Quieter · Field Notes • THE CALENDAR
A Year in British Nature
Every month, something worth noticing. Every post, a reason to go outside.
Sign up for Field NotesField Notes is the Quieter monthly newsletter. Each edition covers what's worth noticing outside that month — wildlife, foraging, astronomy, wildflowers and more. Subscribe and get 10% off your first order. Updated month by month, year by year.
Latest from Field Notes: MAY 2026
May · Wildlife
Do you have a thing for bats?
May evenings are warm enough and long enough to watch them. Here's which species to look for and where to find them.
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May · Wildlife
The Midnight Garden
You already know what happens in your garden during the day. You have no idea what happens after dark. May is the best month to find out.
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May · Nature
Reading a Hedgerow
A hedgerow in May is one of the most information-dense things in the British countryside. Here's what you're actually looking at.
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Latest from Field Notes: JUNE 2026
June · Wildlife
Eight Legs, No Apologies
There are 680 species of spider in the UK and none of them want anything to do with you. A field guide to the ones you'll actually meet, and why your brain is lying to you about all of it.
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June · Outdoors
The Trig Hunter's Field Guide
There are 6,500 concrete pillars on the high points of Britain. Some people are trying to find all of them. Here's why, and how to start.
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June · Nature
The Longest Day
On the 21st of June the light doesn't want to leave. Five thousand years ago people felt it so strongly they built something to mark it. It's still standing.
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Latest from Field Notes: JULY 2026
July · Water
Wild Swimming Doesn't Mean the Coast
Some of the best wild swimming in the country has nothing to do with the sea. Where to find it inland, why people keep going back, and the swimmers already doing it.
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July · Wildlife
July Is When You're Most Likely to Meet One
Britain's only venomous snake has a reputation it hasn't earned. Here's a fair hearing for the adder.
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July · Wildlife
There's No Such Thing as Flying Ant Day
It isn't a day, it's a season. The real science behind the swarm, the weather that triggers it, and an honest look at the drunk seagull story.
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Latest from Field Notes: AUGUST 2026
August · Night Sky
The Best Night for Shooting Stars in Years
New moon falls the same night the Perseids peak, no glow to wash anything out. The best conditions since 2018, and it won't line up like this again until 2029.
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August · Foraging
Five Things to Do With Blackberries
They're everywhere in August, whether you went looking for them or not. Five ways to use a bag of blackberries beyond jam and crumble, plus the folklore and picking tips.
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August · On Foot
630 Miles of Coast
It starts a few miles from here and ends 630 miles later in Minehead. Almost nobody walks it in one go. The route, the numbers, and real stories from the people doing it.
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Latest from Field Notes: SEPTEMBER 2026
September · Foraging
Wait For The First Frost. Or Cheat, Like Everyone Does.
Sloes ripen on blackthorn hedges right through September. Tradition says wait for frost to soften them. Almost nobody actually does.
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September · Nature
The Forest Is Talking. You Just Can't Hear It.
Every mushroom you'll see this month is the small, visible bit of something far bigger, older, and stranger sitting under the ground.
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September · Nature
The Moon That Used To Tell Farmers What To Do
The Harvest Moon isn't a special kind of moon. It's just the full moon closest to the equinox, and for most of history, it was the only clock that mattered.
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