Meet the canine detective agency

From a heroic long-distance swimmer to a producer of spectacularly eerie sound effects, the seabirds seen swooping and diving over British waters have all manner of singular skills, says John Lewis-Stempel

Instead of another trip to the zoo, try exploring your local rewilding project over the holidays. Rewilding – the large-scale restoration of nature to the point where it can take care of itself again

Mike has been pondering the identification of individual birds, before drifting into insect-watching for the summer

POPULATION TRENDS

The rise and rise of raptor species has been a major success of the past half century, but it may well have been the downfall of the common kestrel

There’s just a pig board between me and the lively grey seal barrelling towards me down the corridor. Tipping the scales at about 27kg, the pup – a young male called Bop It – already weighs as much as