I’m sceptical about news stories you sometimes read of big black cats roaming the countryside. I was, however, tempted to don my boots for a hike I found on the internet titled In the Footsteps of the

I read recently that scientists allegedly agree that there is no increase in extreme weather events and conditions. If that’s so, the journals I checked must not yet have got the memo. The German Helm

What the scientists are saying… Falling puffin numbers ...

Quiz of the week 1) Name the BBC’s ...

Who needs the Galapagos? Sir David Attenborough revels in the wildlife on his London doorstep

Whether winter-faded ferns, the spindly harvestman or the tyrannical stare of an irate chicken, through-lines from the prehistoric to our modern age are all around us in November, says John Lewis-Stempel