Often painted as a thief and a troublemaker, the magpie’s high intelligence and shimmering beauty are shadowed by misunderstanding and ancient fears

Happy New (wildlife-watching) Year to all readers, says James Lowen

This Victorian contribution to our fauna might be diminutive, but what the little owl lacks in stature, it makes up for in fierce character and mythical cachet

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My sky is never empty. At dawn there may be just a lone crow beating a steady path north, or at dusk, the curiously undulating, huge wings of a heron heading to roost in a willow above the ditch. Duck

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