich city centre beneath the clock tower of City Hall and the ledges of St Peter Mancroft, Chris Skinner answers listener Jocelyn Baxter’s question about five different-coloured pigeons in her garden. Surrounded by swirling flocks of up to 500 feral pigeons (the domesticated descendants of the wild rock dove), he traces their extraordinary journey from remote Scottish cliffs and Welsh caves to urban rooftops, including their role as ancient Egyptian messengers under Rameses III and heroic WWII carrier pigeons. Back at High Ash Farm the story unfolds across all five British species: the abundant wood pigeon — agricultural pest number one with its soporific five-note call, white wing crescents, flimsy stick nests and protein-rich “pigeon milk” for squabs; the collared dove, once Britain’s rarest bird and now one of its fastest-spreading success stories since the 1950s; the rapidly declining turtle dove with its gentle purring song and iconic summer sound; and the often-overlooked stock dove, a hole-nester in tree trunks and specially made boxes. Listener gems add extra delight: Phil Getty’s photo of house sparrows outwitting bird spikes under a louvred sunshade in America, Kerry’s striking elm bark beetle patterns (the tiny architects behind Dutch elm disease that changed the Norfolk landscape forever), and Chris from Masham’s trail-cam footage of hedgehogs still active in winter thanks to garden feeding. This episode celebrates one of our most familiar yet frequently misunderstood bird families, perfect for appreciating the remarkable adaptability and hidden histories all around us.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18802012-episode-2-62-city-coos-and-collared-comebacks.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailOn a gloriously mild first day of March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are stopped in their tracks before they even leave the yard by the season’s first brimstone butterfly — a dazzling male sulphur-yellow vision emerging from dense ivy on the stable wall, its ivy-shaped wings proving once again why this hero plant is the ultimate winter refuge. Just yards away, the 42 sparrow nest boxes are a riot of chatter and activity, every one occupied in a heart-warming reversal of the old “Sparrow Clubs” that once tried to eradicate them. In the south-facing edge of Cantley Hill Plantation, sweet violets have already been blooming for weeks, while the common dog violet carpets the bank in pale purple drifts, its delicate spurred flowers and honey guides a masterclass in miniature beauty. Crossing into the southern fields of Stoke Holy Cross, they find field pansies (Viola arvensis) and their close cousin the wild heartsease glowing among the overwinter seed mix, alongside groundsel’s tiny yellow stars (the “old man’s head” of folklore) and shepherd’s purse with its triangular seed pods. High above, buzzards spiral and stoop in early courtship displays against the blue sky, while skylarks pour out song and Rat the terrier digs frantically for whatever scent has caught his nose. Listener warmth arrives from North Carolina with photos of the famous white squirrels of Brevard and from a local angler thrilled by underwater footage of a River Tas brown trout. This episode captures the very first tender stirrings of spring — butterflies, violets, pansies and hopeful nesting — ideal for celebrating nature’s quiet, colourful return after winter’s long wait.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18761657-episode-2-61-brimstone-breakthrough-and-violet-ventures.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the crisp northerly chill of late February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore the historic carriage store turned log haven, where a meticulously stacked pile shelters hibernating peacock butterflies—jet-black camouflaged wings mimicking shrivelled leaves, their glycerol-laced blood warding off frost amid tales of metamorphosis from egg to voracious nettle-feeding caterpillars, red pupae, and nine-month lifespans, alongside brimstone and small tortoiseshell kin snug in ivy nooks for six dormant months. A serendipitous skyward spectacle unfolds: three buzzards in courtship spirals, their four-foot wings tilting in thermal-less winds, stooping and stacking in a turret display over Cantley Hill Plantation, heralding early nesting in mature conifers. Amidst Barn Wood's narrow 400-meter belt—planted for timber and shooting with towering 150-year-old Scots pines scarred by lightning—they unravel Britain's biodiversity tapestry: from oceanic influences moderating our island climate to coastal marshes, upland ptarmigan haunts, wetland egrets, grassland skylarks, and arable hedgerows, emphasizing habitat diversity's role in fostering specialists like mountain hares, noctule bats in trunk scars, long-tailed tits roosting in communal huddles down woodpecker holes, and wrens probing ivy for prey. Farm vignettes add charm: geese laying chilled eggs in shaded nooks to delay incubation, fallen sycamores hosting rot and invertebrates, and rabbits burrowing in sandy gravel. Listener insights illuminate: global well-wishes from Ohio to Wicklow, debates on climate change's extremes amid Norfolk's floods, swift migrations evading Congo competition for UK's insect bounty and nesting sites, and etymological nods to "bald as a badger" from piebald black-and-white markings. This episode weaves winter's resilient refuges with spring's stirring skies, ideal for cherishing nature's intricate habitats and seasonal rhythms.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18718266-episode-2-60-pine-pillars-and-peacock-pauses.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the drizzly gloom of mid-February at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin marvel at a restless flock of 200 redwings—migratory thrushes with speckled breasts and rusty flanks—congregating en masse on close-grazed pastures, their seep calls and defensive flights a prelude to their North Sea crossing back to Scandinavian breeding grounds, amid tales of nocturnal migrations, tundra nests, and communal roosts, while watchful goshawks and buzzards lurk nearby. A zigzag quest across overwinter wild bird seed mixes yields elusive common snipe—amber-listed wetland waders with probing bills and jinxing flights—displaced by flooded river valleys, alongside diminutive jack snipe and insights into their mechanical "drumming" displays from vibrating tail feathers, proven by 19th-century cork experiments. Serendipitous sightings abound: bounding hares, a rare grey partridge (England's native red-listed heart-marked gem) evoking coveys and courtship chases, skylarks trilling aloft, pheasants flushing at close quarters, and pregnant Chinese water deer lolloping uphill. Amidst emerging daffodils and sweet violets, they spotlight diminutive wildflowers: star-like chickweed buds feeding finches and buntings, and orchid-esque red dead nettle with hooded pink blooms and honey guides, a harmless mint-family mimic thriving on disturbed soils. Listener echoes enrich the ramble: urban moorhens in London gardens, sparrowhawk pursuits through hedges, badger etymology linking "bald" to white stripes or shaved pelts, starling serenades, and debates on thrush family classifications. This episode celebrates late winter's fleeting visitors and resilient blooms, ideal for embracing the subtle stirrings of spring's approach.