Nature, in all its beauty and ferocity, was celebrated in these unforgettable articles.
Eight beautiful photographs from Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019
©Jason Bantle / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Natural History Museum’s peerless nature photography competition always throws out some wonders.
Britain’s giant tortoises
©Richard Cannon/Country Life
‘They’ve been around for 200 million years – we’re a blip to them’
The confusingly enormous hummingbird hawk-moth
©Getty Images/iStockphoto
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a hummingbird hawk-moth. Simon Lester took a closer look.
Breathtaking photographs from the Outdoor Photographer of the Year award
©OPOTY/Anya Burnell
20,000 people entered the Outdoor Photographer of the Year award in 2018 — the winners were announced in March of 2019.
Curious Questions: Can a swan really break your arm?
©Alamy
Alexandra Fraser attempted to answer the question of the ages.
Can horses really heal humans?
©Getty
The claims made for how horses help humans get over all manner of trauma stretch back to ancient times. Pippa Cuckson investigated.
Best pictures from the 2019 Audubon Photography Awards
©Kevin Ebi/2019 Audubon Photography Awards
An unusual piece for us in that it focused on North American birds, this piece on the Audobon Society’s competition featured one of the great photographs of the year.
Why are we so superstitious about magpies?
©Alamy
One for sorrow, two for joy…
The world’s loudest songbird is like standing next to a jet fighter taking off
©Alamy
Quite astonishing. You really have to read this one.
The parts of Britain invaded by Asiatic hornets
©Nature Picture Library / Alamy
The worrying appearance of this ‘devastating hornet that can kill up to 50 bees a day’ made headlines at the end of the summer. Let’s hope it’s an isolated occurrence.
11 things you never knew about the jackdaw, the bird that just loves people
Ian Morton takes a look at the jackdaw, a bird with a real affinity for man – despite a chequered reputation
The delights of dung: 11 things you never knew about cowpats
It attracts no public regard apart from taking care not to step in it, but it plays a big role
The history of the elder tree: From deities and dryads to Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling
Does our love of a tall glass of elderflower cordial speak of an ancient connection with the tree itself, wonders
The wren: 8 things you ought to know about Britain’s most common bird
It may be diminutive, but the perky-tailed wren has a powerful song and the ancient title of king among birds,
The incredible tale of the foxglove, from curing to disease to inspiring Van Gogh’s most striking paintings
A tale of skulduggery, poisoning, witches and even marketing men runs through the history of the foxglove, as Ian Morton
Curious Questions: How did shrews get such a bad name?
The shrew is a tiny and seemingly-inoffensive creature of the meadow. So how did it end up becoming a byword
