Send us Fan Mail

On a breezy early-May morning, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin visit Earsham Gravel Quarry on the northern edge of High Ash Farm to witness a wonderful spectacle. Hundreds of sand martins swirl around the towering sand cliffs, pouring in and out of nest holes like a living Swiss cheese. Chris explains their colonial lifestyle, playful feather-chasing games, tiny size, brown collar, and long journey from the Sahel, while noting their sharp national decline and dependence on nearby river meadows for insect food. 

Back on the farm they check a busy rookery in tall ash trees, where early nests hold well-grown young “branchers” stretching their wings. Chris highlights differences between rooks, carrion crows and jackdaws, and the challenges of dry weather for feeding the chicks. From the Yellowhammer Hide they enjoy a close roe deer browsing hawthorn and panoramic views across the fields, though the hoped-for rooks stay cautious. 

Listener letters add warmth: stone owls and donations from Houston, Minnesota; min-till benefits in Africa and the UK; nettles in pots for gardeners; hen harriers and swifts in France; and thoughtful comments on the shooting industry’s role in conservation. 

This episode bubbles with the energy of early summer migrants and bustling rookeries — ideal for savouring the lively return of colonial birds and the everyday wonders of farm and quarry alike.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19107894-episode-2-70-sand-martin-spectacle-and-earsham-colonies.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

On a bright but brisk late-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner welcomes Matthew Gudgin with a fresh sense of wonder after his recent heart surgery. Starting close to home, he shares honey with common ants in a plant pot and explains their vital place at the base of the food chain — fuelling the swarming “aerial plankton” that feeds swallows, starlings and green woodpeckers. 

Just yards from the back door, four well-grown robin chicks sit ready to fledge in a Virginia creeper nest, while a bold lone mallard duckling makes daily journeys from the pond to the workshop. 

The pair then step into one of the farm’s spectacular bluebell woods, where 60–70 million blooms create a sumptuous carpet. Chris reveals how the flowers race to store sunlight in their bulbs before the beech canopy closes, and reflects on the peaceful living heritage of this ancient site near a Romano-Celtic temple. 

Later, at a large badger sett, they explore huge sand mounds and tunnels home to several sows and their playful cubs, with Chris describing their digging skill, delayed implantation, and charming night-time footage. Listener letters bring extra warmth: sparrows in clematis, a Christmas wreath robin nest, wild cherry queries and recovery wishes. 

This episode celebrates nature’s interconnected layers — from tiny ants to ancient bluebells and bustling badger families — ideal for savouring the renewed joys of spring and the quiet magic of second chances.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19069936-episode-2-69-bluebell-batteries-and-badger-bedding.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

In the soft pre-dawn light of mid-April at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner steps outside at 4:45 am to capture the awakening countryside. A blackbird sings gloriously from a nearby tree, its rich, fluid notes carrying beautifully in the cool, still air, while wood pigeons coo and the first lesser black-backed gulls drift overhead. Chris explains why birds sing so early — advertising territory, the sound travelling farther in dense cold air, and the simple fact that it’s still too dark for many to start foraging on the ground. A short walk to the stables reveals the farm’s growing swallow population — now nearly 30 adults — already busily repairing nests and chattering excitedly after their long journey from South Africa. Later, in the warm sunshine, orange-tip butterflies are drawn to garlic mustard, whose triangular leaves Chris picks and tastes, noting its pungent garlic-and-mustard flavour once used with mutton. St George’s Day flies drift through the woodland edge, and a red kite quarters the fields. Listener letters add warmth: dawn chorus recordings from California, a garter snake tackling a large goldfish, and support during Chris’s recovery. This episode is a gentle celebration of spring’s awakening chorus and the tireless return of the swallows, ideal for savouring the simple magic of an early April morning.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19032092-episode-2-68-migratory-masses-and-st-george-s-day-flies.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

On a gloriously warm early-April morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin celebrate the long-awaited arrival of the swallows — fifteen adults sweeping in together in a single batch, already busily cleaning and repairing last year’s nests in the stables. Chris explains the ingenious double-roofing solution he installed to prevent the young from overheating in summer, and the epic 5,000-mile journey these tiny birds make each year from South Africa. A gentle walk through Notre Dame Wood reveals wild cherry trees in glorious creamy-white blossom and blackthorn thickets frothing with white flowers, while ground ivy carpets the floor and bumblebees hum through the warm air. Hares are spotted in the fields and a red kite quarters overhead. Listener letters bring extra delight: returning rookeries, clever robins at feeders, barn owl updates, and warm wishes for Chris’s continued recovery. This episode bubbles with the energy of spring — mass swallow arrivals, cherry blossom, and the first true signs of summer — ideal for savouring the small wonders that make every day on the farm special.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18994933-episode-2-67-spring-swallow-spectacle-and-woodland-whites.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