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18674464-episode-2-59-redwing-rallies-and-snipe-searches.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the cruel grip of February's easterly winds at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin brave the chill to explore an eruption of woodcocks fleeing frozen Europe, their numbers swelling amid redwings, fieldfares, and nomadic lapwings, while frost-lift threatens crops and prompts calls for protecting red-listed species like the beleaguered grey partridge. A thrilling discovery unfolds: a new badger set, the farm's third, teeming with four displaced newcomers—including a pregnant sow gathering bedding for imminent cubs—amid sandy excavations on a west-facing slope, their nocturnal labyrinths a testament to delayed implantation, worm-rich diets, and territorial scent-marking, all captured on trail cams in a habitat ripe for mustelid marvels. Nearby, a roadside vigil reveals plump young buzzards and a rare goshawk perching in pine copses, drawn to hay-spilled seeds and small mammal feasts, showcasing raptors' adaptive hunts from aerial strikes to ground pursuits. At dawn, a robin sings "inwardly" through a closed beak in the frosty farmyard shrubbery, its muffled melody echoing Gilbert White's notes amid emerging lords-and-ladies and snorting horses. Listener warmth flows: global well-wishes for Chris's triple bypass, tales of enhanced nature appreciation from Snettisham to California, and queries on conservation reforms to safeguard biodiversity for generations. This episode blends winter's harsh arrivals with hopeful habitat triumphs, ideal for embracing nature's resilient rhythms in the face of seasonal strife.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18635838-episode-2-58-goshawk-glimpses-and-woodcock-waves.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the cosy confines of High Ash Farm's office amid blustery rains, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin sift through aerial snapshots chronicling decades of agricultural evolution—from bustling dairy herds and beef cattle in clay barns to solitary stewardship amid modern uncertainties. Chris recounts a train odyssey to Papworth Hospital for his impending triple bypass, traversing Breckland's pine corridors and sandy warrens, then plunging into Cambridgeshire's jet-black fens teeming with lapwings, greylag geese, mute swans, and cormorant-laden trees, a vivid reminder of landscapes reclaimed from ancient reed beds and glacial sands. A detour to the wind-sheltered Lettuce Wood unveils young oaks, hornbeams, and hazel shrubs laden with lamb's-tail catkins, their wind-dispersed pollen heralding early spring amid tales of white magic warding evil spirits, Celtic coppicing for hurdles and thatch, and post-Ice Age colonisation alongside birch pioneers. A dawn serenade from a masterful song thrush—repeating polished notes from atop a field maple—evokes living heritage, its sky-blue eggs and anvil-smashed snails a nod to declining red-listed wonders. Listener warmth abounds: global well-wishes, queries on winter pollinators like moths and gnats, debates on bird feeders amid diseases, avian survival in cold snaps, and curiosities like garden pockmarks from short-tailed voles. This episode weaves personal milestones with timeless countryside lore, ideal for finding solace in nature's resilient echoes.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18590525-episode-2-57-bypass-journeys-and-thrush-tunes.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the rain-softened fringes of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin recount Rat's near-fatal burrow plunge into a rank-scented fox den, thwarted by a timely tether amid the terrier's muffled underground barks. Amid global well-wishes for Chris's heart surgery—from Yorkshire's aconite admirers to Michigan's feeder-watching fans—they explore nature's revival rhythms: annuals racing seed-to-seed in one fervent burst, perennials like bluebells and snowdrops harnessing bulb-stored solar energy tugged deeper by contractile roots, and biennials bridging seasons with two-year tenacity—foxgloves amassing rosettes on acidic soils for digitalin-rich spires, and teasels staking clay claims with seed-laden heads for goldfinch sustenance. Frost-hardy candle snuff fungus puffs spore clouds from decaying stumps, its black-woolly base and white tips recycling woodland detritus into fertile leaf mould. Moles paddle through sandy labyrinths, their hillocks betraying worm quests in subterranean fortresses, while overwintering ladybirds huddle in nettle curls and rabbits perforate warrens for soil aeration. Listener insights illuminate: winter moths pollinating early blooms, crooks mobbing buzzards for prey, and Swiss rail-track solar innovations sparing farmlands. This episode celebrates life's cyclical ingenuity and communal support, ideal for embracing renewal's subtle awakenings.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18547013-episode-2-56-fungal-flurries-and-mole-mysteries.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the sun-dappled depths of Fox's Grove at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin thwart Rat's subterranean ambitions with a timely tether, averting a repeat of his 30-minute underground escapade amid fox burrows scented with rank winter musk. Delving into nature's revival, they unravel the rhythms of plant life cycles: annuals sprinting through seed-to-seed in one fervent year, perennials like enduring bluebells and snowdrops returning eternally from bulb-bound solar stores pulled deeper by contractile roots, and biennials bridging the gap with two-year tenacity—foxgloves amassing emerald rosettes on acidic soils for summer's digitalin-laced spires, and teasels staking clay claims with prickly seed heads that sustain goldfinches through the hungry gap. Amid listener well-wishes for Chris's impending heart surgery—echoing gratitude from global fans in Michigan, Canada, and Switzerland—tales emerge of moths pollinating frost-defying blooms, crooks mobbing buzzards to pilfer prey, and innovative Swiss rail-track solar panels sparing farmlands. This episode illuminates the quiet ingenuity of seasonal renewal, ideal for finding hope in winter's subtle awakenings.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18513025-episode-2-55-foxglove-flourishes-and-teasel-triumphs.