Thomas Coward | The Guardian (original) (raw)
Thomas Coward was an English ornithologist who wrote the Country Diary column until his death
May 2026
Country diary
Country diary 1906: The wild plants are overflowing with health
17 May 1906: There are blue woods and soft yellow banks while in untrimmed hedges climbing vetches, wood loosestrife and campions add variety
March 2026
Country diary
Country diary 1911: Listening to a beetle ‘talk’
16 March 1911: When alarmed the coprophagous beetle stiffens its legs, rolls over, and begins to squeak
February 2026
Country diary
Country diary 1926: Is the keeper wise to destroy weasels and stoats?
12 February 1926: Everyone who knows anything about game-rearing admits that the brown rat is the worst enemy to contend with
January 2026
Country diary
Country diary 1926: Hunting the tide wrack for ringed birds
15 January 1926: Nowadays any bird may carry a small, metal ring on one leg, placed there by some student of migration
December 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1925: A wagtail without the wanderlust
22 December 1925: Behind the horses and plough-girl came a single pied wagtail, left behind when its companions hastened south
November 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1905: Winter sights and sensations are everywhere
18 November 1905: In the still, frosty air withered oak leaves, ash keys, and the long green fingers of the willows hung straight and motionless
October 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1925: The stable fly refrained from sampling our gore
13 October 1925: As we lunched, the flies did not trouble us though every one that settled on the sun-warmed polished car was a biting stomoxy
September 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1905: Autumn ‘chintz’ becoming more noticeable
6 September 1905: The Virginia creeper is turning crimson, and promises to adorn houses and cottages with its glowing colours
August 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1905: a green lizard is not a ‘serpent with legs’
18 August 1905: Reptiles and amphibians are slain by timid and ignorant people, many of whom are educated, because they are ‘venomous’
July 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1905: The trouble with thrips
Country diary
Country diary 1925: Shetland seals enjoy the beach
June 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1905: The hayfield is the scene of one great massacre
26 June 1905: Beneath the teeth of the whirring machine the tall grasses go down alongside their enemy, the yellow rattle, while sometimes partridges fail to dodge death-dealing apparatus
March 2025
Country diary
Country diary 1925: The reed buntings are back on song
10 March 1925: As well as the repeated notes, his black cap, snowy collar and widespread tail attract female attention – and surely he knows it
November 2024
Country diary
Country diary 1924: finding beauty in decay
25 November 1924: In this season of decline, autumnal fungi decorates rotting wood and perishing tissue
October 2024
Country diary
Country diary 1924: Stunning autumn colours in the French countryside
Though the woods are beautiful, the most brilliant colours are in the vineyards
September 2024
Country diary
Country diary 1924: Are red legs really an advantage for waders?
Country diary
Country diary 1924: Does the yew deserve its bad name?
July 2024
Country diary
Country diary 1924: birds of a feather work together
8 July 1924: Sometimes the cooperation is that of a robber band and I have seen two crows steal from a heron in this way
May 2024
Country diary
Country diary 1924: dead seaweed is not always a safe refuge
Country diary
Country diary 1924: the taste of the otter is catholic
About 282 results for Thomas Coward