A beautiful early-April morning at High Ash Farm and Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are treated to classic “Mad March hares” — pairs and trios boxing and chasing across the overwinter seed mix, the females standing up on hind legs to fend off over-eager males. A short drive to the oat field reveals Neil’s min-till cultivator at work, its wide array of angled discs turning the soil with minimal disturbance while a swirling flock of rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows and gulls feasts on the freshly exposed soil invertebrates; overhead a red kite quarters the scene and a buzzard watches from a fence post. Then comes a real first for the farm: on a small-leaved lime tree beside Caister Lane, Laura Cuffin spots dozens of bright red-and-black firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) — a Mediterranean species only recently arrived in Norfolk. The insects are in a frenzy of mating, crawling up the sunny bark and hiding among the leaf litter by day, their striking geometric patterns (two black dots and a triangle on a red background) making them unmistakable. Chris explains this is the first time he has seen them on the farm, and Laura’s macro photos capture the drama perfectly. Listener letters bring extra delight: returning rookeries, clever robins at feeders, barn owl updates and warm wishes for Chris’s continued recovery. This episode bubbles with the energy of spring — boxing hares, busy fields and an exciting new insect arrival — ideal for savouring the small wonders that make every day on the farm special.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18961274-episode-2-66-firebug-frenzy-and-min-till-marvels.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

Fresh from a successful quadruple bypass at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner returns to High Ash Farm after nine days away, still bruised from head to foot but glowing with renewed purpose. In the living room he shares extraordinary stories of the operating theatre where three members of the surgical team recognised him from the podcast and asked (unsuccessfully) to play it during the nine-and-a-half-hour procedure, and of the young farmers from the Philippines and South Sudan working in the UK to buy tractors and sunflower seed for their families back home. A gentle drive across the farm reveals hares hunkered in the overwinter seed mix, roe deer, and a young Chinese water deer, while a visit to the barn owl box — an old dog kennel Chris installed in a tree twenty years ago — shows it occupied for the fifth time, the female likely already incubating. Rat the terrier sits proudly on the day’s emails as a living paperweight, and listener warmth pours in: support for Rat’s antics, toad-spawn ribbons in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, a returning rookery in a spinney, and a clever robin learning to steal from tit feeders. This reflective episode marks a new chapter for Chris and the farm, full of gratitude, second chances and the quiet return of spring’s familiar rhythms, ideal for cherishing the living heritage that surrounds us.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18921358-episode-2-65-owl-odyssey-and-second-chances.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

Just days before his successful triple bypass surgery at Papworth Hospital, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin stand at the overflowing lake at High Ash Farm, where a sodden winter has triggered one of nature’s most spectacular annual events. Hundreds of frogs and toads have emerged from hibernation in a single night, laying millions of eggs: the frogs producing huge glistening rafts of “tapioca pudding” spawn, while the common toads create long, double-rowed ribbons resembling delicate strings of pearls stretching metres across the water. Chris explains the frantic amplexus mating ritual, how the spawn sinks then floats, the tadpole lifecycle, and the low survival odds against herons, otters and dragonfly larvae. A gentle ramble reveals a young roe buck close by and, in the overwinter wild bird seed mix field, “Mad March hares” hunkered in their forms before lolloping away, accompanied by rising skylarks, flocks of linnets, corn buntings and a hovering kestrel. Listener warmth flows in: toad rescues in Kent, bumblebees diving into daffodils, clever robins learning from tit feeders, and messages of support during Chris’s recovery. This episode captures spring’s dramatic, slippery rebirth in all its watery glory, ideal for celebrating nature’s determined renewal after winter’s long wait.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18880984-episode-2-64-spawn-surge-and-mad-march-hares.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