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailAmid the thawing remnants of a harsh January frost at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin witness the Norfolk countryside stirring from snowbound stillness, where a mild south-westerly wind sweeps away icy veils to reveal resilient early blooms like sweet violets, viper's bugloss with its ox-tongue bristles, and cobalt-blue speedwells defying the chill on sandy slopes. Chris shares a personal turning point—clogged arteries leading to urgent bypass surgery, echoing his father's fate and prompting reflections on farming's relentless pace, where one plans for eternity yet lives for the moment, now facing a compulsory step back from chainsaws and ceaseless toil. Snowy imprints transform the fields into a wildlife ledger: fox pads with claw marks, roe deer slots with dew claws, badger's broad strides, and avian arrows from jackdaws and wood pigeons, while overwinter seed mixes teem with goldfinch flocks, linnets, and elusive Chinese water deer hunkering in thistle patches. Redwings and blackbirds swarm ivy-clad woodlands, feasting on berries in a cold-weather eruption from the Continent, underscoring nature's unyielding adaptations. Listener tales add warmth: rooks or crows mobbing a buzzard to drop its prey, evolving farming practices from min-till to green manures sustaining soils for generations, and buzzards soaring in courtship spirals as rookeries buzz with nest repairs. This episode blends seasonal tenacity with life's unexpected pivots, ideal for cherishing nature's quiet fortitude in the face of change.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18479632-episode-2-54-frosted-footprints-and-floral-pioneers.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the crisp dawn of a new year at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin usher in 2026 with the aerial spectacle of black-headed gulls wheeling westward in V-formations, drawn to ploughed fields teeming with worms, while a muntjac deer ambles across the lawn and scraps from last night's dinner lure a swirling flock to feast. Reflections on evolving habits reveal how these "laughing gulls"—once harvested for eggs and masqueraded as plover meat—have adapted to inland life amid min-till farming that spares soil compaction and boosts invertebrate bounty, transforming them into acrobatic garden visitors brightening even rubbish tips in winter's low sun. A ramble yields glimpses of roe deer lolloping through overwinter seed remnants, their dark coats and flashing white rumps a seasonal hallmark, alongside muntjacs nibbling hawthorn and a cock pheasant in resplendent breeding plumage. From a secluded bird hide in Fox's Grove, they marvel at a frenzy of woodland titmice—long-tailed tits with punkish white Mohicans, blue tits flashing azure crowns, great tits sporting bold black breast stripes, and coal tits probing conifer feeders—amid nuthatch courtship calls and the vulnerability of hole-nesters to opportunistic green woodpeckers. Listener voices enrich the dialogue: clarifications on trusting continental robins in northern Europe, the dawn of electric tractors grappling with heavy loads, wildlife-friendly gardening triumphs in urban oases, solar farm campaigns, absent fieldfares and redwings lingering eastward due to mild weather, and a treasured photo album chronicling Norfolk's vanishing rural crafts. This episode heralds renewal in frost-kissed fields and avian choruses, ideal for embracing the fresh rhythms of a budding year.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18443853-episode-2-53-gull-glides-and-tit-troupes.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailAs the year draws to a close under grey December skies at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embark on a twilight quest that uncovers unexpected melodies amid urban clamour—a robin serenading from a floodlit supermarket car park in Poringland, its song piercing the roar of lorries and shoppers, a testament to avian adaptability in human realms. Back in the farm's tranquil lokes, flanked by ancient ivy-draped hedges, they delve into the robin's winter repertoire: males staking territories with high-pitched tunes from September onwards, forming pair bonds through courtship feeding that builds vital fat reserves for early nesting in February, while sharing folklore of blood-stained breasts on Christmas cards and heartbeats racing at 1,000 per minute in life's fast lane. A chance diversion yields thrilling glimpses of elusive woodcocks—chocolate-brown waders with twisting "jigsing" flights and sensitive beaks that flex at the tip to probe for worms—flushed from overwinter seed mixes, their camouflage and reticence a marvel in the cold easterly winds sweeping from frozen Europe. Reflections turn to seasonal flocking: linnets, goldfinches, yellowhammers, starlings, and gulls gathering for security and subtle pairings, mirroring human year-end communions, with early breeders like mallards already in emerald plumage and goshawks lurking in woodland shadows. Listener insights add depth: innovative solar solutions from French car parks, ancient yew trees predating churches as pagan relics, and festive cards from afar, all weaving into contemplations of renewal as bluebell seedlings stir beneath leaf litter. This episode celebrates nature's quiet persistence through winter's hush, ideal for embracing the cyclical wheel of renewal on the cusp of a new year.Support the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn a festive yet contemplative midwinter visit to High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin mark the approach of the shortest day with reflections on renewable energy's double-edged sword. Amid the bustling farmyard, tales of a bygone wind pump—installed in the 1930s to harness gusts for electricity and water—spark a journey into modern dilemmas, as they venture to the proposed East Pie Solar Farm in South Norfolk's undulating clay lands. There, amid ancient hedgerows teeming with hares and rabbits, and patchwork fields echoing centuries of cultivation, the vast scheme threatens to blanket over 1,200 hectares of fertile soil with towering panels, eclipsing wildlife corridors, historic footpaths, and food production in the name of fossil fuel reduction. Balancing the allure of sustainable power against the heartache of industrialising cherished landscapes—where barbastelle bats, white-clawed crayfish, and seasonal blooms thrive—Chris grapples with temptations for farmers facing inheritance taxes and the broader call for rooftop alternatives or brownfield sites. Back at the farm, listener shares add warmth: early bluebell shoots nibbled by garden visitors, a beaver's wanderlust stirring rewilding dreams, and heartfelt Christmas cards from afar, including Tasmanian treats evoking vineyard visions. Culminating in a twilight vigil within Woodcock Wood, Chris captures the cacophonous corvid roost—jackdaws, crows, and magpies chattering amid solstice shadows—interwoven with echoes of Druid gatherings, Iceni reverence for seasons and sustenance, and Anglo-Saxon legacies, as the farm's ancient rhythms pulse onward. This episode navigates the tensions of progress and preservation, ideal for pondering nature's enduring cycles amid human innovation.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18379730-episode-2-51-solar-shadows-and-solstice-songs.