Back in the early 19th century, the squire of Walton Hall in Yorkshire was called Charles Waterton, a man for whom the term 'eccentric' might have been invented.

For example, it is said that he would crawl around on the floor pretending to be dog, biting people's calves. And he apparently rode on top of a cayman (a type of crocodile) on a trip to South America. I think he sounds great fun!

However, this…

I attended a talk at my local bird club this week, the Shoreham & District Ornithological Society. It was a lovely evening among 80 or so people, where we were whisked off by the speaker (the ever-popular Bernie Forbes) for a tour of the beautiful island of Lesvos, so much in the news these days because of the human migrant crisis.

As slide after slide came up of all manner of gorgeous and colourful birds, from Bee…

So here we are, just over the threshold into 2016, and my thoughts turned to what I need to do in my new garden this year to help save nature.

In fact I made a list, and it got longer and longer until it all became rather daunting. After all, I have a day job to do, too!

I know, I thought, I'll just look back over some of the things I achieved in 2015.

It started with two solid weeks of me directing a team of tree…

While the country was singing Auld Lang Syne, you'll have found me doing my New Year's Jig. The corner has been turned! Happy New Year! Ahead of us there is the anticipation of a natural world getting set to unfurl (or having already done so in the case of many daffodils and catkins).

Of course, there's that one key date on the immediate horizon - Big Garden Birdwatch - which this year falls on 30 & 31 January…