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Sign up todayRhythms of Nature
Time outdoors is always well spent. It raises the spirits, sparks the imagination and, as research increasingly shows, measurably improves our physical and mental wellbeing. Rhythms of Nature celebrates this fundamental relationship with the natural world, and considers some ways we might rediscover it.
After a career in conservation, Ian Carter moves to a secluded farmhouse tucked away in the low hills of mid-Devon between Exmoor and Dartmoor. Here he tries new approaches to exploring the local countryside. He learns the edible species, follows streams (wherever they may lead) and slips unseen through private estates. He experiments with rewilding the garden, goes on night-time rambles and watches the changing seasons in super high definition.
Following on from the author’s acclaimed Human, Nature, this engaging and thought-provoking book offers simple suggestions for how to enliven a sense of wonder in our surroundings. A paean to the ‘neglected’ and untidy places that can enrich our lives, it will appeal to anyone wishing to develop a deeper connection with wildlife or who has a desire to seek out the wilder corners of our landscape.
Ian Carter took early retirement after twenty-five years as an ornithologist with Natural England. He was closely involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme and wider work on the conservation of birds of prey, bird reintroductions and wildlife management. The cultural and philosophical aspects of nature conservation have always fascinated him, especially their influence on our attitudes towards the natural world. He has written articles for wildlife magazines including British Birds, British Wildlife and Birdwatch, and has co-authored papers in scientific journals. He wrote The Red Kite (Arlequin Press 2007) and, with Dan Powell, The Red Kite’s Year (Pelagic Publishing 2019), and has been on the Editorial Board of the journal British Birds for over twenty years. He keeps a wildlife diary and has written something in it (however dull) every day for over thirty-five years.
Reviews
A tramp through the west country and a diary of a cottage garden, thoughts on rewilding and the value of hens. Does that sound disparate… its not. This book is semi-autobiographical if you see the reflection in nature described, it sets out hopes, pitfalls and down to earth experiences.
It's entertaining and, almost by osmosis informative.
Thoroughly well written it is most accessible and flows so well a promised few pages ends up a chapter or two, while you follow the seasons.
Great stuff!
What makes this book, and Ian’s writing in general, is not that Ian sees things that the rest of us couldn’t see but that he thinks more about what he sees than many do, and then writes softly and engagingly about his thoughts. I find myself mentally commenting ‘Good point, well made’ as I move through the book but even if I very occasionally differ, slightly, from the author I don’t mind because he puts his thoughts over so well.
It is difficult to do justice to the range of matters that are covered in this book, but I found it a hugely enriching read. It benefits, I think, from being a collection of essays, each one of which melds personal experience, lightly worn expertise and consideration of things we are all, or should be, concerned about, with information and details that encourage curiosity and wonder too. Each chapter is eye-opening and provides pause for thought. It also goes against the grain of a lot of contemporary nature writing by being intentionally funny- ‘ forest bathing’ being described as a ‘ fancy term for a stroll in the woods’!
Carter has a flair for setting the scene, drawing the tableaux and then moving the reader through the landscape. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it to all.
A wonderful blend of knowledge and insight, fuelled by unquenchable curiosity for the natural world. Rhythms of Nature is like a conversation with a clever friend. I loved it.
By turns practical and philosophical, Rhythms of Nature is a genially-shared, genuine reflection on a lifetime's hard-won, hands-on knowledge from a total involvement in nature.
I so enjoyed reading this book. Ian’s writing is engaging, thought-provoking, and refreshingly honest - and his approaches to exploring his new patch, together with suggestions for how we might all rekindle our relationships with the natural world, are both insightful and inspiring.
Having greatly enjoyed the author’s earlier book, Human, Nature, I was pleased to find its follow-up to be another delight: a beautifully written and thought-provoking meditation on our diverse relationship with nature, this time viewed through the prism of the changing seasons.
Carter invites the reader on a gentle and entertaining exploration of nature through the seasons, discussing and dissecting our enduring and occasionally paradoxical relationship with the British countryside. Along the way, we’re treated to perceptive musings on everything from wild foraging, chicken-keeping and hare-coursing to the rights and wrongs of feeding garden birds.
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