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn the mild glow of a mid-December morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin bask in unseasonably warm skies, where a jay's loping flight heralds a day of countryside revelations. Amidst the lingering half-moon and sun-kissed fields, they explore the enigmatic European larch—a deciduous conifer that defies tradition by shedding its needles, introduced from southern Europe in the 1620s for its graceful form and later prized for its resilient, resin-rich timber. Historical whimsy unfolds with tales of the Duke of Atholl, who, besotted with the tree, fired cannonballs laden with seeds to cloak Scottish mountainsides in larch groves, yielding cones that dangle like weighted ornaments and burst forth with winged seeds for crossbills and bramblings. Recent rains have transformed the Tass Valley into a shimmering expanse, not from overflow but from the river's porous gravel bed, a legacy of 1960s dredging that now nurtures gulls on impromptu lakes. The spotlight turns to the farm's overwinter wild bird seed mixes, a bountiful mosaic of sunflowers, millet, fodder radish, mustard, barley, and native fat hen, drawing flocks of goldfinches, linnets, and skylarks alongside deer and partridges, while teasels stand sentinel for winter feasts. A little owl perches in apricity—the forgotten word for winter sun's gentle warmth—its grumpy gaze and speckled camouflage a nod to its Victorian reintroduction and nocturnal prowess. Listener tales add charm: a tree creeper's bold shoulder perch and early snowdrops defying frost, underscoring nature's shifting rhythms. This episode weaves seasonal serenity with echoes of innovation and resilience, ideal for contemplating winter's quiet enchantments.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18343234-episode-2-50-cannon-seeded-conifers-and-winter-warmth.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a frosty early-December morning as they squeeze inside a 350-year-old hollow oak to stand beneath Britain’s largest wasp species’ abandoned hornet palace – a two-foot-tall paper cathedral of perfect hexagonal brood cells and ventilation chimneys, built by a single overwintering queen who turned a rotten heart into a palace of exquisite engineering.Discover the deadly beauty of the English yew – the churchyard tree whose blood-red arils tempt birds while every other part (leaves, bark, seed) contains the lethal taxine poison. Hear the story of the 1942 Luftwaffe bomb that landed six feet from a young yew, carving “UXB” into its trunk forever, and feel the weight of the jagged shrapnel that punched through an 18-inch farmhouse wall while Chris’s pregnant mother sheltered inside.Witness the heart-breaking reality of avian flu as isolated, wobbling rooks and piles of wood-pigeon feathers appear across the farm, and marvel at the ash trees quietly committing suicide – their roots eaten away by dieback until they simply lie down like tired giants, leaving perfect root plates and no warning.From the phallic, corpse-scented stinkhorn seducing flies with its black slime to the promise of thousands of bee orchids already pushing through frozen soil on Arminghall Field, this is winter at High Ash Farm: death, sex, poison, hope and absolute wonder, all in one square mile of Norfolk.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18305256-episode-2-49-inside-the-hornet-cathedral-the-poisonous-yew.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp, overcast late-November morning in Fox’s Grove as the last leaves carpet the woodland floor and light floods in for the first time since spring. Stand beside the old ash tree that still bears the carved letters “UXB” from 1942, hold the jagged 3 kg lump of bomb shrapnel that tore through the farmhouse wall while Chris’s pregnant mother sheltered inside, and feel the weight of history on a quiet Norfolk morning.Discover the invisible killer that terrifies foresters – honey fungus – as Chris peels back bark to reveal black bootlace rhizomorphs and slices open a log to expose the exquisite “spalted” butterfly patterns that furniture-makers prize, even while the fungus rots the heartwood of living trees.Meet the outrageous Phallus impudicus – the stinkhorn – emerging from its egg in the horse ride, growing 3 inches an hour and releasing a stench of rotting flesh that draws clouds of flies to carry away its sticky black spores in one of nature’s most shameless acts of seduction.Then walk to Arminghall Field in stunned silence as Chris drops to his knees in December to reveal thousands – literally thousands – of bee orchid plants already up, their blue-green rosettes scattered across the hillside like emeralds on clay. Some will flower in 2026, some will wait years, but every one is living proof that nature can survive a century of ploughing, spraying and heavy iron.A poignant, funny and utterly unforgettable wander through war memories, fungal sex-lives and the quiet defiance of orchids in winter, and the sheer privilege of watching a square mile of Norfolk wake up to another season.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18267268-episode-2-48-bombs-bootlaces-and-winter-orchids.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp November morning venturing to Lakenham Mill on Norwich's outskirts, exploring the historic River Yare's controlled sluices, ancient mill wheels, and granaries that once ground local grains, amid discussions on recent torrential rains unleashing 220 tonnes of water per acre and innovative flood management through managed retreat and river re-wiggling. Return to High Ash Farm to witness the aftermath of storm surges transforming streams into raging torrents, while examining avian flu's grip on isolated rooks and wood pigeons within control zones, and the farm's shift to water harvesting via blocked drains and wildflower fields to recharge chalk aquifers. Delve into fungal wonders in Fox's Grove, from deadly honey fungus bootlaces killing trees to gelatinous jelly fungi like yellow brain and crystal brain wobbling on decaying branches, alongside puffballs exploding spores like green smoke. Savour listener queries on identifying roe deer antlers shed during rutting and a seaside slime mould—actually a migratory protozoa—resembling scrambled eggs, alongside reflections on nature's raw power and avian vulnerabilities. A captivating cascade through watery wonders, microbial marvels, and seasonal struggles, ideal for pondering the interplay of history, hydrology, and hidden habitats.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18230059-episode-2-47-sluice-secrets-and-jelly-jiggles.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a breezy mid-November morning at High Ash Farm, strolling along Boudica Way—a historic public footpath turned wide, welcoming trail—amid discussions on evolving access to the countryside, from ancient worker routes to modern stewardship schemes that transformed contentious paths into assets for health, education, and wildlife. Explore permissive walks offering panoramic views of rolling hills, self-seeded woodlands, and therapeutic spots like cancer remembrance seats, while delving into farm diversification through optional sponsor routes, free parking, and optional donations that sustain miles of mown tracks without policing. Witness herring gulls charming worms with foot-patting dances, migratory fieldfares flocking westward in cold-weather movements, and Rat's antics among horses, alongside listener insights on roe deer antlers shed during rutting battles and slime moulds—protozoa mimicking scrambled eggs—that migrate across woodland debris. A thoughtful traverse through rural rights, seasonal spectacles, and innovative income streams, perfect for appreciating the therapeutic tapestry of accessible landscapes.