Shetland’s simmer dim

Birds can transport us to another time and place entirely,

Dreaming of escape on Ireland’s far-flung islands, David Bradford finds the reality of remoteness not quite as simple as it seems

Moments enjoyed, lessons learned, handy advice, weird stuff that happened: welcome to the little bits and pieces that don’t make big stories, but do make all the difference.

Nature needs time to adapt to changing conditions,

30-minute birder Amanda Tuke finds it hard to relax on holiday when so much is going on back home in London…

Smothering, transformative and beautiful, fog’s close-set shroud has inspired titans of literature, cinema and art–and forces the rest of us to look at the world a little closer, writes John Lewis-Stempel