While clearing bracken on my Cumbrian land, I heard a cuckoo - its persistent call inspired this reflection on its ecological and cultural significance. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a brood parasite, migrates vast distances, and is declining in the UK. It symbolises spring, trickery, and longing across cultures. As an evolutionary marvel and ecological indicator, it deserves urgent conservation attention.

Whenever I climb the Lake District’s Great Gable (899 metres) [i] , I usually have whisky on my mind. This time it was climate change...

Week 2 Introduction There are few better ways of seeing the effects of climate change than standing atop a Lake District mountain. I had...