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18177698-episode-2-46-pathways-to-the-past-and-countryside-connections.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a mild mid-November morning at High Ash Farm, where autumn's unsettled chill stirs flocks of goldfinches into a dazzling display amid teasel heads and thistle margins, their yellow wing bars flashing as they feast on seeds in a biennial bounty perfect for butterflies and overwintering cover. Venture to the ancient Roman capital of eastern Britain on the farm's edge, pondering monumental shifts in agriculture—from wartime ploughing with horses to modern self-sufficiency challenges, commodity pressures, and diversification into solar panels or public access—amid tales of Iceni tribes, Boudica's rebellion, and imported walnuts in amphorae. Spotlight a green woodpecker probing for ants on close-grazed pastures, its iridescent plumage and shocking red crown a vivid highlight, alongside erupting lapwing flocks in cold-weather migrations and deceitful wing-dragging displays. Marvel at skylark clans gathering in courtship flights over pollen and nectar fields, their hovering silhouettes a red-listed delight, while insects seek hibernation nooks and listener greetings mark the podcast's second anniversary. A reflective ramble through seasonal spectacles, historical harvests, and evolving rural realities, ideal for embracing the fleeting warmth before winter's grasp.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18150574-episode-2-45-teasel-treasures-and-skylark-symphonies.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a damp November evening at High Ash Farm for a nocturnal safari, starting in the bustling farmyard where torchlight reveals smooth newts feasting on wriggling worms amid leaf litter, their amphibian lives split between aquatic springs and terrestrial nights, alongside dusky slugs grazing on fungi and leaving slimy trails up mossy walls. Venture into pitch-black fields to spotlight hares congregating in open grasslands, leverets born furred and alert, contrasting with burrowing rabbits bolting for cover, while moths flutter by, evoking night-time predators like bats with ultrasonic echoes and nightjars trawling the air. Encounter reflective-eyed little owls on short turf, elusive roe deer flashing white rumps, and bounding Chinese water deer vanishing into undergrowth, all amid discussions of historical warreners, myxomatosis impacts, and seasonal shifts in wildlife behaviour. Reflect on listener queries about hybrid horse chestnuts with empty conker cases, cover crops boosting soil health and skylarks, and speedy hedgehogs scouting hog houses for hibernation. An enchanting after-dark exploration of hidden habitats, mammalian marvels, and the intricate rhythms of countryside nightlife, ideal for uncovering the secrets that daylight conceals.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18116031-episode-2-44-nocturnal-newts-and-hare-havens.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a blustery, rain-lashed Thursday morning at High Ash Farm amid Storm Benjamin's gales, retreating into the vast farm workshop where gleaming tractors, mowers, sprayers, and cultivators—worth fortunes in investment—await winter storage and servicing. Delve into the challenges facing young farmers, from soaring land prices and machinery costs to the need for diversification into school visits, livery yards, and public access, all while pondering the shift from traditional ploughing to min-till methods that boost soil health. Brave the elements to explore freshly trimmed hedgerows serving as wildlife corridors for yellowhammers and sparrows, then spade up sodden earth to reveal thriving earthworm populations—juicy Lumbricus terrestris and wriggling juveniles—highlighting their role in aeration, nutrient cycling, and drought resistance. Venture into Fox's Grove amid dripping canopies to admire ancient sweet chestnut trees, measuring girths of 15 feet on 250-year-old giants, tracing their Roman origins, coppicing history, and bountiful nut crops feeding badgers, deer, and mice in an autumnal feast. Savour listener emails on transplanting horse chestnuts and the podcast's uplifting impact, alongside reflections on a lively theatre event. A thought-provoking trek through farming's modern realities, soil secrets, and woodland treasures, perfect for weathering the storms of seasonal change.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18068578-episode-2-43-stormy-sheds-and-soil-secrets.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp mid-October morning at High Ash Farm, where autumn's gentle bite scatters colourful leaves across the woodland floor and Rat the terrier digs with unbridled enthusiasm. Venture into the bustling sparrow hide, alive with house mice thriving in a commensal harmony amid spilled grain and sparrow chatter, their musty scent and rapid breeding a testament to nature's opportunism. Explore the lush field margins teeming with harvest mouse nests—tiny, woven spheres of shredded grass suspended like living orbs, crafted with prehensile tails and teeming with history from binder days to modern conservation triumphs. Encounter signs of voles munching on cocksfoot bases, alongside wood mice and their underground burrows, all forming a vital prey base for predators like barn owls and buzzards. Wander into Notre Dame Wood to uncover abandoned nests: rook platforms in budding rookeries, domed magpie hideaways guarding against thieves, crude wood pigeon twig lattices, massive squirrel drays, and lofty buzzard eyries atop the canopy. Marvel at an unexpected open-air beehive of dangling honeycombs, mistaken for a short-eared owl, and savour listener tips on foraging edible fungi like chicken of the woods amid fairy rings and field mushrooms. A delightful delve into autumn's hidden habitats, mammalian marvels, and avian architectures, ideal for appreciating the intricate web of countryside life.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18027166-episode-2-42-mousy-mysteries-and-nesting-wonders.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a mild mid-October morning at High Ash Farm, where Rat scampers ahead amid grey skies and the vibrant blaze of autumn foliage—Norway maples glowing with reds and oranges from flavonoids and carotenoids, while elms, oaks, and beeches shed leaves in a seasonal symphony shaped by abscission layers and wind. Delve into the farm's fungal treasures in Foxes Grove, from dripping shaggy ink caps (lawyer's wigs) auto-digesting in real time to birch polypores on decaying trunks and scarlet fly agarics emerging like hallucinogenic gems in birch woodlands. Chris laments ash dieback's toll on roots and trees, sharing tales of dynamite stump removal and a resilient New Horizon elm. Answer a listener's query on attracting blackbirds, redwings, and thrushes with pyracantha 'Orange Glow' on a north-facing wall, offering year-round berries, bee blooms, and nesting thorny havens. A captivating exploration of autumn's vivid transformations, fungal feats, and wildlife wisdom, perfect for embracing the season's fleeting beauty.