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The Dawn Chorus: No fruit for wintering birds, Grange Park Opera’s ‘big deal’ and the last V12 Ferrari

James Fisher James Fisher

Plus, why was margarine pink, 11 of the best houses for sale in the magazine last week and a Halloween podcast special.

Don’t let the birds go hungry

It’s a bad year to be a bird, with a wet spring the likely cause of fruits being scarcer than usual. This is according to an update from the Woodland Trust, which notes that hawthorn berry numbers have ‘dropped significantly this year’, posting just 2.8 on the ‘fruit scale’, comfortable below their annual average of 3.66. The fruit scale judges the amount of fruit on a tree, with 1 equalling ‘no fruit’ and 5 meaning ‘exceptional’.

It’s not just hawthorn berries that are suffering, per the Woodland Trust. Ash, ivy and oak trees are also showing their lowest scores since records began in 2001. 

‘The low fruit yield comes after downpours earlier in the year, which may have damaged those early blooms, some of which may have opened early, coaxed out by the warm temperatures,’ says Judith Garforth, citizen science officer at the Woodland Trust.

A warm and early spring, followed by lots of wet weather, is believed to be the main cause, with a rolling impact on pollinators now translating into low fruit yields.

Quiz

1) In Germany I am a Schmetterling and in Spain a mariposa—what am I?

2) Maria Ann Smith cultivated which popular fruit in Australia in the 1800s?

3) Where on the body is the lunula found?

4) Fictional character Erique Claudin is better known as what?

5) What does the HP in HP Sauce stand for?

Grange Park x ENO

The red opera house at Grange Park will welcome the Orchestra of the English National Opera in its 2025 summer season, it was announced today, in what founder Wasfi Kani described as ‘a big deal’. ‘We’ll be the only summer opera season with a proper opera orchestra, and we plan to continue the collaboration into the future,’ she added.

The collaboration will begin on June 14, with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa. The show will be directed by former ENO intendant, Sir David Pountney and the ENO orchestra will work with its former music director Martyn Brabbins.

Why is the country house so scary?

Blickling Hall in Norfolk, an inspirtation for Louise Davidson’s Gothic novel.

Halloween is upon us, whether you like it or not. While it may be considered a ghastly American tradition, and you might be battening down the hatches to avoid the army of small ghostly children knocking on your door, it is worth considering the relationship between the British Country House and Gothic Horror.

To do that, we invited the author Louise Davidson on to the podcast this week to talk about the history of ‘the big scary country house in Gothic literature’. She’s an expert, having written her own Gothic novel on the topic, titled The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Top of the props

Credit: Hobbs Parker

Last week was a bumper crop for property adverts in the magazine. We chose 11 of our favourites for you.

I can’t believe it’s not yellow

Did you know margarine used to be pink? I didn’t. Martin Fone, the man who knows the answers to many questions you never thought to ask, explains all.

A yellow Ferrari and a gold Rolls Royce

Credit: Lorenzo Marcinno

There’s a new Ferrari out, so we sent someone to drive it. There’s also a new Rolls Royce out, to celebrate Goldfinger, so we made Toby Keel write about it. All your motoring needs, all in one place.

That’s all for today, see you tomorrow

Quiz answers

1) A butterfly

2) Apples (Granny Smith)

3) Finger or toenail (white crescent)

4) The Phantom of the Opera

5) Houses of Parliament

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A new website allowing the public to submit ideas on how to improve the NHS has, of course, been flooded