Just over the border to Ireland we go, to meet our Gaelic friends on the Emerald Isle. Ireland is a beautiful land that is quite different to England, and has a lot of unique wildlife and its own beautiful language.
An Irish Nature Year is a daily meditation on nature of the Emerald Isle. The author takes a year to explain the mysteries of who is cutting perfect circles in your roses, which birds wear feathery trousers, and what is an amethyst deceiver? This illustrated day book is filled with plants, animals, birds and creepy-crawlies from nature writer Jane Powers. From ‘weeds’ in the pavement cracks to surprising inhabitants of vacant lots, to finds along the shore and hedgerows.
A Natural Year is a nice book that takes us over the water, to observe Irish nature by the seasons. Michael Fewer, who combined architecture with academia for several years, before focusing on writing about local natural history. A regular columnist for the Irish Times, here he lends his expertise for bedtime reading. These beautifully written diaries are observed from his homes in south Dublin and rural Waterford, where he delights at the startling beauty and complexity of the natural world, through the passing seasons. His infectious passion will inspire your own observations, and shows how careful study of the natural world, can be a cure for the stresses of modern life.