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17987964-episode-2-41-colourful-canopies-and-shaggy-surprises.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp October morning for an away day to the serene Forncett St Peter Low Meadows, an SSSI beside the River Tas, where frost lingers and fog clears to reveal plans for re-wiggling the river—restoring ancient meanders to slow flows, curb flooding, and revive oxbow lakes. Explore this unimproved grassland's biodiversity, from four orchid species and quaking grass to barn owls, kestrels, and otters, amid discussions on historical straightening, pollution from nitrates and phosphates, and the delicate balance between nature and human needs. Chris shares childhood tales of fishing for roach and dace, evading pike torpedoes, and the 1912 floods that reshaped Norwich. Back at High Ash Farm, thrill to Chris's solo dawn quest spotting elusive goldcrests and firecrests—Europe's tiniest birds at 5 grams each—darting through conifer canopies, with folklore of "woodcock pilots" and their acrobatic feats. A captivating mix of river restoration, habitat wonders, and avian delights, ideal for savouring autumn's emerging chill.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17930758-episode-2-40-meandering-meadows-and-goldcrest-glimpses.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a changeable September morning at High Ash Farm, where Rat eagerly explores hedgerows amid fleeting showers and sunshine. Discover the unexpected dominance of yellow foxtail in the overwinter wild bird seed mix, its delayed dormancy creating a seed bonanza for linnets, yellowhammers, and goldfinches, while swallows skim the crops on their southward journey. Witness dramatic aerial pursuits as kestrels hover and hunt along field margins, only to be chased by territorial buzzards. Chris reflects candidly on farming missteps, from a carbon-offset woodland acre revealing the staggering 105-year timeline to neutralize the carbon share of 12 passengers flying to China, to ambitious bird hides that proved ahead of their time. Capture the rhythmic sounds of a late-season haylage harvest, with balers wrapping green forage to combat shortages from a dry summer. Delight in a listener's discovery of wild hops twining through hedgerows, evoking brewing history and tropisms, alongside global greetings from Australia. A thoughtful blend of seasonal surprises, wildlife drama, and honest rural insights, perfect for embracing autumn's unpredictable rhythm.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17897439-episode-2-39-foxtail-surprises-and-kestrel-chases.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner for a twilight woodland wander at High Ash Farm, where the evening air hums with pipistrelle bats darting acrobatically overhead, serotines weaving through the canopy, and noctules launching into the dusk—accompanied by the rustle of roosting jackdaws, rooks, and the earthy scents of fox and fungi. Shift to a rainy morning in the farmyard, celebrating a bountiful mast year with thousands of acorns carpeting the ground beneath ancient oaks, as jays cache their prizes and young saplings promise future groves. Venture to the bustling apiary, exploring towering hives alive with forager bees gathering ivy nectar, crafting propolis, and sealing golden honeycomb with intricate precision. Chris delves into listener queries on plant tropisms, unveiling how roots seek water through hydrotropism, shoots defy gravity via geotropism, and tendrils embrace touch in thigmatropism. A poetic blend of nocturnal mysteries and autumnal wonders, ideal for embracing the countryside's seasonal shift.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17872464-episode-2-38-nocturnal-flights-and-honeyed-hives.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp September morning at High Ash Farm, where the farmyard's ancient oak hosts a luminous display of sulphur polypore—known as chicken of the woods—its vibrant, edible brackets spilling like molten gold. Bid a heartfelt farewell to the swallows in the stables, with over 100 fledglings reared amid a frenzy of aerial feeds. Wade into sun-kissed fields of sunflowers and wild bird seed mixes, uncovering whorled wonders like aromatic field mint, spearmint, and marsh woundwort, their orchid-like blooms thriving in the understory. Stroll a berry-laden hedgerow to witness a migrant red admiral feasting on ivy's vital late nectar, celebrating this unsung hero's year-round gifts for wildlife. Chris fields listener queries on lead shot's toll on waterfowl, shares tales of Dutch birdwatchers marvelling at the farm's swallows, and delights in a vibrant viper's bugloss submission. A poetic nod to fungi, flora, and fleeting summer migrants, perfect for savouring the countryside's turning tides.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17837742-episode-2-37-sulphur-glows-and-swallow-farewells.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this captivating episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin wander through High Ash Farm’s breezy late August pastures, where September’s dawn heralds autumn’s subtle arrival. Autumn hawkbit carpets the hillside with dazzling yellow blooms, its serrated leaves hiding antioxidants and vitamin C, a medicinal marvel for eyesight once mistaken for hawk bites, thriving in close-grazed grass amid drought. The month’s changeling nature unfolds with Norway maples blushing pink, whispering of flamboyant colours and brisk northwesterlies to come. Viper’s bugloss dazzles in cobalt blue, its bristly leaves and snake-like stems a toxic deterrent, while seeds mimic viper heads, echoing ancient remedies for bites. In Cantley Hill Plantation, a fallen ash tree—snapped by winds—reveals ash dieback’s grip, its skeletal form a mystery amid drought and over-abstraction, a poignant loss in a landscape scarred by 1987’s hurricane. Listener tales of robin’s pincushions, tardy tadpoles, and insect absences weave into this lament, as the farm’s live show beckons on October 19th at Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre under a freshening sky. From Saxon "hara" hills to family histories at Stoke House, this episode celebrates nature’s cycles amid shifting seasons.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17787602-episode-2-36-hawkbit-bites-and-tree-tombs.