Nigeness

 It's Schubert's birthday today (born 1797).   What to say? Happily he is now recognised for what he was, one of the half dozen or s...

 The BBC's Winterwatch series has been a welcome window on the natural world in these hunkered-down times ('It's what you pay y...

 On this day in 1939, William Butler Yeats – who, for all that can be said against him, was surely one of the great poets of the 20th centur...

 I was delighted to learn that grey 'squirrels' are to be unwittingly dosed with contraceptives in an effort to reduce their number...

 The most cheering sight of this dismal time of year, or so I find, is the redwing, that elegant little thrush with its sleek eyestripes and...

 Good news – I am a grandfather again. A fine healthy boy, born early this morning. This brings the tally to five – four boys (two of them i...

 Here at Nigeness we rarely let January 23rd go without marking the birthday of Edouard Manet (born 1832). This year in particular, one of h...