In the soft pre-dawn light of mid-March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner sits patiently in the Fox's Grove hide hoping for a glimpse of the elusive willow tit, one of the farm's dwindling specialities, while blue tits, coal tits and long-tailed tits swarm the feeders. Later, joined by Matthew Gudgin in a newly planted extension of Woodcock Wood, they celebrate the willow – all five British species thrive here, from towering white and crack willows to the three sallow species. Chris cuts a whip of goat willow, its yellow catkins (known locally as goslings) providing vital early pollen for emerging bumblebees. The trees' rich history unfolds: their flexible wood once used for coracles, baskets and cricket bats (with a family link to the famous Watts bat makers), and the dramatic tale of how pollarded willow tally sticks accidentally burned down the Houses of Parliament exactly 200 years ago in 1826. A thrilling red kite spirals and stoops dramatically overhead, while purple emperors are known to lay eggs on the willow canopy. Listener letters spark lively discussion: debate over wild brown trout fishing, complaints about Rat the terrier's barking, clever robins stealing from tit feeders, and striking photos of elm bark beetle galleries. This episode honours one of Britain's most versatile and historically significant trees, ideal for marvelling at nature's quiet ingenuity as spring awakens.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18842511-episode-2-63-cricket-bat-canopies-and-tally-tales.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

In the bustling heart of Norwich city centre beneath the clock tower of City Hall and the ledges of St Peter Mancroft, Chris Skinner answers listener Jocelyn Baxter’s question about five different-coloured pigeons in her garden. Surrounded by swirling flocks of up to 500 feral pigeons (the domesticated descendants of the wild rock dove), he traces their extraordinary journey from remote Scottish cliffs and Welsh caves to urban rooftops, including their role as ancient Egyptian messengers under Rameses III and heroic WWII carrier pigeons. Back at High Ash Farm the story unfolds across all five British species: the abundant wood pigeon — agricultural pest number one with its soporific five-note call, white wing crescents, flimsy stick nests and protein-rich “pigeon milk” for squabs; the collared dove, once Britain’s rarest bird and now one of its fastest-spreading success stories since the 1950s; the rapidly declining turtle dove with its gentle purring song and iconic summer sound; and the often-overlooked stock dove, a hole-nester in tree trunks and specially made boxes. Listener gems add extra delight: Phil Getty’s photo of house sparrows outwitting bird spikes under a louvred sunshade in America, Kerry’s striking elm bark beetle patterns (the tiny architects behind Dutch elm disease that changed the Norfolk landscape forever), and Chris from Masham’s trail-cam footage of hedgehogs still active in winter thanks to garden feeding. This episode celebrates one of our most familiar yet frequently misunderstood bird families, perfect for appreciating the remarkable adaptability and hidden histories all around us.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18802012-episode-2-62-city-coos-and-collared-comebacks.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm

Send us Fan Mail

On a gloriously mild first day of March at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin are stopped in their tracks before they even leave the yard by the season’s first brimstone butterfly — a dazzling male sulphur-yellow vision emerging from dense ivy on the stable wall, its ivy-shaped wings proving once again why this hero plant is the ultimate winter refuge. Just yards away, the 42 sparrow nest boxes are a riot of chatter and activity, every one occupied in a heart-warming reversal of the old “Sparrow Clubs” that once tried to eradicate them. In the south-facing edge of Cantley Hill Plantation, sweet violets have already been blooming for weeks, while the common dog violet carpets the bank in pale purple drifts, its delicate spurred flowers and honey guides a masterclass in miniature beauty. Crossing into the southern fields of Stoke Holy Cross, they find field pansies (Viola arvensis) and their close cousin the wild heartsease glowing among the overwinter seed mix, alongside groundsel’s tiny yellow stars (the “old man’s head” of folklore) and shepherd’s purse with its triangular seed pods. High above, buzzards spiral and stoop in early courtship displays against the blue sky, while skylarks pour out song and Rat the terrier digs frantically for whatever scent has caught his nose. Listener warmth arrives from North Carolina with photos of the famous white squirrels of Brevard and from a local angler thrilled by underwater footage of a River Tas brown trout. This episode captures the very first tender stirrings of spring — butterflies, violets, pansies and hopeful nesting — ideal for celebrating nature’s quiet, colourful return after winter’s long wait.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18761657-episode-2-61-brimstone-breakthrough-and-violet-ventures.mp3?download=true

Support the show

Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
[email protected]

This podcast is brought to you by High Ash Farm. To support our efforts in creating this content, please consider making a small monthly or one-off donation. Your contributions help us with production costs, and after expenses, every penny goes towards conservation and maintaining free public access at High Ash Farm.
Support us here:
https://donorbox.org/podcast-12
or from the Podcast page here:
Podcast | High Ash Farm