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailJoin Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a sun-drenched late August morning at High Ash Farm in the Norfolk countryside. This episode explores the serene beauty of the farm’s lake, where a majestic young mute swan is moulting amid darting swallows, vibrant kingfishers, and upending mallards. Discover the perils of lead poisoning for swans and the thriving aquatic plants like gipsy wort and flag iris. Venture to bountiful hedgerows laden with hawthorn berries, blackthorn sloes, and rose hips, signalling a spectacular mast year for wildlife. Delight in the orchard’s overflowing harvest of Victoria plums, Cox’s apples, and the quirky native medlar tree. Chris answers listener questions on peculiar rose galls, lingering tadpoles, and the alarming decline in swifts and insects. The episode closes with a poignant reading of Kevin McManus’s poem “The Turning of August,” capturing the subtle shift from summer’s warmth to autumn’s edge. Perfect for nature enthusiasts seeking a poetic glimpse into rural life’s rhythms.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17747895-episode-2-35-lakeside-moults-and-orchard-opulence.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this breezy episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin confront August’s slate-grey skies at High Ash Farm, where autumn’s approach stirs poignant reflections. The grey partridge, a red-listed farmland icon, haunts Chris’s memories—once shot in coveys of 50, now vanishing due to habitat loss, early harvests, and predator control, despite biodiversity plans. Chris’s experiment with bird scarers mimics shooting’s toll, revealing an 80% drop in bird numbers on disturbed fields, a call to halt the hunt. Swallows cluster on wires, juveniles dreaming of South Africa, their parents teaching the final flights. Listener queries on box moth woes, chaffinch displays, and dry ponds enrich this lament, as peregrines prowl and the farm’s live show looms on October 19th at Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre under scudding clouds.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17722572-episode-2-34-grey-ghosts-and-autumn-winds.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this breezy episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin witness High Ash Farm’s summer crescendo, where flocks take flight. Mixed groups of goldfinches and linnets—up to 250 strong—swarm over chicory fields, their silvery undersides gleaming as they devour seeds, evading kestrels and peregrines in a dazzling display of survival. Clouded yellow butterflies, migrants from southern Europe, flutter over lucerne, their orange wings a rare treat in this drought year. A hollow oak harbours a hornet hive, its paper artistry humming with queens and workers, a marvel of nature’s engineering. Listener tales of hares, little owls, and swallows enrich this journey, as swallows skim low and the hay mower carves paths under a scudding sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17679645-episode-2-33-finch-flocks-and-clouded-wings.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this gusty episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embrace August’s wild turn at High Ash Farm, where autumn whispers through the breeze. Rowan trees (mountain ash) dazzle with orange-red berries, a thrush feast and historical charm against witches, while blackthorn hedges yield a bumper sloe crop, ripe for Chris’s granny’s sloe gin recipe. A thriving wasp nest nestled in railway sleepers showcases nature’s paper artistry, balancing pollination and predation. Listener tales of deer ticks, drought-hit wildflowers, and wild angelica weave into this harvest tale, as the farm prepares for a live show on October 19th at Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre under a clearing blue sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17624773-episode-2-32-sloes-and-stings-a-wild-farewell.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this tender episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin greet August’s first whispers at High Ash Farm, where summer fades into autumn’s embrace. Migratory swallows—juveniles from the north—sweep overhead in chattering flocks, while Barnfield’s wild bird seed mix bursts with flax, its Wedgwood-blue blooms echoing 1950s harvests, alongside thistles, mustard, and sunflowers yielding oil-rich seeds for winter’s hungry gap. A rare meadow clary, its deep purple spikes rising from chalky soil, surprises on a south-facing slope, its seeds once a remedy for clear eyes. New barn owl nesting boxes promise hope, as gatekeeper butterflies pirouette and listener tales of teasels and poppies enrich this dance of nature’s farewell under a low, golden sun.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17593715-episode-2-31-swallow-flights-and-flaxen-fields.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this vibrant episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin revel in a glorious late July morning at High Ash Farm, where nature dons its finest. Over a purple knapweed sea—its hard heads buzzing with bees—six-spot burnet moths dazzle with jet-black wings and crimson spots, emerging from reflective cocoons after a cyanide-rich diet of birdsfoot trefoil. Parasitic wonders like yellow rattle and lesser broomrape thrive, their seeds hinting at future life, while the regal wildflower field bursts with poppies, yarrow, and cornflower blue, a Van Gogh palette revived from set-aside days. Listener tales of window-struck warblers, brown tail moths, and swift absences weave into this tapestry, as swallows feast under a cotton-wool sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17556276-episode-2-30-burnet-wings-and-knapweed-crowns.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this captivating episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin explore High Ash Farm amid its third heatwave, where nature’s cycle thrives. In Fox’s Grove, bluebell stalks release shiny black seeds, their retractile roots pulling bulbs deeper into gravelly soil, a silent promise for 2026’s bloom. Along the hedgerows, large bindweed’s bell-shaped flowers—white with pink stripes—curl anticlockwise in a thigmotropic dance, feeding moths, while hogweed’s umbrella heads grace the chalk pit field, their seeds poised for wind’s dispersal. Chris pans for gold in a digger bucket, harvesting yellow rattle seeds worth £200 per kilo, a testament to the farm’s diversification from past cereal days. Listener tales of wood pigeon brawls, kingfisher feats, and swallowtail sightings weave into this tale, as nature’s resilience shines under a sun-scorched sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17515208-episode-2-29-bluebell-seeds-and-bindweed-bells.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this enchanting episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embrace a damp July morning at High Ash Farm, where a farm miracle unfolds. By the lake, tens of thousands of froglets and toadlets leap from their tadpole origins, abandoning the water in a breathtaking exodus, their tiny forms navigating metre-high grass to escape herons and owls. Half a mile away, a kingfisher’s azure brilliance—cobalt wings and halcyon hues—dazzles from a crafted perch, its dives snaring young rudd and gudgeon, a fledged nest now a silent triumph. The teasel maze stretches across five acres, a pollinator haven humming with bees and red admirals, its clay-cracked paths whispering Saxon history. Listener tales of parasitic wasps and sand martin boxes weave into this journey, as nature’s miracle thrives under a softening sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17493040-episode-2-28-amphibians-to-azure-a-farm-miracle.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this vibrant episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin revel in High Ash Farm’s sultry July heat, where nature pirouettes in a stunning display. The red admiral’s dance unfolds as this migrant aristocrat flutters over an oak tree’s amber sap, its orange-and-black wings a vivid spectacle, while common centaury’s pink blooms nod to ancient healing myths. A butterfly bonanza—peacocks, meadow browns, small whites, speckled woods, and a ragged-winged comma—graces wildflowers like corn marigold and feverfew, their courtship a summer ballet. A fierce aerial clash sees kestrels drive off a buzzard over a rabbit feast, showcasing nature’s raw balance. Listener tales of swift absences, box tree moths, and a rare marbled white enrich this journey, culminating in Chris’s whimsical new teasel maze, awaiting Matthew’s ribbon-cutting flourish under a softening sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17449357-episode-2-27-admiral-s-dance-and-teasel-maze.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this delightful episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin linger in High Ash Farm’s yard, where sparrows thrive amidst 42 nest boxes, their fledglings peeking out as parents deliver 2000 daily feedings—a red-listed revival from near extinction 25 years ago. Nearby, bouncing bet (soapwort) unveils creamy blooms with soapy leaves, a historical gem once used to cleanse ancient fabrics, while bladder campion’s balloon-like flowers and red ragged robin’s delicate pink petals grace the marshy lowlands. A new badger set, unearthed in Cantley Hill Plantation, reveals a family of four, their sandy digs captured on camera, adding to the farm’s wildlife tapestry. Listener queries—trapped church birds, solitary bees, skylark dives, and ladybird larvae—enliven this journey, as July’s gentle bloom heralds nature’s quiet triumph under a softening summer sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17403341-episode-2-26-ragged-robins-and-rustic-nests.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this captivating episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin embrace a radiant June morning at High Ash Farm, where nature’s might and beauty collide. Following a fierce storm that dumped 38 millimetres of rain in an hour and a half, the farm’s meadows reveal a tapestry of grasses—tall meadow fescue, Yorkshire fog’s purple haze, and sweet vernal’s perfumed blooms—standing resilient against the deluge. A buffer strip, crafted 20 years ago, proves its worth, halting floodwaters that once threatened the River Tas, a testament to working with nature’s power. At Brancaster’s salt marshes, Chris marvels at sea lavender and glasswort, their salt-tolerant forms thriving amidst tidal shifts, while cattle egrets and oystercatchers adapt to the high tide. Listener tales of early brambles, hedgehog hoglets, and a piebald jackdaw enrich this journey, as the longest day heralds summer’s peak under a sky of promise and memory.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17351488-episode-2-25-salt-marshes-and-storms-a-summer-surge.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this enchanting episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin ascend to the lofty heights of High Ash Farm, where June’s wild symphony reverberates across Norfolk’s landscape. On the historic gun field—once a wartime bastion with searchlights and artillery guarding Norwich from German bombers during the 1940s—a skylark soars, its trilling melody piercing the sky just yards away, a poignant echo of resilience. Nearby, pyramidal orchids rise from chalky clay, their deep purple spikes crafting nature’s pyramids, a rare bloom thriving amidst a wildflower haven shaped by centuries of human toil. In an elder wood atop an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, creamy blossoms whisper tales of ancient cremations and fires fuelled by hollow elder stems, a site of international significance where Roman chalk mining once supported early mortar works. From hedgehog hoglets foraging in daylight to debates on solar panels versus farmland, listener queries enrich this journey. With bees buzzing over sand vetch, rooks cawing from nest-laden Scots pines, and the farm’s living heritage unfolding, this episode celebrates a timeless connection under a lengthening summer sky.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17325258-episode-2-24-skylarks-and-pyramids-june-s-high-harmony.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan MailIn this vibrant episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin brave a blustery June morning at High Ash Farm, where summer’s rhythm pulses through Norfolk’s countryside. By a windswept hedgerow, they marvel at field and dog roses, their delicate white and pink petals whispering tales of Roman introductions and heralding scarlet hips for autumn. A majestic red kite, mobbed by crows, glides over crimson-tinted soil, joined by buzzards relishing disc-churned invertebrates. In a young woodland, a lone common spotted orchid glows with pinkish-purple spikes, its ancient seed thriving in chalky clay through mysterious fungal bonds. Amidst pelting rain, four swallow fledglings dart through a stable, mastering flight in a whirlwind of wings. From cuckoo spit’s frothy secrets to a bee swarm’s rooftop haven, listener queries weave through vivid discoveries, celebrating June’s untamed symphony.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17293128-episode-2-23-roses-and-red-kites-june-s-wild-waltz.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail"Woodpeckers and Witches’ Brooms: Summer’s Secret Symphony"In this captivating episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin dive into the early summer splendour of High Ash Farm, where nature hums with hidden wonders. From their bird hide, they marvel at great spotted woodpeckers—vivid parents darting to a lofty nest, feeding insatiable chicks in a slender sycamore’s embrace. Amidst the woodland’s rustle, they uncover the sticky allure of honeydew, as aphids coat sycamore leaves, fuelling swallows and swifts in their aerial dance. Venturing to a sunlit slope, the duo kneels before a dazzling display of bee orchids, their bee-mimicking petals thriving despite drought, alongside buzzing bumblebees on sainfoin. A listener’s query unveils the eerie folklore of witches’ brooms—fungus-sparked tangles in silver birch. Packed with tales of zygodactyl toes, pseudo pollination, and the relentless rhythm of June’s renewal, this episode is a joyful ode to the countryside’s unseen performers.https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17248014-episode-2-22-woodpeckers-and-witches-brooms-summer-s-secret-symphony.mp3?download=trueSupport the showPlease email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast [email protected] podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm. Support us here:https://donorbox.org/podcast-12or from the Podcast page here:Podcast | High Ash Farm